Day 25 [Marathon, TX]

Above is my room for the evening.  I am staying at an awesomely crazy hostel in Marathon, TX.  This room is on the second floor, and I'm told has an incredible view of the stars at night.  I won't even have to break out my tent tonight!  The town of Marathon is a unique little town of about 400 people.  They have a small grocery store, a pizza place, and a saloon.  This hostel consists of a bunch of random little one-room buildings built by people that have traveled through.  The story about the photo below of the train house is really neat.  Apparently the sheriff here in Marathon caught some guys that were train-hopping across America.  He didn't know what to do with them so he brought them up to this hostel.  They were orphans or at least were permanent road dogs, and had been train hopping and staying wherever they could their entire lives.  They ended up staying at this place for three months and during that time built a shack that resembled a train (probably because that was all they ever knew as home).  Eventually they were asked to leave because they caused too much trouble in town.  What makes this hostel so cool is that you can pick out any of the little rooms to sleep in and they all have a story.  There's probably 10 different little buildings in camp here and all of them are unique and range from being built with re-bar and cement to beer bottles and paper machete.  An absolutely unique and interesting place that I have been hearing about from fellow cyclists for the past 200 miles.  The best part?  They let us cyclists stay for free!

Train-shack

Hostel owner's car painted by a passer-through

Day 24 [Alpine, TX]

I suppose you have your trial by fire days, the rides that make you wonder why the hell you are doing this to yourself, but then you have days like this in which you revisit all the reasons that you are biking across the country.  A short ride today, essentially a "rest day" at 27 miles, but man was it awesome.  Gentle ups and downs through a Texas valley with a beautiful blue sky.  At only two hours of riding time I am left with plenty of time to explore this little college town - and that's just what I'm off to do.  Short post today, I need to relax for a bit.  Happy Friday, everyone! 

Day 23 [Martha, TX]

Last night I set my tent up under some lighting that I had not noticed during the day time.  Since I was too lazy to move it I didn't get a great night's rest.  The 74 miles today seemed to drag on forever.  Between where I left and where I ended up there was one small town with nothing open except, oddly enough, a dentist's office.  I popped in there and filled up my water holdings before pressing onward.  Also along the desolate ride through nothing but mile after mile of ranch land I found this Prada building.  It was literally at least 35 miles in any direction from even the nearest gas station.  It had a few purses and pairs of shoes showing in the windows, but a sign explained that it was some sort of art piece and that door to the store could never be opened.  Weird.  The tail end of the ride today was a little bit miserable.  I had nothing left that I wanted to give and my ass was killing me.  I was stopping every mile or two to get off the saddle for a moment.  I think a shorter day is in order for tomorrow.  I am also pissed off that I am spending the night in some hippie campground with "communal showers".  In this instance this means that you basically just stand outside naked.  You also go number two outside as well.  Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't complain if they didn't charge for this nonsense, but they do.  What the hell is wrong with these people?

Day 22 [Van Horn, TX]

Central timezone!

First a warning in advance: this post may consist of incoherent statements and random babbling because I am so tired.  I had a longgg day.  I made it 67 miles to Van Horn, TX but it took me nearly seven hours.  I ran into a pretty deceiving incline that I didn't think was going to be that bad, but as soon as I hit it I felt like there was a dead longhorn strapped to the back of my bike (I'm in Texas now so the use of longhorn is appropriate).  Halfway into the ride I stopped and ate lunch and was all but sure I was just going to call it quits for the day and camp in that little town's park.  The lady that made my food (also the waitress and the only person other than me in the restaurant) told me that the hard part of my day was already over with.  This lady had apparently held some sort of public office in the county and so she was on the phone whenever she wasn't dealing with me.  She was using "jack shits" and other such phrases quite liberally and presumably to other public figures.  I guess that's just how they do shit here in Texas.  Anyway, by the time I finished eating it was already 3:30 but I decided I'd press on the remaining 30 miles and just get it done.  I was happy that I did at the end of the day, but man those miles did not come free.  I encountered some pretty bad headwinds, which seemed to worsen as the day wore on.  On top of that I spent most of the day riding on an I-10 frontage road made of what looked to be tarred-down gravel.  I also accidentally refilled my Camelbak with half lemonade and half water.  Warm lemonade is even worse than warm water.  I didn't want to drink it but I damn well had to.  Time to pass out in my tent, tomorrow will be another big mileage day.

