2017 10-02 Las Cruces to El Paso (64 miles)

Today we entered the great state of Texas.  There was no fan fare and no sign to great us, just a 1 mile marker on the road that signaled we had arrived one mile back.  The ride up to this point was much the same as yesterday, the scenery perhaps a bit better.  We passed many pecan groves, fields of green and red chili plants, and an occasional field of cotton.

Chris, Joe and Tom had been riding together all morning.  Soon after entering Texas we left the roads to ride on a rather long, paved bike path that ran parallel to the Rio Grande, and was located between the river and the levee road.  It started off as a rather enjoyable experience, the path meandering through a grassy flat area along the river.  At times the river seemed higher than our bike path.   This changed gradually to something other than pleasant.  At first, there were many puddles that spanned the width of the bike path and ran for 20 to 30 feet.  The water was only a few inches deep and there was still a cement bike path underneath the water. Then this changed and the puddles contained sandy wash that made travel a little more difficult, and dangerous.  Later still the sand was replaced by mud.  When the front wheel of a moving bike hits this deep mud, things can get bad.  The mud will stop the front wheel and send the rider flying to the ground.  This is precisely what happened to Chris.   In a blink he and his bike were down in the mud.  Chris was up in a flash and thankfully unhurt.  Chris is one of the happiest people I know on the trip and he took this tumble with a smile.  I’m sure it was no fun, but it did not have any lingering effect on his disposition.

El Paso is a large city.  After leaving the bike path, we still had 20 or so miles of city biking ahead before we would reach the Quality Inn airport hotel, our resting place for the evening.  El Paso is not a biker friendly city!  The main road we took to reach the hotel had heavy rush hour like traffic that made the ride tense and dangerous, or at least it felt dangerous.  The occasional reprieve of riding on a side street was good, except for the trolley tracks that made moving to the edge of the street difficult.  A bike can not cross these tracks without swinging out and taking the tracks at or near a 90 degree angle.  Trying to cross less than this would result in the tracks tipping the bike.  The ride to the hotel was not pleasant.  The trip through the city was a necessary evil and everyone made it safely to the hotel to spend a night in a comfortable bed.

Ken was out visiting friends for dinner tonight, so the group was given an allowance and sent out on their own for dinner.  Some opted to pay for dinner on their own dime and enjoy a place of their choosing.  All in all, a pleasant evening to a day of cycling.

  

Texas accounts for 1/3 of the total miles of our trip so we will have many stories from the long horn state.

Pictures

Map