Day 26 - Seminole Canyon to Brackettville,TX

Last night was more pleasant than the night in Sanderson. That night, in addition to being cold, featured three Union Pacific freight trains shaking the ground as they passed close by. There must have been a sign to blow the whistle, because we were wakened with long, loud toots.
Last night featured birds singing after dark for several hours. No owls. They were very melodic.
I got up at 6 am to heat water for coffee and tea, and set out breakfast food such as hot and cold cereals, bagels and cream cheese, yogurt and fruit. Flynn set out makings for lunches including peanut butter, jelly, Nutrella, different breads, cookies, Mitch mix (GORP), and energy bars.
Temps were in the 40s and the wind was from the east (a headwind) ... and it never stopped blowing all day. Unrelenting. Combined with the chip seal and seeming to always go slightly uphill, this was for me the hardest day of the trip so far. You had to fight for every mile, and the chip seal was so rough I couldn't get above 12 mph. I was also the last rider out of camp (at 8:45 am because of fixing breakfast).
We passed a large lake, part of Amistad National Recreation Area, a joint park with Mexico (see photos). The two mile long bridge in the photo was dicey to ride, with wind, semis passing, and a two foot wide shoulder filled with debris. We were all glad to be past the bridge.
Bob Plant, Bob Gordon, Terry and I rode the last 30 miles from Del Rio to Bracketville in a pace line due to the headwind. We are camped in Fort Clark Springs park with leafy trees and no hulking RVs for a change. My legs are tired from pushing 75 miles against the wind. My posterior, hands, arms and shoulders hurt from the chip seal vibration.
Tomorrow is 90 miles of the same ... Should be fun!
Bruce

Texas Birds and Flowers.

I don't know what they were but they were very colourful.

( I think the plant was an ocotillo.)

Turkey Lurkey.

At our campsite a couple of seconds ago.

Better hurry up girls, we're still short of dinner ideas.

On an unrelated subject......... I would just like to say how much I hate Texas Chip Seal roads.


There.

Day 25 - Sanderson to Seminole Canyon State Park, TX

There is a beautiful sunset and clear sky at 8:30 pm as the day winds down. A long and good day. We rode 80 miles as Mitch predicted, ascended about 2000 feet, and netted a descent of about 1500 feet.
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

Day 24 - Marathon, TX to Sanderson, TX

After midnight the wind picked up, as a cold front blew in from the north. Although my tent was well staked, it shook from the gusts. Between the wind, a freight train and ever-present early morning roosters, I didn't sleep well after midnight.
We woke to 30s temps, so wore tights, hats and gloves. We thought cold weather was behind us! Lots of instant hot oatmeal, coffee and tea for breakfast.
The RV park where we camped last night had a pretty fountain area (see photo). Also a nice outdoor fireplace, where we enjoyed a fire after dinner.
In the town of Marathon is the classic Gage Hotel (see photo) with attached gardens. On the way out of town, I stopped at Shirley's Burnt Biscuit bakery for a turnover to eat later (it was good).
Today we rode 54 miles in four hours, netting about 1000 feet of decline. The first 30 miles were (you guessed it) chip seal with a moderate cross-wind. The last 20 miles we cruised around 20 mph, with light winds and better road surface. The sky was overcast with low gray clouds. The scenery was the same as yesterday: greasewood, yucca, scrub grass. A benefit of the last two days' rain is numerous yellow flowers along the road, and green grass in low spots.
We were in Brewster, Pecos and Terrell Counties today. Each has its own chip seal formula.
It's fun to see ranch signs. An unusual sign is in the photo below. I missed a sign for the Bruce Ranch. Rhodri wondered if they breed Bruces there.
Rhodri made outstanding "bangers and mash" for dinner (see photo). Julie made two versions of flavored shredded cabbage. Conversation stopped as we all enjoyed the meal (see photo). Note the cloudless blue sky now.
Tomorrow Flynn and I are cooking dinner. Since there are no stores en route, we went with Mitch and Julianne to an unsigned local bodega in town (see photo with owner). About half the items were from or for Mexicans. So we tweaked our menu (e.g., no feta cheese or pita bread),
Tomorrow we ride 80 miles and then cook. So the next blog post may be in two days, after Del Rio, TX.
Bruce