Day 21 [Fort Hancock, TX]

And the long trek through Texas begins.  57 miles of it taken out today, with a couple of long hauls ahead of me.  I plan on riding 70 miles tomorrow and 85 or so on Thursday.  These are just the kind of distances you have to expect when riding through this huge freaking state.  Thankfully I've had a few easier states worth of training, and should be well positioned for the challenge.  In the picture above, the mountains you see are part of Mexico.  I will once again be riding the border for a little while.  Pretty close to me is the Mexican city of Cuidad Juarez, the murder capital of the country at an average of eight a day.  But that's there and I'm here, right?  Let's hope!  In all honesty it has felt pretty safe so far.  Everyone is nice enough and you get the comfort of heavy duty border patrol trucks passing you quite frequently.  Tonight I'm in motel, but this will be the last night that happens for quite awhile.  I've got at least fifteen nights of camping ahead of me, hopefully sprinkling in some couch surfing stays if I can get responses to the requests I've sent out already.  Good bye to climate control and precious, comfy beds for now.

Day 20 [El Paso, TX]

Riding through a pecan orchard on my way to El Paso

New Mexico flew by quickly and I have arrived in Texas already!  The better news is that I am finally off of the interstate and as such can now enjoy all the beauty of the land that the freeway hides.  Somehow I missed the "Welcome to Texas" sign while I was relishing in said beauty though.  I guess I can make pretend and take a picture of the sign as I am exiting Texas in a few weeks.  El Paso is one crazy city.  It is huge, and hilly like San Francisco.  It is about 70% Hispanic, walking distance from Mexico, and probably should just change it's name to Texaco.  I was able to enjoy a much needed rest day here as I gear up for my conquest of desolate Texas.  My friend from college, Meagan, and her husband, Zach, were kind enough to put me up for a couple of nights.  They took me out to one of their favorite restaurants so that I could experience authentic Mexican food - very, very good!  I also was able to tune up the bike a bit as well as get her nice and clean for the road ahead.  I planned out my next 16 days, which will see me through something like 850 miles and almost to the other end of Texas.  I'm sticking with my Adventure Cycling route and steering clear of the interstate from here on out.  It's too visually bland and the shoulder of it is a crap shoot between clean and littered with all sorts of smut.  Thanks again to Zach, Meagan, and their cute little one, Grace.  I told them they were going to be pictured on my blog, and Meagan told me to keep the picture small, but I can't do that because then you wouldn't see the lovely family!

Day 19 [Las Cruces, NM]

0 miles.  That's how long it took me to get my first flat tire today, and 28 miles brought me another four.  Apparently my luck had run out, and this resulted in the day from hell for me.  Every single flat was the result of a little piece of steel belt from an exploded tire.  It's not like I wasn't avoiding road debris either, I always do.  This morning I woke to find my rear tire flat, as usual.  Since it had already been patched three times I decided I'd use my last spare tube and just replace it.  Once on the road I got a flat just about every five miles. So time after time, I'd unload the bike, patch the tire, and get back to pedaling.  By the time the fifth flat tire came I was out of patches and tubes.  Stuck in a desolate area, 25 miles away from the day's destination.  Now I had told myself that I would never get a ride (I consider it cheating) unless I was about to pass out, injured, or just shit out of luck.  Hopefully I won't have to use anymore cheat codes, but in this instance it was necessary.  So there I was stranded on the side of the road thinking about what to do.  I eventually remembered that I had AAA road side service, so I gave them a call.  I let them know the situation, and how I was stranded.  The woman on the phone unsympathetically informed me that there was no way they can come pick up a cyclist.  I then called a cab company located in Las Cruces.  It took awhile to explain what I needed them to do, but they eventually understood and agreed to come pick me up.  Just as I was hanging up the phone a truck pulled over and out stepped Ray and Vicky.  They helped me load everything into their truck and gave me food and water (which I was out of) on the ride.  They were my saviors for the day.  In Las Cruces they dropped me off at a bike shop so I could get the ailing Fiona looked at.  All in all it was an absolutely terrible day.  I'm so thankful that tomorrow I'll be in El Paso with a real roof over my head and a rest day on Monday.  Texas awaits me, and I'm still undecided on which route to take through the extremely desolate western part.