Van Horn, TX

The 75 mile ride from Ft Howard to Van Horn was our most difficult day so far. We had a 19 mph head wind, with gusts to 30 mph.  Our average speed was only 10 mph.  To ease our journey, we rode in a pace line, and took turns at the head of the line. The terrain was he same as yesterday, and quite monotonous.  

The weather forecast is for a change in wind direction from NE to SW.  This will be a very welcome change 😊

Ft Howard, TX

An easy 57 mile ride today.   The route was flat, with little to no wind.  Most notable event was discovering a really nice bakery inside a large Mexican market.  This size of  the market was comparable to the new HyVee's in Des Moines.  The most impressiive feature was the large produce department.  It reminded me of some the large European markets that we have visited.

Lunch was at a great Mexican restaurant.  I had Huevos Rancherous ($5) and cantalope juice.

Tomorrow looks to be quite challenging, with a 1000 foot climb at the beginning, and a strong eastern headwind.  Winds are forecasted to be in the high teens in the afternoon, so the group is planning to start riding at daybreak.

El Paso, TX - tough day

Probably our toughest ride to date.  78 miles into a strong, sustained headwind.  The best part of the ride was dinner and the open bar.  Bubba declared an open bar in honor of the waning virus.  This proved to be somewhat premature; Sonny and Lil both succumbed to the virus.

Columbus, NM -- rest day, no riding

We spent our rest day in Columbus. It is a border town with a few hundred residents, and a declining population. It's claim to fame was the raid by Poncho Villa in 1916.

In the morning, we visited the Poncho Villa State Park, where a park ranger addressed our group and provided historical background of Villa's raid.  The motivation for the raid is somewhat murky.   Villa was a figure in the Mexican revolution (1910-1920),  and it appears that his objective was to rearm his struggling army.  

The raid provided the US with a cover for sending an army of 10,000 soldiers to capture Villa, and stabilize the territory around the US/Mexican border.  -- Villa was never captured, and was thought to have been assassinated by the Mexican government several years later.

In the afternoon we crossed the border to eat and shop at the "Pink Store", accompanied by liberal amounts of margaritas.  On our return to the border, several of the men obtained haircuts in an open air salon on the street.

Earlier in the day, discovered that my rear tire was flat; probably a victim of the dreaded "goat head thorn". This was my second flat on the rear tire, and decided it was time to mount new rubber. 

We have had no new occurances of the virus, and the group appears to have cured.  I'm not sure of the exact count, but well over half of our members have been sick over the past week. 

On the road to Columbus, NM

Rodeo to Columbus is our longest day of the whole tour: 95 miles.  Fortunately we had a 25 mile tail wind in the afternoon.  The only notable event along the route was crossing over the Continental Divide.

Similar to the prior day, there were very limited services along the way, and Ann again prepared box lunches for our noon sag stop.

Rodeo, NM -- we are truly In the middle of nowhere.

Rodeo was our next destination after Brisbee. The only town along the way was Douglas,AZ, another border town. Our sag stop in Douglas was a small, excellent Mexican bakery, where all pastries were 50 cents each. Douglas was also the home of the Gladstone Hotel (see panoramic photo below). It had over the top features, including massive granite columns, a marble staircase to the upper floors, and elaborate art glass installations.  There are gouges in the marble staircase, supposedly made by Poncho Villa, as he scaled the steps, mounted on his horse. 

After we left Douglas, we encountered a desolate landscape.  Here were no services, and only an occasional ranch house. Ann prepared box lunches for.our noon sag stop.  The only tourist stop was a monument commemberating the defeat of Geronomo in1886. 

The population of Rodeo is 75. However, it had a community center and a bar/restaurant. -- I am continually amazed by Bubba's resourcefulness. He had rented 3 vacation cabins to accomodate our showers. Later in the evening, he had invited the regional border patrol captain to address the group. 

I've previously commented on the quality of our camp meals. The Rodeo dinner was especially notable: crab cakes, meatloaf, rice with a wine sauce, fresh vegetable medley, macaroons, and chocolate chip cookies. 

Brisbee, AZ

Brisbee was our overnight town on Thursday March 20.  It was founded as a mining town, and superceded Tombstone as the county seat of Cochise Co.  There were substantial mining operations here until the 1960's. Today, it subsists primarily on tourism. 

Brisbane reminds me of Galena, IL. It is built in a deep gorge, with small residences perched on the hillsides.  Like Galena, there are several sets of long steps that descend to the Main Street of town. We camped in the city park that was at one of the highest elevations.  No one rode their bike up the steep hill leading to the park!

Bubba had arranged for a wine and cheese reception at one of the art galleries.  Afterwards, we dined at one of the many restaurants. Though the food was good, it did not compare to the meals prepared by Ann, our camp chef.