Day 23 - Fort Davis, TX to Marathon, TX

Our leader, Mitch, has lent his name to several features of the ride. First were "Mitch miles" (one day he said we would ride 45 miles, turned out to be 61, as noted in Rhodri's post). Now we have "Mitch mix", a tasty, home-made variant of GORP with Brazil nuts, almonds, peanuts, dried banana and apricot slices, M&Ms and Honey Nut Cheerios (see photo). Am eating some now.
I am writing this at 3:15 pm sitting in my tent, with rain pouring down and a gusty wind. Our first real rainstorm on the ride. Reminds me of the Stevie Ray Vaughn song, "Texas Flood", with the words "raining down in Texas".
We rode 54 miles today. The map shows a 1000 foot drop, but there was some uphill. It never got warm; wore my jacket all day.
The first 24 miles to Alpine were straightforward except we hit bumpy chip seal after leaving town. About seven miles later the road turned to smooth asphalt. I was so happy I kissed the road (photo). Linda took the photo and the one showing the pavement change.
We passed the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute (photo). Am considering applying for a grant to study desert road surfaces!
Alpine is not alpine - it sits in dry desert and not a ski slope in sight. The town is an artists' colony, and we tanked up at the requisite coffee and donut shops. See photos of painted postcard and my boyhood TV show "Bonanza" hero Dan Blocker who played the character "Hoss".
Outside Alpine is Sul Ross State University. On its campus is the Museum of the Big Bend. Many riders stopped here for 30-60 minutes, for an overview of the history of the Big Bend area, including parts of present-day Mexico. Items of interest included (see photos)
- a replica of the world's largest flying creature (35' wingspan), a pterosaur, whose bones were found in 1971 in Big Bend National Park by a geology student
- a replica of a carreta, a 1590 Spanish two-wheeled cart that was the first wheeled vehicle to enter what is the present U.S.
- the earliest cattle brand used in Texas
After leaving the museum we had a 30 mile ride to Marathon (pronounced mare-a-than). It was a trifecta: uphill, more rough chip seal, and a steady headwind of 10-15 mph most of the way. So I composed a song, "Texas Chip Seal Blues". Flynn is a professional guitarist, so maybe he can find an instrument and play bottleneck blues for me! Here's a photo of the Texas Dept. of Transportation, the chip seal guys.
(Later) The rain stopped after an hour and the ground dried quickly. I made the dinner salad; Terry mixed up sun-baked chocolate-oatmeal cookies; and Linda cooked beef stroganoff. No wonder we can't lose weight on the ride! Enjoying our meal in the sun are (clockwise from left) Linda, Jerry, Bob Pedersen, Ken, Andre, Rhodri, Julianne, Bob G, Julie, Bob Plant and Carol. (Terry, Flynn and Mitch were out of the picture.)
After dinner Julianne gave each rider a hard-boiled egg to play a game. The first and second riders tapped eggs and said "No rain". The rider whose egg did not crack goes to the third rider, and so on. Linda had the magic touch (or egg) and was victorious. As a prize, Julianne will set up Linda's tent one evening!
Bob Plant is from Marathon, Wisconsin. So he is pictured below with the Marathon, TX town sign.
Bruce

Texas flowers

Although we hear there is a drought here, I found these flowers along our route the past two days. Others may have escaped my eye or just didn't cause me to stop the forward motion. Linear leafed daisy, Geranium family flower (?), Prickly poppy (2 photos), Basket flower (?), Phlox and the last photo, Yucca is in bloom across the desert landscape.
Carol