COOLING OFF

Bracketville-CampWood 3/30 49 miles And thankfully the energy returns - Beautiful ride today- starting to enter Texas Hill Country.That desolate brown desert is turning green, with real trees (well shrubby trees) flowering cactus, groundcover everywhere you look is purple verbena and little yellow coneflowers. First sighting of Texas bluebonnets. Crossed the Nueces River 4 miles from the hotel and stopped for a little feet soaking and sun bathing. Met a selfcontained guy going west who stopped at our sag for water and said" oh I heard about this group- they said to approach slowly and carefully"- seemed funny at the time! BIG hills tomorrow.

Back to rider profiles- Sisters Linda (Phoenix) and Lois from PA pictured together on the road and with Lois in the river today. They are a great team and they pull each other through the tough parts

NO ENERGY DAY

Del Rio- Bracketville 3/29 43 miles

Well we all thought this would be a breeze of a day after yesterday and although terrain, wind, temps were all about the same it was a slog for everybody. All of our adrenalin had been used up yesterday. We left late this morning, some riders stopped at Walmart for a shopping spree, and made it in around 2. Staying at Fort Clark Springs an old army base which is now on the historic register. Seems to be a retirement community with a few hotel rooms in what look like old barracks. Also a giant old, spring fed (bracing temperature) concrete swimming pool. Milestone riding day today. ..FIRST day of the trip when I started the ride with bare legs-spring has sprung in Texas. Close up photo of chip/seal- looks innocent enough- it's a curse! And Mia , special picture for you!!

PERSONAL LIFETIME RECORD

Sunday 3/28- Sanderson-Del Rio 111 miles- a new record- not bad for an old babe! Tail winds a few cross, bumpy roads, perfect temps.-70 , a flat for Katie at 13 miles , 5 short sag stops,started just after dawn after, 7:45 finished at 5:45. Twenty one out of 21 did the whole ride- we rule!!! Tired -off to bed!

HOW DO WE KNOW WHERE WE ARE GOING

Marathon-Sanderson Sat.3/27 54 miles

Mike from Oregon has her Methodist friends doing a prayer chain for favorable winds (here I am talking about them again)-they must have prayed really hard last night because we did 54 miles today in 4 hours and 15 minutes with 2 stops YES! They need to really turn on the prayers tonight because we have a 111mile day tomorrow.

So how do we know where to go- in case that has crossed your mind. We have Adventure Cycling Association Southern Tier route maps that are like detailed road maps with extensive information on roads, each town you go through, locations of bike shops, laundromat, motels, food stores etc. The maps also include a bit of history of the lands we travel through. But what we really rely are the cue sheets. Every night after dinner we have a map meeting for our next days route. Go 20 miles on route 10, turn left at the gas station, go 4 miles on route 4 ... and so on and so on. Everyone has an odometer on their bikes so we can figure out the miles. The cue sheets work like a charm. Today’s scenery filled with rock formations, buttes, mesas, plateaus, strange hills on all sides as we sailed through the middle. Mourning doves everywhere in Marathon- a soothing, peaceful sound. Staying at the unique Outback Oasis Motel tonight which features a room full of live snakes(in cages) , next to the office-hmmmmm. Some catch up pictures today, the wild night of tattoos somewhere in NM.

Hey Mike from spinning class, did you get your bike for RAGBRAI yet. It must be time for outdoor bike riding in Chicago- WAY more fun than spinning!

PARADISE - THE GAGE HOTEL

Fort Davis-Marathon Fri March 26

60 miles

I always need to put day of the week in this blog- we never have any idea what day it is - strange feeling!! So a beautiful ride out of the mountains to Alpine for a spectacular cinnamon roll at the Bread and Breakfast cafe. Alpine is the first town I have seen in West Texas that looks like a real town- more than one street- they were even protesting on the corner to bring the troops home- a bit of reality in this biking bubble. Our first 30 miles we headed south, the last 30 miles we headed east. I'm going to try to stop complaining about the wind but damn- it wears you down. And there is NO good wind except a straight on tail wind- ok that's all on that. Arrived in Marathon mid afternoon to this spectacular hotel- an old, perfectly restored railroad hotel- every detail is exquisite. Alpine and Marathon are the gateway towns to Big Bend National Park. Had time for a massage and then Linda's seafood chowder, roasted green vegetables and coleslaw with warm bread-I think I've said before- she outdoes herself every night!

And now we wrap up Wonder Women of the Sag -last but not least Shelley (aka Canada) from Prince George , BC. She is the toughest rider of us all, powers up every mountain and if it is below zero she thinks it's a good day for shorts. Great sag except for when she is looking for outlet malls or getting lost . She is here next to the tree and out on sag duty with me. What would we do without Canada?!

