Spin City (er, Country)

Today was a bit of a rest day on wheels. 55 miles from Marathon TX to Sanderson TX. We were net downhill on the day and had our least climbing (by far) of any day on the tour - just 566 feet. There was really no wind for the first 30 miles and then just a bit of a headwind for the last 25. My goal today was to rest my legs by spinning the whole day rather than pushing. We have a 111 mile day tomorrow, so rested legs going in to that would be nice. Goal accomplished.

Sanderson is another Texas town that seems to have pretty much closed up shop after the Interstate passed it by. It has made for good people-watching, though, as it appears to be authentic cowboy country. The little mom-and-pop motel that we're staying at has quite the rattlesnake collection right off the lobby. Although I have encountered rattlesnakes before while hiking, I've never stuck around to really look at how they rattle; now I know.

Not much else to report today. A pretty ride through hilly and arid terrain without any little towns along the way. Bright sunshine and temps into the 90s F by afternoon. Life is good!

Thanks to everyone who has posted comments or sent me notes. It's good to know there are folks out there interested in what I'm doing. Please feel free to send some correspondence. I really enjoy hearing from you!

Oh Ya!

Finally - a day devoid of adversity! No big climbs, no headwind, not too hot, not too cold, not too long, not too short, no rain, no interstate traffic, great scenery - what more can a girl ask for?? Yummy cinnamon buns you say - check, we had those too. It was a superb day. Even the chip seal wasn't too bad and as a special treat we had real pavement for a few miles in the middle of the day.

It was hard for me to leave our lovely Indian Lodge but tonight's accommodation is no consolation prize. We're at the Gage Hotel in Marathon TX; definitely a destination hotel as the town itself is quite tiny. Since it was such a short day (65 miles and a net downhill of 1000 feet) we dallied in the town of Alpine - bike shop, cinnamon buns, health food store, etc. - and really enjoyed our great riding conditions. An overcast sky kept the temperature perfect. For those of you in Calgary, I would say today's scenery was somewhat reminiscent of the Chain Lakes area of highway 22.

After a dip in the pool, we had a great dinner of lasagna, garlic bread, caesar salad and strawberry shortcake followed by a quick stroll around town. A perfect day! And did I mention cinnamon buns??

I Lied.......

...... when I said "it's all downhill from here" a few days ago. Yesterday's headwinds knocked the stuffing out of me a little bit and my legs were still pretty empty when I woke up this morning. Oh well, nothing to do but get back on the bike and see how far they take me. In fact they took me all the way to the beautiful Indian Lodge in Davis Mountains State Park (picture below). We started the day as soon as the sun rose above the distant hills and rode most of the first 40 miles on I-10. I have a love/hate relationship with the interstate. The grades are gentle and the shoulders are generally wide and well paved. But - lots of truck noise and lots of shredded tire debris. I spend so much time looking down to avoid it that I seem not to do much sightseeing. Luck was with us today and we had a tailwind and net downhill for the interstate portion. As soon as we turned on to a quieter road we lost just about all traffic but picked up a headwind (again!) and started riding on a chip seal surface which is not very pleasant. Apparently it is the paving method of choice for secondary roads in Texas so we'll see a lot of it for the next few weeks. The combination slowed us right down and it felt like the 10 miles to lunch were an eternity. Since we saw no civilization today our guides had parked the van and trailer at about the 50 mile mark and served up a wonderful lunch. I noticed that my rear tire was soft and it turned out that some steel wires from the tire debris on the interstate had indeed found a new home in my rear tire. Call it a rookie mistake, but after I pulled the first one out I forgot to check the rest of the tire and 10 minutes after changing the first flat it was soft again. Thank you to Carol (one of our guides) and kind-hearted Mel for sensing my frustration and doing the second change for me. Then we were off again. At about 62 miles, after having already climbed over 2500 feet we started climbing in earnest and gained another 2000 feet over 15 miles. At the end of that 15 miles was the McDonald Observatory which is associated with the University of Texas at Austin. Since I was there anyway and I had time before dinner, I toured the visitor centre and then rode up another 400 feet to visit one of the large telescopes. Then it was pretty much downhill (on yucky chip seal) to our beautiful lodge and wonderful buffet dinner provided by the lodge. We're in the wilderness of a state park set amongst lovely rolling hills. The sky was incredible tonight - full moon and oodles of stars.

Stats for the day: 93 miles/150 km and 5170 feet of climbing. Not bad for waking up with the tanks on empty :) Thank goodness for the rest day tomorrow. I think we're done with the colder weather now. The day started out a bit cool today, but warmed up nicely by noon and once we lose some of this altitude I anticipate that the heat will become a bit of an issue. In spite of day after day of sunshine there is not much in the way of tan lines for me yet. I'm still taking grief about my lily-white skin (like that's never happened before :)) Not much time for pictures today, but there are a few below.

