Ft. Hancock to Van Horn, TX

74 miles — no, make that 74 brutal miles

After a restless night at the less then impressive Ft. Hancock Motel, we headed out to churn out the miles to get us across Texas.      No internet last night- I will catch up on inserting photos on my rest day on thursday – so check back if interested.

If yesterday was ideal, today was bad.

The winds were the enemy today, as they battered us at every turn and mile- up to 30 mph for more than 10 hours.   I have heard winds described as “buffeting winds”, but today, they were more like waves battering the shore.  The waves of wind would come in and wash over you and and your bike. Sometimes  a crosswind, sometimes a headwind.   You are pedaling hard, but making little progress. Exhausting.

I think there were sights to see – but after the first 20 miles, I barely looked up.  Early on we did see wonderful pastures filled with horses, and cattle.  The farms/ranches are quite expansive, and I wonder what it would be like to be responsible for all that land!

Traveled a bit on the I-10 again.  Um, the speed limit was 80.  Nothing like a gajillion  huge trucks whizzing by you at 80.  It makes you feel so small at times.

The women on this trip are all experienced riders, many of them very strong.  You know it is a tough day when several decide to jump in the van to get off the road.  A decision which they do not make lightly. I made it today, we shall see about tomorrow!

Short blog tonight, as tomorrow looks to be another challenging day.  I had hoped Emory Pass would be my last stretch day – but it looks like tomorrow will have a little bit of everything -90 miles, 15+ miles of climbing, Interstate/Highway riding– let’s hope that the winds were blown out of town with the rain storm that arrived at dinner.

Oh- how I wanna go back to yesterday!!

On to Ft. Davis!

Good night everyone!