And Sue from Texas in pink. She is an equal opportunity rider- rides with the go fast girls, the slow sweeps and everyone in between.

REST DAY Indian Lodge Fort Davis

Weds. 3/24

Oh what a beautiful rest day. Slept in, read leisurely, a casual breakfast , napping, yoga, bike cleaning, more reading and napping. A PERFECT day to introduce my biking buddies, Patti and Katie- both from Wisconsin- the midwest kids stick together . We started riding together early on, not sure how it happened but we are simpatico. At first we named ourselves the Low Riders, as compared to our High Flyers - the go fast girls who you will meet later. But since we have left California and Arizona behind, we feel that Team Sweep is more appropriate. We don't always leave last in the morning but we pretty much always arrive last in the evening but in the meantime, we have ridden the miles, taken many photos, stopped for lunch at some funky place, taken several stretch breaks (thank you Patti for starting that) and had a few laughs to top it all off. We have lots of fun together , help each other out with flats and ride to finish. I'm so lucky to have hooked up with these two jewels! Still can't figure out how to caption- That's Patti with her hand made quilt.

WINDS AND HILLS ALMOST DEFEAT US

JoAnn

Van Horn- Fort Davis, TX Weds. 3/24 70 miles

Started today as the sun was rising- not much wind at first but then another 35 miles on I10 with strong tail winds. Two miles before exiting expressway, Patti had a flat accompanied by a perfect Patti quote to Katie and me. “hey is your tire going thump thump thump because mine is”. We all helped to change the flat- unfortunately we will never win the speedy flat changing contest. Made it to 44 mile mark for a delicious Linda Lunch and then Katie had a flat - her first of the trip.

We had turned south to head to Fort Davis,”the highest town in Texas” at 5050 feet. Heading south meant daunting cross winds as we started to climb. After 10 miles (and with 45 miles left to go) we bagged and took a sag ride. After 14 miles of 8 to 10 per cent grade up hills (in the sag)we came upon Mike and Alayne powering up those hills at Univ . of Texas McDonald Observatory. We stopped to give them water and Mike cheer leaded us to get out of the sag and bike the last 14 miles. Sounded like a fine idea and it was! Wind had changed a bit and we had some lovely downhills. So the wind did not totally defeat us today.

Staying tonight at Davis Mountains State Park Indian Lodge. A beautiful park with adobe buildings, some built by the CCC, large, spacious rooms.There are javelinas in the park- hoping to see some tomorrow- mountain lions too say the Rangers. And we have a rest day here tomorrow-just when we think we can go no further- perfect timing.

Sag Wonder Woman #3 JoAnn from Pittsburgh. She had her work cut out for her today dealing with us--yes we want to sag, first we need to take some pictures, no we really want to ride more. She was gracious throughout it all

THE DREADED CHIP AND SEAL!

Fort Hancock -Van Horn, TX 3/23 Tues. 73.5 miles

I had been warned about this by cross country veterans but the dreaded West Texas chip and seal road surfaces appeared today- and I'm sure this is just the beginning. After a leisure 20 miles on a small country road, we were on I10 for 2 miles and then 30 miles of chip and seal frontage road. Rattling and jarring our way up hill was challenging but oh those heavenly tail winds- 24 miles with a 30+mph gusts of tail winds- we flew down along that frontage road at about 25 mph- then another 8 miles on I 10 down hill into Van Horn, strong tail wind- wow - all we needed was a sail. Beautiful mountains in the distance on all sides , railroad tracks to the left, I10 to the right and desolate desert all around. We may not have wifi for a days as we get into the heartland of Texas so I will catch up as soon as I can

VACATION DAY!!

El Paso- Fort Hancock, TX Monday 3/22 48.5 miles

Today must be the day to start the Texas jokes. You know you are in Texas when.... the waffles in your Comfort Inn hotel breakfast buffet are shaped like....what else... the state of Texas.

Since we have started our sojourn, a 40+ mile day means mountains. We were expecting this today and it turns out that it truly was a vacation day! Smooth roads, no traffic except border patrol trucks, helicopters, bicycles, Texas Ranger cars , Sheriff patrols, Texas State police cars( I guess they are still trying to tame the wild wild west?)and farm vehicles in this desolate desert with little towns popping up here and there. We rode the Mission Road and stopped to visit 2 lovely missions, the Socorro Mission and the San Elizario Mission. Had lunch in a little cafe -the only one in town- in Tornillo. At the hotel tonight met two self contained bikers from Mammoth Lakes Calif. headed to St Augustine. Linda made a pork roast, and mac and cheese -see picture - in her Dutch ovens with a spinach/strawberry salad- every night I'm blown away by how good her food is

And now introducing Sag Wonder Woman #2

Amy from Minneapolis- trouble maker, rabble rouser, Apples to Apples organizer, card trickster,laugh maker-,music instigator oh we love her! That's Amy with the Border Patrol Officer

Quote of the day from Mr. Foo.. I told him that Patti, Katie and I took the entire day to ride the 48 miles. And his response ... “I think if you ride 10 miles or 100 miles, it will take you 3 all day. Yes, that’s us the Sweep Team- more on that later!!

