Departure: Marathon, TX Finish: Sanderson, TX Distance: 53.2 miles
Elevation gain: 697 feet (total descent: 1,927’)
Winds: 5 to 10 mph. Mostly tailwinds!
Weather: Mostly sunny. Departed at 38 degrees. Arrived with 72 degrees.
On bike duration: 3 hrs, 4 minutes.
Average speed: 17.3 mph
Total Accumulated Miles: 1,171.4
We departed at an elevation of 4,101’ and traversed 53 miles to an elevation of 2,868’. Combining that gradual downhill with a mild tailwind, it was a pleasant three-hour glide. (Even so, my computer says I burned 3,560 calories.)
Along the way, I remembered riding 50 miles on my 50th birthday - almost exactly 15 years ago. I was very pleased with being able (barely) to ride that far. At that time, I thought I should add a mile to the event every year, for as long as I could.
Tomorrow will be 15 years since my 50th birthday, and the day’s route calls for 119 miles! That should fill my birthday bucket for a few years.
Today, we continued to enjoy beautiful scenery. The Big Bend National Park is just a short distance to our south. I’ve never been there, but I expect we are seeing a lot of what that national park is all about.
There is a chain of massive convenience stores called Buc-ee’s, based in Texas. Many of the stores are over 50,000 square feet! They have become a destination for many - just to marvel at the spectacle. Everyone says “everything’s bigger in Texas.”
We passed by this “Buc-ee’s” this morning about 15 miles east of Marathon - about the size of an outhouse. These Isolated and purposefully lonely people keep me laughing. My kind of humor.
I’d like to explain the dusty tractor tires in the photo above. They are a border crossing tool for the Border Patrol. We have seen these each time we’re near the Mexican border since day three of our journey. They attach a log chain to the tires and drag them along a 7 foot wide trail of loose dirt. The idea is the tires smooth out the dirt, and when the border agents returns to the area, they look for footprints. I wonder how effective that effort is. These trails extend for hundreds of miles, always on the right-hand side of our east-bound road.
Sanderson has a population of 630. The only available inn is the Desert Air Motel. It is stuck in a 1950’s time warp. Quaint and clean. I like it! The owner’s name is Matt. He has a significant accent that suggests Eastern European / Romanian / Russian. (I didn’t ask him.) I’m glad Dennis found this place. There is nothing between here and Del Rio - our next destination - which is why our distance tomorrow is 119 miles. Most riders in our group have never pedaled that far in one day and have expressed various amounts of trepidation. I did 165 miles on one ride; one time. But, I was 22 at the time, on my way from Fort Collins to a family reunion in Cozad.
Happy Birthday tomorrow. 119 miles - whew. You could very well be the only man in America to ride 119 miles on your 65th birthday.
ReplyDeleteGood luck on your Birthday ride! If you need a safety stop before the 119 miles, there's Langtry, where the store and motel might be open, and there certainly is camping at the Vashti Stiles center. Comstock is a full town, with a motel, restaurants, and grocery.
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