Day 3 of 17 Days of Texas. Sig, Keri and I left El Paso later than usual, way behind the rest of our group. We didn’t have that many miles to go and we wanted to stop at the Texas Store. Sig thought we all should have Texas flags attached to our bicycles “for protection.” As if in displaying Texas flags, folks would think we were natives and be kind to us on the road. So off we went, down the road, our flags fluttering – the wrong way. When we finally figured it out Sig was far ahead and we had to scream many times before he heard us, we finally got turned around and with some creative route finding, including a construction site portage, we got back on the correct route without too many extra miles.
Along the way we visited the missions, the same ones I had went to the day before with Donna, but Keri and Sig hadn’t seen them and we didn’t stay very long. Then Keri and I rode behind Sig as he plowed through the wind all the way to checkpoint. After a short rest and a big coke I was ready to go. The road direction changed and we had a tailwind! Keri and I ended up leaving Sig as we motored the last 25 miles in – we even passed farm equipment.
Our accommodations for the night was a small motel. Drank some beer in Bob and Sig’s room with the AC on full blast until dinner. Food was just across the street in a little cafe and afterward we had entertainment – some of the local kids came out and did some mexican dances for us in very colorful traditional dress. After a nice sunset it was time for sleep. I had my own room this night, but had to move at one point because of plumbing problems. The new room had no AC, but by then it was cool enough for me.
55.0 miles