Category: Ride of the Nearly Departed

Bicycle ride across the USA March and April 2018

Chili Town and Easy Riding

March 21, 2018

Hatch, NM ~ Chili Town

Another chilly start today but it quickly warmed up. Temperatures went from 33 degrees F. at wake up to nearly 80 degrees by the time we reached Las Cruces. My first stop along the way was at the not so grand Rio Grande. Here in New Mexico farm country it is not much more than an irrigation ditch. Every drop of water is used, used again and finally returned, much saltier, to its bed. Farming seems to be concentrated on chili peppers, pecan trees and pistachios.

Sparky’s
More Sparky’s
Chili Power!

The town of Hatch is devoted to the pepper and all the salsa that they go into. Processing plants and farms line the road leading into and out of the town. The town itself celebrates the chili pepper as well as some over the top collectibles at Sharky’s Restaurant. Unfortunately, Sharky is only open Thursday through Sunday so I could not try one of his award winning burgers.

We are at another KOA tonight in the city of Las Cruces. Nearby was the site of the Shalam Colony another attempt at utopia that did not make the grade. Here they adopted orphans and tried to indoctrinate them from an early age into living the Godly life along the road to a religious utopia. You can guess for yourself how that turned out.

The Road to Texas

March 22, 2018

It was nice to wake to above freezing temperatures this morning. No frozen fingers to thaw out on our coffee cups. Everyone was relaxed and seemed to take their time getting on the road. We all knew that The Bean was just a few miles away and in the perfect location for second breakfast.

Second Breakfast

The Bean is in the city of Mesilla, NM and is known for its great selection of coffees and other goodies. It is a must stop location for all cross country bicyclers. Since I was the last of the group to leave this morning, second breakfast was well underway by the time I arrived. I decided to have a blueberry and cream cheese turnover to go along with my latte.

My Choice

As previously mentioned, this area is known for its pecan farms. In fact it contains one of the world’s largest. It seemed to go forever with large, mature trees that created a tunnel over the highway. The next time you have some pecan pie,you might just be getting a taste of New Mexico.

Peacan Canopy

The town of Mesilla is also the place where William Bonnie a.k.a. Billy the Kid was brought to trial and sentenced to hang by neck until he was dead, dead, dead. The court building no longer stands but there is a sign and theme to the building that now occupies the spot.

Billy’s Last Stop Before the Noose

Finally, we crossed into Texas via some back roads that were so far back that no one bothered to erect a sign indicating that we had actually crossed into the lone star state. For this reason the expected photo memorializing the event will have to remain among the missing. Tonight we are up in the west Texas town of El Paso. I wonder where Rosa’s Cantina is?

Leaving El Paso

March 23, 2018

Goodbye El Paso

After a nice night in a very clean America’s Best Value inn, it was back into the traffic and out of El Paso. I can’t say much about the scenery except that it was mostly dull and depressing with abandoned homes wasting away just outside the city limits. However, the mountains in Mexico, across the Rio Grande to the south were majestic. At least the traffic was light once we were out of the city.

Shade is where You Find It

The one thing lacking in this part of Texas is shade along the highway. The Pecan trees that line the highway in places are without leaf this time of the year as is nearly everything else. A innovative person will look for what shade he can find before settling down to lunch in this warm and bright part of the country. I found my shade under a bridge with a delightful breeze.

Ft. Hancock Hospitality

Lodging tonight is either camping in a church yard or spreading out inside the Fort Hancock Community Church. I found my own quiet spot in the vestibule where I could escape the 40 mph winds predicted for overnight.

A Long Dull Day

March 24, 2018

Yesterday’s Mystery Machine

Texas claims the distinction of being the largest of the lower 48 states. However, it is also one of the most desolate, at least in that section through which we are currently riding. Today’s ride was long, mostly straight, and paralleling Interstate 10. We were even on the interstate for a couple of brief periods where there was no frontage road. Paralleling an interstate highway gives you all the noise but none of the traffic or smoothness of paving. Allow me to just say that no one was sad to see this day’s ride end.

Prada in the Middle of Nada

March 25, 2018

Deceptive Storefront

I can’t be quite sure what is happening to the economy in this part of the country. Either it is on its way back from a deep decline or it is down and striking for rock bottom. It seems every small town is just a single soul away from becoming a ghost town. Some are far healthier than others but all are looking quite shop worn. Each is interesting in its own way and the people you meet are friendly and eager to offer whatever assistance they can. Judging by the people alone, these communities are on their way up.

