I posted on Day 22 before the end of the day, and there were some memorable activities. First was the dinner put on by the school. The main course was Texas brisket, and it was smoked to perfection. The four kids that served us were all seniors. Their ambitions once the graduate are: welding school, the army, diesel mechanic school, and welder/scuba to become an underwater welder. Their whole senior class is just 13, with a total of 144 in K-12. These are small towns are really small but have huge hearts. After dinner we had a Border Patrol manager speak to us, and then take us on a tour of his post. His perspectives were very interesting, and it was a valuable learning experience. He talked about cutting signs in which tires are pulled across the sand to smooth it so much that in the mornings, the shadows would betray even an insect that tried to cross this dirt perimeter. He shared some interesting stories, including one about a Russian national crossing the border with people who only spoke Spanish.
Today started out great with the first 40 miles with a tailwind and decent roads, however, soon enough we began to climb hill after hill and it reminded me of California…and I didn’t much like the hills in California. The rolling hills in the beginning of the day reminded me of northern Michigan where you can use the downhill to help you up the next hill. Not so, in the second half of the day. Crossing the Pecos River was exhilarating and breathtaking. I had to wait until I had a guard rail before I ventured to far to take photographs.
This post is a day late because there was no internet to be had on this night.
Stats from the day:
Start city: Sanderson, TX
End city: Comstock, TX
Miles: 81.19
Total miles to date: 1254.33
Pedaling time: 5 hours, 36 minutes
Avg. speed: 14.5
Feet climbed: 2,484
Fatigue factor: 7 out of 10 (10 is the worst);
Wind: start: NNW 7 mph; end E 6 mph
Road condition: 4 out of 5 (1 is the worst) first 60; 3 out of 5 last 21
Temperature extremes: 63 at ride start, 89 at ride finish
These are a few of the tires that the Border Patrol drags along the side of the road to smooth out the sand for finding signs of people moving through.
We spent days on East US 90.
The Pecos River
