Day 21 – The winds…they are a-changin’

Completed Miles: 75.2

Cumulative miles: 1092.6

Miles to St Augustine: 1972

Today we rode from Fort Hancock through Sierra Blanca to Van Horn, TX. The first 20 miles was mostly back roads near the Mexico border. It was amazingly quiet. I only saw 5 vehicles and one was our Adventure Cycling van. It was quiet and serene through desert and agriculture with some early morning views of the mountains. The rest of the ride was along I-10 mostly on frontage roads, but a couple times on I-10, because there was no frontage road.

The first time on I-10, we were able to exit on a gravel “road” to get to the frontage road that started there. It was weird, see picture. The second time we were on I-10, it was about 7 miles and downhill and the shoulders were pretty good. About the other 50 miles, we rode on the frontage roads, which had very little traffic. Today’s ride had the least amount of traffic concerns so far on this tour.

Roughly the halfway point of the ride today was Sierra Blanca where I took a short break and got more water. Sierra Blanca is noted for two things:

First, their billboards claim they have the World’s Best Climate (it’s only a local boast). Second, Sierra Blanca was the place where America’s second transcontinental railroad joined. Yep, that’s all they got!

As hoped for, the winds changed direction during the day, and we got a tailwind after Sierra Blanca. We’re supposed to have more tailwinds for our long ride tomorrow.

We ended in Van Horn, TX. Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos space company, launches its rockets about 20 miles north of Van Horn, and the city likes the connection.

Finally, some of our riders met a solo bike rider along the way. They said he was “Tom from Wisconsin” and invited him to our camp. He is riding the same route we are but doing it in segments. This trip, he is going from El Paso to Austin. He is from Chippewa Falls, WI (home of Leinenkugel’s beer). I asked him if he is a Packers fan, and although he said yes, he grew up in Minnesota and still roots for the Vikings too. Well at least he didn’t say the Bears!