Pete’s Birthday on the Road
Yard art Texas Style
The Open Range

We started today with a birthday. Pete, turned the calendar page to another year on this planet and there was a cake, balloon and many well wishes to celebrate. Afterwards we were off on another jaunt over a lot of road with no services anticipated until the town of Marfa, 75 miles away. The scenery was much the same as we have been looking at the past few days but along the way was some interesting roadside art. First were some metal sculptures in a front yard which seemed right at home in Texas. However, the next installation was completely out of place. Somewhere between Van Horn and Marfa, Texas, in an area best known for its complete and utter desolation, you will find rising from the dust and tumbleweeds, Prada. Complete with display windows and merchandise this non operational store front is there solely to make an artistic statement. What that statement is I can only guess but to me it spoke, Prada in the middle of nada.

Prada ~ Nada

El Cosmico and Marfa

March 26, 2018

The Lost Horse Saloon

Marfa is a unique and interesting town. It has an artistic flare and is indeed home to a number of artists and galleries. It is also home to the West Texas norm of closed and abandoned store fronts and empty buildings. Still, there is a life and vitality to the community that makes it a treat to visit. The centrepiece is the Hotel Piasano a luxurious resting place with historic, old southwest charm. If you travel around town you will see examples of its eclectic nature, from the Lost Horse Saloon to some interesting signs and expressions.

Freedom of Expression
Welcome to Marfa
Marfa Luxury

Our resting place is a very unusual campground know as El Cosmico. If you like, you can pitch your tent on their flat, dry terrain, rent a tepee or stay in one of their classic, vintage trailers. There are outdoor, open air showers, a community kitchen and nearly everything necessary for a comfortable stay in a rustic setting. We even managed to arrive on an evening when there was free beer and music.

El Cosmico Kitchen
Vintage Trailer at El Cosmico

One of the best things about bicycle travel is the other cyclists you meet along the way. There is a steady stream of fellow peddlers going both east, west and to and from points in between. One such traveller is Grant. Grant is travelling from Tijuana, Mexico to Brownsville, Texas in order to write an article about the US – Mexico border for The Weekly Standard, a Washington DC publication. Each rider we encounter provides an opportunity to exchange stories, road conditions and general good will. A fellowship of the road.

Grant: On the Road for The Weekly Standard

Gray and Windy Day

March 27, 2018

Ready for Rain

Yesterday would have been a great day to ride from Marfa to Marathon. The weather was cloudy but mild and there was a nice breeze out of the west. However, yesterday was a layover day and we awoke this morning to a strong breeze coming out of the southeast. By the time we left it was strong enough to stand the flags straight out from the flagpole. A light rain began to fall and into it and the wind we rode.

Shortly outside of Marfa on Route 90 heading east, I came upon a unique art installation. There was no explanation or credit for the person who created it, just an open gate and a well gravelled path leading to it. It was quite impressive and i only wish I understood its meaning. A job of further learning is required.

More Roadside Art Outside Marfa, Texas
Not Sure But I Think Meso-American
A Counterpoint to the Prada Installation

After about 20 miles of strong headwinds the Weather Keeper of the Southwest turned a gentler eye upon our group and the winds abated for the 5 mile ride into the charming town of Alpine. Alpine is another artist community that seems to be thriving. Some of our group stopped at the town bike shop for some minor repairs and adjustments others sought out one or more of the towns restaurants for an early lunch.

Ghost Bike: A Reminder of Why We Need to Care

Along the windy way I came upon the above sad reminder of why we need to take care before we get behind the wheel of a 2000 plus pound machine and zip down the road at 70 mph. It is not just driving under the influence but all forms of distracted driving that we need to avoid. Be it texting or just road rage when we have to wait to get around someone on a bicycle. Nothing is so important that it is worth taking a life to get it.

The Weather Keeper of the Southwest is a fickled sort and turned the wind machine back on a few miles outside of Alpine. This time it was stronger with gusts that slowed our progress to a walking pace. Along the way was one of Target’s less successful stores where I met a rider from Northern England coming out of the door after sneaking a smoke inside. He too was feeling windbound and I later learned that he hitched a ride the remaining 25 miles into Marathon. No such luxury for Kevin and George who I came up on as we fought our way along. The weather Keeper did relent a bit for the last three or four miles into Marathon but still, it was like climbing a mountain most of the day.

George and Kevin Get-R-Done

Rapture of the Road

March 28, 2018

Texas Homestead

Today began with a birthday, the third one since we left San Diego. This time the day belonged to Marianna of recumbent bike fame. She was presented with a diminutive cake, suitable for one, as well as some do-dads for the occasion, and a round of Happy Birthday to You sung by the Southern Tier Chorus.