Holy Headwind, Batman

I'm still waiting for the easy day on this trip :) Today was 75 miles from Fort Hancock TX to Van Horn TX. We climbed 2900 feet, but the climbing wasn't an issue at all. The grades were very gentle and were hardly noticeable. The wind on the other hand was constantly in our faces - figuratively and literally! Of the 75 miles there were maybe 5 miles when it wasn't an issue. Probably fewer than 10 of us rode the whole way today. It was just hard.... On top of that we lost an hour which now puts us in the central time zone. So, bedtime will come very early for me tonight. The temperature started out a bit chilly this morning but warmed up to comfortably cool in the afternoon - perfect for cycling. I can't remember the last time I saw a cloud. The scenery was pretty nice all day. We moved from agricultural land mostly waiting to be planted, back to dry scrub land and finally into some hill country. Not much civilization out there. We paralleled the Mexican border for the first 15 miles and saw many border patrol vehicles, including three vehicles finding someone hiding in the trunk of a car. Then we followed I-10 for most of the day - either on it or directly beside it. Yummy pulled pork sandwiches and mac & cheese for dinner. Lots of carbo loading for tomorrow, which is rumoured to be one of the hardest days of the trip. Hope my legs recover overnight.

Mission Trail and Headwinds

Today was our first full day in West Texas. Sometimes there just isn't a lot of civilization out there. In this case our day was just 48 miles because that's where there is a hotel to accommodate us. Our route took us from El Paso to Fort Hancock. It was a short and flat day, but we had a bit of a headwind all day to give us our daily challenge. We came out of El Paso easily enough and soon found ourselves on the "Mission Trail", a series of missions established by the Spanish in the 1600s. The buildings below (Socorro Mission and San Elizario Mission) are from the 1800s and are beautifully cared for. Unfortunately they were not open for us to look inside. We also found a statue of Billy the Kid, who helped to spring the only escapee ever from the local jail. The landscape was somewhat agricultural, although it appears that most crops are not yet in the ground. We saw lots of water being pumped into the irrigation ditches, so perhaps they're getting ready to plant. Still lots of pecan trees, alfalfa fields and the odd winery. Our weather today was on the chilly side; somehow I thought that with the Mexican border in sight we would be having warmer weather and I wouldn't be wearing quite so much wool. Dogs were very much in evidence today. Thankfully most were securely behind fences. I didn't get chased by any but some of the women did. We ended the day with a pie stop and are spending the night in an antiquated no-star motel.

"Rio" means "River" Doesn't It?

And rivers generally have water in them don't they? Below is a picture of the Rio Grande taken shortly after our departure from Las Cruces this morning. Not a drop of water in it!

Today should have been a fairly easy day. Las Cruces NM to El Paso TX. 66 miles on pretty flat terrain - we climbed and lost about 1600 feet, most of that once we got into the greater El Paso area. We spent most of the day in the Rio Grande Valley. It is mostly agricultural (pecan trees, cotton, onions, alfalfa and other unidentified crops) with nice views of the Franklin Mountains to the east. Although it wasn't nearly the gale force winds of yesterday, we had significant headwinds for most of the day. At breakfast we were discussing what adversity we would face today. Every day seems to bring a different challenge. We spent 9 miles on a freeway close to the end of the day. It ran right beside the US/Mexico border, which to a Canadian is quite a sight (below). The best part of that road was that most of the section that we were on was under construction and after throwing my bike over a concrete barrier I was able to ride on a good surface completely closed to vehicular traffic. And of course another state border crossing means another margarita party. It will be our last for a while, as we're in Texas for about 3 full weeks!

Blow Me Down

We had a 90 mile day today. Kingston NM to Las Cruces NM. That's almost 150 km for all the Canadians out there. Seems we either get tons of climbing or long mileage - one or the other. Climbing was yesterday; mileage today. The first 50 miles was pretty great. I don't think I pedalled at all for the first 10 miles as yesterday's downhill continued. Then I got a kick-start up the first hill as a dog chased me for a bit. No bite, though. Strong tailwind for the first 25 miles completed the early treat. Then we turned south and alternated tailwinds with crosswinds. Still good though. Nice mountain scenery turned into scrub desert which turned into agricultural land (irrigated) and miles of pecan tree orchards. Looks like all the irrigation comes at a cost, though. As we crossed the Rio Grande there was really very little water in it. And it still has to get through Texas and 4 states in Mexico before it gets to the Gulf of Mexico. We lunched in Hatch NM, which apparently is famous for its chili pepper production. After lunch the winds really picked up. Gusts of 45-60 mph (we found out later) made it challenging at times to keep the bike upright and dust clouds crossing the roads made visibility an issue, but provided exfoliation on the go and I arrived at the hotel with a tan as the dirt collected on my sunscreen. We stopped for frozen custard (think ice cream) sundaes on the way in to town, although we ate those outside and the sand content was pretty high by the time we were done. Even though it was a pretty flat day, we still climbed 2600 feet by day's end. Here's hoping the wind dies down overnight!

It's All Downhill From Here......