A DAY WELL DESERVED

Las Cruces, NM-El Paso, TX Sunday 3/21 66.5 miles

Wow what a day! Cold start 27 degrees in Las Cruces but no hills and no wind. A lovely cruise through more pecan groves and NM farmland. Great road, no traffic, pretty scenery. Crossed the Rio Grande 3 or 4 times in the last 2 days- twice today. It took us 20+ miles to get through El Paso to end up on the east side of town. Traffic increased but apparently mild compared to a week day. At the end of the ride, 8 miles of freeway shoulder- getting used to that but those exit and entrance ramps get your attention. It warmed up enough to finally take leg warmers off- first bare legs since California I think.

No “Welcome to Texas” sign on our little road so thank you Barney and Sheri for providing one. Another celebratory margarita tonight for crossing another state- we won’t be having another one for a LONG time.

Sag Wonder Woman #1 (in no particular order) is Karen (aka Coop ), a retired Marin County Forest Ranger. She is always where she says she’ll be in the Sag Subaru aptly named Bo Beep.

KINGSTON-LAS CRUCES, NM Saturday 3/20 88 miles

Left Kingston "late" at 8:30 am hoping it would warm up. The puddles from yesterday's rain storm were frozen. Official temperature 28 degrees. Wait a minute, I don't ride in the cold! First 9 miles downhill out of the mountains were soooooo cold with cross winds for good measure. I wore rain gear just to stay warm. First sag at 26 miles -operative words cold/winds. Many people sagged at 26 because it was so uncomfortable and then a miracle happened. After the sag we turned south and that horrible cross wind became a tail wind. Still cold but oh what a difference. A long ride to Las Cruces but pretty much big gears the whole way. YIPEEEE

Lunched in Hatch, NM the WORLD Capitol of Chilis. Chili ristras were everywhere. Before Hatch there were miles and miles of chili farms and pecan groves, after Hatch hundreds of acres of pecan groves all the way to Las Cruces. The thought of this ride was daunting to me, the ride was in fact daunting but I did it!!! Linda's delicious split pea soup, corn bread and quinoa salad for dinner

Falling behind on my group line up. Tomorrow I will start with Wonder Women of the Sag, 4 riders who rotate driving the sag car every four days. So they ride 3 days and drive one. More details tomorrow. Note one photo of cattle gates - the bane(pain) of bike riders- one slight turn of the wheel as you cross and you go down. They seem to be everywhere in the southwest but haven't seen many cattle- and the ones we have are behind fences. Katie and Patti among the chili ristras- someday soon I will learn how to put captions under each picture!

Did I ever mention blog comments and new followers are better than Christmas morning when I check in each day. Thank you everyone for your interest. XOXO kk

EMORY PASS - Highest elevation of the trip

Silver City- Kingston, NM Friday 3/19 48.4 miles.

The day started cool but sunny with a few high clouds. We were surrounded by copper mines on both sides of the road for about 10 miles. Lots of ups and downs but the real climb started at 22 miles . In Gila National Forest, climbing through deep rock canyons, switch backs, snow everywhere but not on the road. More clouds move in. Warm in the sun but very cold when the clouds came. Lively snow fed spring brook next to road for awhile- beautiful scenery but very hard climb. Winds were mostly tail and cross, sometimes head but not really a factor. Hardest day so far. Climbed to Emory Pass 8228 elevation. Took a few pictures but couldn't stay long- too cold and windy. And then the descent - 8 miles switchbacks the whole way, a few snow flurries and aching fingers from feathering brakes. As Carol advised us, “take the lane”--- no shoulder, one lane each way, nothing else to do but claim the lane and cars have to figure it out. Luckily traffic was very light. It’s amazing how life has simplified- with major concerns of the day being wind, shoulders ,road surface, traffic and mechanical soundness of my bike. First (and I hope last) fall of the trip today slowing to a stop at the sag and didn’t get out of my clips fast enough- no harm done. Staying tonight at a cool old lodge which is also a sustainable farm, outbuildings are made from hay bales, covered with mud , lots of chickens . Delicious homemade turkey dinner in the lodge and then everyone went straight to bed.