Marianna’s Birthday Surprise
A Cake for One
Rapture of the Road

Now, please indulge me an artistic moment that came upon me as I travelled today. My brush will be the English language which I shall dip into a rich medium of words: I had these thoughts as I rode through a soft Texas afternoon with gentle sunshine tempered with cooling breezes that caressed and pushed rather than impede my progress. It was something best experienced on a bicycle, silent and solitary. No noise but the dry air brushing my ears accented with the occasional cooing of morning doves. Above, cotton puff clouds float through a bright blue sky as Texas wildflowers bloom against dry, dusty sagebrush. Gentle, rounded hills define the horizon.

Texas Stilllife

Riders on the Road




This is the world I ride through today with nothing more than the smooth glide of my chain across sprocket teeth to compete with the beauty around me. It is a golden day. A day that bicyclists imagine when they picture their perfect ride. It is all I can ask for on this journey except to make a wish to enjoy many more like it as I cross this continent.

Texas Wildflowers

The Roads Make the Journey

March 29 & 30, 2018

Shadow Rider

On a bicycle the quality of the road conditions can make the difference between a great ride and something to be endured. Smooth, with wide, paved shoulders and light traffic can make the miles fly by. However, make the surface rough, bumpy and the traffic heavy and fast and a ride can become a drudge. Such is the contrast between the past two days. The first half of Thursday was great; little traffic, smooth road and a tail wind made the first 40 or so miles of an 80 mile day just fly by. However, the holiday weekend traffic began to build in the afternoon and the road surface turned to rough gravel chips partially embedded in an oil tar surface that transmitted every bump through the frame of the bike and into arms and shoulders. The miles started to grow longer. Good Friday was much the same as the latter part of Thursday only with more traffic, the same sort of road surface and a head wind to make the 75 mile journey one to be endured rather than enjoyed. Days like this are the price we pay for the great rides that far outnumber them.

Crossing the Pecos

The great thing about riding a bicycle across the continent is that you get to see local sights up close and personal. Unless you you want to slow your car down from the 70 mph or greater speed limits in this part of the country, it is just not possible to do so from a motorized vehicle even if you like to stop frequently. On a bicycle the world rolls by at a much slower pace, one more attuned to bring out the wanderer in us.

Along the way I encountered two still life scenes that seamed to shout TEXAS to me. Both were staged by someone but seemed quite natural in the overall setting I found them in.

Texas Stilllife
Too Many Miles in Those Boots



Dryden Aerodrome

You also encounter a flavour of the local history along the way. At 70 mph you almost never get a chance to stop and read the historical markers that accent the highways but on a bicycle your curiosity can easily cause a pause to read them. Near the almost non existent settlement of Dryden was such a plaque telling of the last armed train robbery in the United States. In 1912 two remaining members of Butch Cassidy’s Hole in the Wall Gang stopped and boarded the Union Pacific as it slowed to take a sharp bend just outside of the town. The entered and began to ransack the baggage car when they were surprised by a railroad employee who bashed one of them in the head and subdued the other. Both were tried and hanged in nearby Sanderson. Seven years later just a few miles up the road the US government built one of the first aerodromes in the southwest. From train robbers in the old west to flying machines in less than a decade.

Down the road another 40 miles is the town of Langtry, home to Judge Roy Bean, the law west of the Pecos. Here Judge Bean set up court, performed weddings, divorces, served as a Notary Public and dispensed a raw justice for misdeeds both great and minor. Sometimes he would stop a trial to serve a round of drinks his bar also being the court house. He was infatuated with Lilly Langtry, a well known performer also know as the Jersey Lilly and he often boasted of having had an affair with her even though he never personally met her. He wrote he frequently and tried ever enticement to get her to come to the town he named in her honour. Alas, she did finally come but it was too late for Judge Bean. He died a year before she arrived.

The Law West of the Pecos
Judge Bean’s Court Room and Bar

A Better Ride through Texas Hill Country

March 31, 2018

Bill and Barb Samose

Once again the road makes all the difference. Today’s journey from Brackettsville to Wes Cooksey County Campground was far more enjoyable than yesterday’s. To begin, it was shorter with less head wind, slightly better road surface and best of all, far less traffic. When you can actually hear the sounds of the countryside and take time to look around without fear of being run over, it is a far more pleasant bicycling experience. As noted in the title, we are now in Texas Hill Country and the landscape is making some subtle changes. Shade is now available with leafy trees in abundance as we ride though the hills. Gone is the wide open range now replaced with ranches that are fenced with feed and forage more plentiful for the cattle, goats and sheep that form the greater part of the population in this part of Texas. This also seems to be a more colourful environment with more hues of green and bright accents from wildflowers like the Texas Dandelions shown along the roadside.

Hill Country Sheep

Hill Country Sheep Dog