Day 192: Sanderson, TX

It was 81 miles to Sanderson, TX and the forecast showed it would get hot.  So we elected to once again share the riding, splitting the day into four twenty mile segments.  In the end, I covered 42 miles and Alea did 39.  But half of her miles were in the hottest part of the day, with temperatures in the mid 80s and low 90s.

Eagles Nest Creek, near Langtry, TX.

We started out early, to overcast skies and a brisk tailwind.  By 10 am the skies had cleared and our tailwind had diminished to a light quartering breeze and the temperature was around 77 degrees.  From then on it heated up fairly steadily, reaching 90 degrees by the time we stopped for the day.

The road was almost uniformly rough chip seal, so I opted to occupy the travel lane, riding in the tire rut closest to the shoulder.  In the high heat out here the semis mash the aggregate into the asphalt, leaving the tar closer to the surface.  It makes for a much smoother riding surface, and I can easily shift up a gear or two when riding that way (as compared to riding on the shoulder).  By the end of the day Alea was following suit.  There isn't much traffic, and generally we hear cars and trucks coming long before they get close to us, giving us time to move back over to the shoulder.


We crossed the Pecos River early this morning, entering the fabled land of Judge Roy Bean.  There is a fancy museum dedicated to him in Langtry, TX, but it didn't look to be open when we passed by.  I suspect crossing the Pecos River means that we are now officially in West Texas.

We are camping at Canyons RV Park ($25 for 30 amp power, water, adjustable showers).  This little campground has a fairly high funk-factor, but it's clean and $25 is pretty reasonable for a private campground.  The men's combination toilet/shower is in a tiny portable building.  There is no way to lock the door, but it's only me and two other cyclists who are using it.  And there is another portable building with a washer and dryer, so we were happy to get some cycling clothes washed, as we'll be doing long stretches of riding for the next several days where there are only a few one horse towns spread out about every 40 miles or so. 

Inline valves used for shower controls.
(Short people must love this setup!)

When we arrived here around 2 pm there were two other cyclists (Phillip and George) setting up their tents under what is basically a large carport.  They started out in San Diego on September 11th and are heading home to Amelia Island, FL.  We had a long chat with them, and George and Lana became fast friends.  But they declined our offer to have dinner with us, opting instead to eat at the nearby combination Dairy King/Mexican Restaurant.  We asked that they give us a call if they served margaritas there, but we never heard from them.

It sounds as though heading eastbound there have been lots of cyclists for them to hang out with, so I suspect they weren't as interested in talking with us as we were with them.  We were in New York the last time we camped with a fellow cyclist, but we're happy to know that we'll likely have other opportunities as we head west.  They did tell us that there is a lone woman heading westbound ahead of us, though it isn't too likely that we'll overtake her.