Andre's thermometer showed 30 degrees when he awoke. Another morning of hot coffee, tea and oatmeal. I had cooking duty tonight with Flynn, so rolled at daylight at 7:30. The sun was behind a butte, so for an hour my toes and fingers were numb despite two pairs of socks (including wool) and long-fingered gloves. Other riders were also cold until the sun rose higher.
After 20 miles we came to Dryden, a town of several buildings. Miraculously the one and only convenience store was open. I enjoyed a bottle of Starbucks Mocha, and played with Tequila, a friendly 18-month-old border collie (photo).
It's fun to see the ranch signs as we ride. Photos of four signs are below. The BK sign is for Bended Knee. The wildflowers were pretty following recent rains (see photos).
After 61 miles we came to the town of Langtry, where Judge Roy Bean arbitrarily dispensed justice in frontier days. A photo shows Julie and Bob Pedersen in front of the judge's building. The consensus was the stop is marginal. Carol said they have an interesting cactus garden.
Four miles before this evening's campground, we crossed a high bridge over the Pecos River, near where it flows into the Rio Grande (see photos). After days of riding through utterly dry country, we were surprised how wide the Pecos is. The river's gorge was a barrier for travelers and early railroads.
Texans use the word "canyon" to describe a little gully or wash (like Sanderson Canyon which we crossed repeatedly yesterday) as well as a real valley (like Oshman Canyon in the photo below).
The chip seal in Terrell County this morning was tolerable. When we crossed into Val Verde County, the quality suffered. Even though it's U.S. route 90, each county controls the surface. For the last 20 miles, the shoulder was at times better than the road. The next photo shows three adjacent surfaces: the good (concrete shoulder), the bad (chip seal shoulder) and the ugly (the road).
The surfaces prompted Andre's Law #3: a century (100 mile) ridden on normal asphalt or concrete = 75 miles ridden on Texas chip seal. Further research is under way.
All day we have been close to the Mexican border, so we saw several Border Patrol SUVs each hour. A dirt road parallels U.S. 90, and one SUV was pulling three large truck tires, to smooth the dirt to see tracks later.
Around 3:30 Flynn and I rolled into our campsite (another uphill at the end, of course!) We had time to put up tents so the morning dew could dry in the sun; wash and change out of riding gear; have a cold brew and lots of salty chips; and cook dinner. Flynn made great chicken risotto with corn, and carrots with honey and cinnamon. My contribution was a salad, with Terry's help. The last photo shows Ken enjoying dessert, an ice cream cup. We were all hot and tired, so cold ice cream hit the spot. Kudos to Julianne for finding dinner ingredients in the tiny towns.
Bruce
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