Day 24: Monday, 3/30/15, Comstock, TX (65º at 6:30 am) to Brackettville, TX (78º at 3:30 pm) 74 miles, elevation changes: +1726/-1990.

Another day bouncing on the chip & seal on TX state route 90. Today we had a headwind of 5 – 10 mph all day. I left at 8:00am from Seminole Canyon State Park and arrived in Brackettville at Fort Clark Springs at 3:30 pm. It was hard work riding into the wind, but my legs and body are holding up well. The landscape continues to change from desert to a greener, tree covered landscape. We crossed over the Amistad Lake/Reservoir, a huge body of water. It is a dammed up body of water.

Highlights:

• Finishing up another challenging day riding against a headwind and on chip and seal bouncing along for many miles. I finished up excellently.
• Leading our Coast-to-Coast group over the half-mile bridge over the Amistad Reservoir/Lake. The local sheriff followed our procession to keep us safe.
• It was cloudy until about 2 pm keeping the temperature down in the low 70s, excellent riding temperature.

Here is the first sighting of a large body of water (excluding the Rio Grande River) since the Pacific Ocean on day one, the Amistad Reservoir/Lake.

Leading the C2C group over the bridge crossing the Amistad Reservoir/Lake. Taken through my fairing as we crossed.

The C2C group finishing the crossing with the sheriffs escort behind.

Make it a great day!

John

Day 23: Sunday, 3/29/15, Sanderson, TX (55º at 6:30 am) to Comstock, TX (90º at 4:30 pm) 82 miles, elevation changes: +2605/-4005

It was a long day! I was off at 7:50 am trying to get as far a possible before a predicted headwind set in. I followed my plan: bike 30 minutes then rest, stretch, and drink half a water bottle. I kept this up each half hour of biking until I hit a SAG stop, then I’d eat fruit, a power bar and drink Gatorade. My plan was a good one. I got to the lunch spot in Langtry, TX 60 miles out, at 1pm. The headwind didn't really materialize, HURRAY! There was a great deal of riding up then down, then up then down all day long. We crossed the Pecos River at mile 72. We are staying in the Seminole Canyon State Park. It is beautiful here. It is a our first campground with no cell service, but the park does provide wifi; it is very slow. I'll post this blog on Monday.

Bike stats: 82.2 miles ridden in 5 hours and 49 minutes of actual biking averaging 14.1 mph with a maximum speed of 34.6 mph.

Highlights:

• Finishing a long day with lots of power in my legs. I have gotten very strong and was able to push up the hills right to the end of the riding day.
• Leaving the TX high desert prairie and beginning to transition to the TX hill country. There are more trees and green grass.
• Stopping at the Judge Roy Bean Museum in Langtry, TX. Judge Roy Bean was the famous Justice of the Peace who kept law and order west of the Pecos River.
• Crossing the Pecos River
• Camping at the beautiful Seminole Canyon State Park.

No more mountains all around me as I ride. The country isn't flat, it is rolling hills, but much different than the first three weeks of the trip. We are leaving the desert. This picture is looking back west at about 20 miles after leaving Sanderson, TX.

Judge Roy Bean's Saloon, the famous Justice of the Peace west of the Pecos River in Langtry.

Looking east at the 70 mile mark.

Looking west at the 70 mile mark.

The Pecos River, looking north after crossing. We are beginning to see water. We have ridden in the desert from San Diego to here.

The view from my tent at the Seminole Canyon State Park. It is still desert, but the landscape is changing.

Make it a great day!

John

Day 22 Saturday, 3/28/15, Marathon, TX (Frost on my bike both this morning and yesterday morning at 6:30 am) to Sanderson, TX (77º at 1:30 pm) 55 miles, elevation changes: +793/-2057.

An easy, unchallenging biking day! I left Marathon at 8:40am and with multiple stops arrived in Sanderson at 12:30 pm. It was mostly downhill (note the elevation change) with a 10+ tailwind that began to blow at 10 am. I averaged just over 20 mph for the last 25 miles. The landscape is desolate and not exciting in any way.

