Across America

74 miles The campsite yesterday wasn't actually that bad. Once it got time to set up my tents, I realized I was the only one on the primitive site. Everyone was on the electricity site. So I had the whole campgrounds myself pretty much. Not much you can do with that, but it's nice to know. Woke up at 6:00, was on the bike around 7:00. It was 10 mi to the first town. So I did about 80 mi yesterday, and then that 10 mi this morning made up the 90 mi without food. So I was able to buy some snacks and head on. I rode another 30ish miles and made it to Del Rio. This is the first time in a while I was seeing fast food restaurants and just businesses in general. It was a nice medium sized town, and it seemed pretty fun. I stopped in at the bike shop, unfortunately the mechanic wasn't in today. It was a unique bike shop because half it was a bike shop, and then the other half was a landscape company! The owner owned both and put it under the same roof. I was able to talk to the two

80mi Last night I had the good fortune to eat gas station food. I had a chicken sandwich, and three corn dogs! I don't know how good it was for me, but it was delicious! I woke up at about 4 something, And again the inside of the tent was covered and condensation. However, this time I took a towel and wiped it down immediately. So when I woke up at 6:00 a.m., it was hardly wet at all. I think I found the new strategy! Wake up an hour or two before I need to, wipe down the condensation, and go back to bed. Unfortunately it this doesn't seem very practical I probably will not do it. It was a weird day. For starters, when I started riding the humidity was sitting at 99%. It stayed there much of the day. It was unusual. Just very muggy for the first several hours of the ride. It was also weird because I had a headwind. It started off small, but by the end of the day it was around 10 plus miles an hour. Nothing crazy though. The weird thing is I didn't really feel it. Because I

 55mi Slept pretty good last night. But when I woke up I got my fair share of condensation. Yes, the tent was soaking wet with condensation. Inside and out. I set my tent up on a very small slope. That slope did not help the condensation escape my tent. I dried it down the best I could, but I was going to have to pack it up wet. Thankfully my sleeping bag didn't really get wet. Everything outside had condensation on as well. My bike was completely covered. I was out of the RV park around 7:30. Little bit of tailwind today, and then a decent chunk of crosswind. The real treat of today was that after the first 20 miles, it was pretty much straight downhill. Nothing crazy, just a nice steady downhill. I wasn't going crazy fast, but there was a lot of coasting today. I was able to get into town before noon. There's no grocery store, just two gas stations. All the restaurants are closed. Very little going on. It's memorial Day, everyone needs some time off. I'm staying a

57 miles The rain continued into the evening. Which didn't bother me one bit! I had shelter, and plenty of reading material. I was able to get an excellent night sleep. Well over 8 hours, which on this trip is a lot more than I have been getting. I was able to take it slow this morning, and take my time getting ready.  Right before I left, I said my goodbyes to my hosts Elizabeth and Zeke. Thank you both for the awesome stay! You are awesome! There was rain in the forecast, for later in the afternoon. It was a very cloudy day, which dropped the temperatures down quite a bit. It was around 60 when I start it riding at 9:00 a.m. It was beautiful riding. For the first nice chunk I had a nice little tailwind, and then a headwind for maybe 45 minutes, and then a crosswind for the last bit. Alpine was a cool little town. I packed enough water and food, so I didn't need to stop. But it looked fun. There was a lot more twist and turns! And there was a lot more scenery. Rolling hills, a

I've been putting in some big miles the past few days. Last night I was fried, and this morning I was still feeling pretty tired. It was a perfect day for a rest day. Not only was I tired, but it was also a rainy day. It was pretty cloudy in the morning, and then it stormed in the afternoon. Not a lot of lightning and thunder, but a good bit of rain. With the rest day I was able to explore Marfa! It's an interesting little town, I was informed that it could be considered the Western most outskirt of Austin. Marfa is big on the art scene.  Marfa is also known for a couple major filming locations. The first is Giant, starring James Dean, Rock Hudson, and Elizabeth Taylor. The next two are a little more recent, no country for old men and there will be blood. I was informed that the bank president in the town was in no country for old men Anyway, today I walked around the courthouse and some of the older hotels. Like I said, very interesting. I could also tell that there was a bit

106 mi Good night sleep, and an early start. Sierra Blanca to Van Horn wasn't anything crazy. I rode on the interstate that made it very quick. Still nothing crazy fast Went to the always trustworthy Dollar general, and picked up some supplies. I bought enough so that I would be able to camp in Valentine if I needed to. There is only water and Valentine, nothing else. So I made the trek down to Valentine, And it wasn't too bad. It was slightly uphill, with a medium headwind. The problem was the slight uphill never ceased. The whole ride was always slightly uphill. I was able to see some cool stuff. I got to see the Prada store just outside of Valentine. When I was there someone gave me a Coke, that was a lifesaver! Good people! Once I hit the Valentine library I was extremely tired. I was planning on only taking a 30 minute break, but it turned into an hour and 30 minute break. It turned out, I was pretty dehydrated, and undernourished. So I drink a lot of water, ate a lot of f

96 miles (66mi in the correct direction) I woke up relatively early to be at the bike shop by 8:00 a.m. . For the first 20 minutes, the traffic was good. For the next hour plus the traffic was pretty terrible. Busy. I persevered, and made it to the bike shop right around the time it opened. I talked to the owner and the mechanic for a little bit, and then the mechanic got to work. Overall, I think he's spent 5 minutes fixing it. But it is now as it should be. I spent the next 30 minutes rearranging how I packed my stuff. I now have a lot more of my heavier gear in my front bar bag. I used to have clothes in there, but now I put those in the rear trunk to make that lighter and easier on my wheels/spokes. Good people at this bike shop Then I got on the road. And I took the road that they suggested, and it was a lot better. I mean considerably better. I mean not bad at all. Far fewer cars and trucks, and more room. Not bad at all! Eventually I made it out to Fort Hancock. I stopped at