I believe this is Day 15 - already! Routines are well entrenched now and the days have a comfortable rhythm to them. So, as usual, I had my clothes and gear laid out the night before. Imagine my surprise when I awoke to rain pellets (just marginally softer than full blown ice pellets) on the window and the wind whistling outside. Oh no!! I quickly dug out my rain gear and warm clothes since we were to reach the highest point of the trip today - 8228 feet at Emory Pass. Alas - it must have just been a cloud burst since the parking lot was dry by the time I stuck my head out the door and the day warmed up nicely with the rising of the sun. The wind stuck around but was thankfully a tailwind for most of the day.

We started the day in Silver City NM and finished in Kingston NM (pop 20). The stats: 48 miles, 5200 feet of climbing, 4900 feet of descent. We didn't reach our high point until the 40 mile mark. We spent maybe the first 20 miles going up and down long and scenic climbs and descents. The final climb via a continual series of switchbacks was in a National Forest area where the forest was thick and the trees substantial. It was a nice change from the stark desert of the lower elevations. Once on top there was a short walk to a magnificent vista point (picture below) that includes snippets of the upcoming 8 mile winding descent into the hamlet of Kingston.

The highlight of the day was the number of women who did the entire climb, many of whom had never done a ride anything like this one in their entire lives. Another highlight was the absolutely charming Black Range Lodge B&B that we called home for the night. We were treated to a full turkey dinner by host Catherine & helpers.

BTW - the previous day was a rest day for us. Five of us rented a car and drove to see the Gila Cliff Dwellings. Very interesting and a very pretty drive as well.

Quality Time With Granny; Over the Divide

It was a bit of a sufferfest today. The day started out innocently enough. We knew we would be crossing the Continental Divide today, but with all the climbing we already have on our legs we were led to believe it wouldn't be a huge day. What we didn't count on, though, were the stiff crosswinds and headwinds pretty much all the way up. As a result of the winds and the climbing I was in my granny gears for what seemed like most of the day - thus my "quality time with granny". We started in Lordsburg NM and ended 49 miles and 4400 feet of climbing later in friendly Silver City NM. Not much else to report - no place to stop for ice cream or pie! Weather was good. A little bit cooler than some previous days, but it was perfect for climbing. Rest day tomorrow - woohoo!

My 10 Best Haircuts

You may be wondering about the title of today's posting. I found the ride to be a bit mind-numbing at times. LInda agreed and then told me that she was passing the time reminiscing about her 10 best haircuts and other momentous life events. The stats: Safford AZ to Lordsburg, New Mexico. 77 miles, 2500 feet of climbing, one flat tire (that makes three so far this trip). Early in the ride I pulled over to a historical stone monument. Turns out 2 brothers were killed close to here by Apache Indians in 1885. Apparently nothing approaching that level of excitement has happened since. Halfway through our day we came to the town of Duncan AZ, founded in 1883. Looks like the town has been in decline ever since. But - we did have the chance to hang out with some locals at Ol' Jo's Cafe (which is for sale if anyone is interested). The highlight of the day was the 3 miles of road construction. We were able to fly through on mostly new pavement while the cars had to wait for us. No big climbs today but the little ones did add up over the course of the day. The scenery really wasn't all that bad - very dry but not very much cactus anymore. We still have mountains on the horizon in almost all directions although they seemed to be more distant today than other recent days. We changed time zones tonight and celebrated the state crossing with a margarita party and salsa dancing lessons. After having 3 flats already, I changed my rear tire and will hope for better luck in the days ahead. Another fabulous dinner prepared by our amazing chef Linda. Oh - and did I mention that the weather was glorious?

Flyin' down the open road

We had a great day today! 79 miles, 2000 feet climbed and 2700 feet downhill. Always nice when the downs beat the ups! And best of all - a tailwind all day!! Globe AZ to Safford AZ. We spent much of the day riding through the San Carlos Apache Reservation and the Gila River Valley. This is our last night in AZ. On to New Mexico tomorrow. And of course that means another margarita party to celebrate crossing into another state. Our scenery is starting to change. We seem to have pretty much said goodbye to all manner of cacti and are beginning to see more scrub brush and some taller trees. On our ride today we had mountain ranges on either side pretty much for the whole day. For the last part of the ride we had the snow-capped Graham Mountain on our right. Many of the small "towns" that we passed through today are pretty much vacated; the area has obviously seen better economic times. The communities of Thatcher & Safford seem to be thriving, though. Our last stop before our destination was the Taylor Freeze in Pima. Had a great raspberry shake there. I was tempted to get a second treat and sit back down to contemplate the fact that I had another soft tire. Once again, not yet flat, but a truck tire shard had worked its way through my tire and had made a tiny hole in the tube. It appears I'll be getting lots of practice at changing flats :( We're at over 600 miles cum, or over 1000 km. So - more than 20% done. People are getting stronger everyday. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm certainly not losing any weight so far. Might have something to do with the pie and ice cream stops??