Bike stats: 54.9 miles ridden in 3 hours and 3 minutes of actual biking time, averaging 18 mph with my top speed at 30.9 mph.

Highlights:

• At two different stops I was again all alone listening to the birds, bees and flies. It was heaven to be so alone with nature. There were no houses between Marathon and Sanderson with very little traffic on TX state route 90.
• Frost on my tent and bike cover two mornings in a row. I was snug and warm in my new, zero degree EMS sleeping bag the Joan gave me for Christmas. I put it on top of my thermal pad and air mattress.
• The stars at night after the moon has gone down. We are in one of the least, if not the least, populated areas in the continental US. I saw three shooting stars this morning in three minutes. There are millions of stars.
• We have ridden over 1000 miles. We’ll hit the halfway point of the trip on Thursday of next week.
• Yesterday we drove 230 miles round trip to Big Bend National Park. It is a glorious park. See the pictures below.

Frost on the tent yesterday morning. We had frost this morning, also. Yesterday the low was 30º and the high at Big Bend National Park was 83º. Another huge temperature range day.

Two views on today's ride. The landscape was not exciting, but the quiet when I stopped was incredible.

At Big Bend National Park on our rest day yesterday Friday 3/27/15.

The flowers along the road in the park. We drove 45 miles to the park and 70 miles inside the park. It is huge.

View from about 5400 ft in the mountains in Big Bend National Park.

I had the time to hike about two miles in the mountains above before we ate lunch. I came across two deer. Here's one!

We drove to the Rio Grande River that is the US/Mexico border in this part of TX. The Rio Grande created this canyon.

I hiked up into the canyon on the right side of the river. Here is the path we hiked up.

A shot of me up on the canyon side with a view back down to the Rio Grande River. It was another day made in heaven, truly glorious!

Make it a great day!

John

Day 20, Thursday, 3/26/15, Marfa, TX (39º at 6:30 am) to Marathon, TX (57º at 3:00 pm) 57 miles, elevation changes: +1128/-1781.

Today's story was the wind! 15-25 mph with guests over 30 from the northeast that we biked directly into all morning. A dry cold front came through last night. It was 37º this morning plus the wind. I left at 8:20am driving hard into the headwind. I was almost blown off the road three times, but I am getting better reacting to the wind and the trucks going by. There was lots of uphill this morning adding to the challenge. It was a wild ride! I only averaged 11.6 mph for the first 26 miles going into Alpine. I felt really proud of myself to be the 5^th rider arriving in Alpine.

After lunch, the road turned a bit more southerly and the wind began to shift more out of the north.  I had a 20-mile section of tailwind where I averaged over 20mph for about an hour. Hurray! I made it to Marathon.

Bike stats: 57.4 miles ridden in 4 hours and 18 minutes of actual biking time averaging 13.4 mph. My top speed was 31.9 mph hit during the afternoon tailwind.

Highlights:

• Being in great shape to be able to fight and beat what Mother Nature had to offer today finishing today’s ride in a reasonable time. 
• Photographing the pacifier house. See below.
• Riding for the second day entirely on TX State Route 90.
• At lunch in Alpine, I ordered from Easy Racer a new rear fender and kickstand for Big Blue that will be delivered next Monday via UPS to the campground in Concan, TX where we stay next Tuesday and Wednesday night. It is amazing the shipping options we have in our world today.
• I feel so blessed to be on this trip. It is meeting all the expectations and more!

The pacifier house, about 10 miles outside Marfa, that I think is a radar facility used by the Border Patrol. We are still very close to the US/Mexican border.

Looking back west as I was powering uphill into the headwind. The landscape hasn't changed much over the last two weeks.

I stopped to rest just before arriving in Alpine. I had biked through hills. I happened to look back to see this.

Texas state route 90 continues to parallel the Southern Pacific RR.

I am loving this trip!

Make it a great day!

John