103mi I slept pretty good all things considered. The campsite had a ton of mosquitoes. Before I left I got an excellent burrito! From Columbus to the outskirts of El Paso is about 60 mi. As soon as I hit the outskirts, I hit traffic. The bike shop I needed to go to was 15 mi in from there. Pretty much all that riding was dangerous with vehicles going way too fast. There are multiple times I needed to stop and catch my breath and figure out where I was going. Not the best.  I finally got to the bike shop and they put on my new wheels. While taking my old ones off they found that I had a nail in my back tire, and three thin metal thorns in my front. The tires were still inflated, and functioning. They put the new wheels on and I was good to go. I rode through downtown El Paso, and got on The road heading out of town. This too was horrible traffic, and very dangerous. Not suitable for a bike. About 10 miles out of town, I noticed that my back wheel was a little off. It was not centered. I

96 miles Every morning before I start my ride I'm always extremely anxious. I Also feel a little sad. If I stayed with the host that night, it's always hard to leave. This person that I met the day before, spent so much time with, to only leave them the next day. It's weird. Today was especially challenging. Ron is such a great human being and we connected extremely fast. People like Ron are very few and far between. Once I start riding, things always get better. The anxiety slowly goes away, and I start to focus on the task ahead. Today's task was a little ambitious, but it all worked out! Not 100% of a tailwind the whole time, but more of a cross tailwind. Essentially it still made me go fast. Today there were two towns in between my start and endpoint. Combined population is probably close to 100. Each town only had one store. One of the stores was literally selling Walmart products! They opened a box of granola bars and put a price tag on each of them! I'm not s

84 mi Great day. I left Bisbee around 7:00 a.m. A nice downhill for the first hour. Made my way into Douglas. Stop that a gas station picked up some goodies and was back on the road. Coming out of Douglas were some decent climbs. Nothing too crazy. After the climbing, I went fast. There was a tailwind all day. I averaged around 15.7 mph for 80+ miles. On this trip, that is flying! Pretty much nothing but desert and mountains for the 50 miles from Douglas to Rodeo. So I did cross the New Mexico border today, but I went back on the other side at my host's house. Today was unforgettable. The house I was staying at was breathtaking. All the doors and windows were opened, and it seamlessly flew from inside to outside. It was awesome! The Coronado National Forest, that is on the border of New Mexico and Arizona, is amazing. Breathtaking, simply breathtaking. Great conversations and great food.  The trip has been all about extremes. Yesterday crazy low, today crazy high. Who knows what to

41 miles Not the best day... Got to sleep in considerably. Rod drove me back to where he picked me up (the park) at 7:00 a.m. At around 7:30. Made it just about 2 hours and then I broke a spoke. No bike shops for the next 300ish miles, but there were two that were 10 mi back. Unfortunately both of the bike shops were closed on Sunday and on Monday. I know I probably shouldn't be riding on a broken spoke for 300 mi so my options are limited. I call everyone. Literally everyone. And no clear answers came. You look like I was going to have to wait until Tuesday. After a while sitting on the side of the road, Rod came by and picked me up. He said we're heading to Tucson. Yep, Rod was so kind that he drove me all the way back to Tucson to get my bike fixed. Thank you so much Rod! This was a game changer! We got to Tucson, And I finally found out why I keep breaking spokes. My wheels are cracking where the spokes go into them. Front and back... In some spots it is pretty bad. These c

72 miles What an awesome day. Left Tucson at around 6:00, and was able to get on the loop to leave town. It's really nice not having to deal with cars, unfortunately I cannot say that for the rest of today's ride. Once I got out of town, things got a little dicey. Taking 83 to Sonoita was not the most fun. There really wasn't a shoulder, and it was pretty much all uphill. And there were a lot of twists and turns. All of this is fine, except when you add cars. Especially cars that are speeding through the hills. Very dangerous. I was extremely cognizant, I'm was almost always looking over my shoulder. There were no real close calls. The riding was hard. Elevation was also a factor. But essentially, I was just writing a hill all the way to Sonoita. Once I got to Sonoita, I sat down on the bench and I was exhausted. It was about 50 miles to get there, but it was all uphill. Tough day. But, the temperature was extremely cool compared to what I was used to. So I was able to

53 mi Last night was rough. Really rough. I got the tent set up, by the time I did the forecast had changed. The rain was now coming sooner, and lasting longer. With this in mind, and the disturbing clouds off in the distance, I packed up and slept in the bathroom. Not an ideal night, but I was unaffected by the heavy winds, heavy rain, and lightning! The lights in the bathroom were turned on by a sensor. If no one moved/entered the lights went off. Several people used the bathroom last night. I woke up every time Not a super early start, I was rocking and rolling at 5:15. Got to sleep in a little bit, for what that's worth. The whole day was very light wind, but straight climbing. The grade was extremely low, I only ended up doing a thousand feet, but I didn't drop any. The traffic in Tucson was noticeably worse than any place I was so far. In my opinion, the traffic was even worse than San Diego. However, once I got in Tucson a little bit was able to hop on The Loop. For thos