Day 17: Las Cruces, NM to El Paso, TX Note: No Internet Connection tomorrow

Day 17: Las Cruces, NM to El Paso, TX
Miles: 65.42
Theme: Shaking Up Prejudices

BEFORE YOU GET TO THE BLOG FOR TODAY, I JUT LEARNED THAT WE WILL HAVE NO INTERNET OR CELL COVERAGE TOMORROW, THEREFORE I WON'T BE ABLE TO POST UNTIL THE FOLLOWING DAY. SORRY.

Ah - today will be another border crossing, this time into Texas. It will be quite some time before we have our next border crossing - so we better enjoy the margaritas tonight! We were told that our ride would be similar in terrain to what we experienced yesterday - but that we would be doing a lot more city riding as El Paso is a big city!

We started off around 8:00 this morning and it was surprisingly cold! I was debating whether to wear a jacket this morning and am I glad that I did. Even with that on, it was chilly. I regretted my decision only to wear my short fingered gloves though. At one point I stopped to take a photo of the field of Pecan trees - and I had trouble operating the camera because my fingers were so stiff and cold. The trees were interesting. They were mature pecan trees that had all the branches cut off and were topped off at about 10 feet. The trunks were painted white about 6 to 8 feet up. It is the oddest thing to come across. I am assuming the trees will grow back and produce more nuts. I also learned these last few days that the way they water Pecan trees is to flood the field basically. They obviously are using some pesticides as nothing else is growing other than the trees. We are seeing groves and groves of pecan trees. Earlier it was fields of cotton, now it's pecan trees.

We reached the Sag at mile 20. Marge is driving the Sag today. It seems like the tradition now is for the Sag driver to wear Lise's cowboy hat for the day. Marge was sporting the hat quite nicely! It was finally getting warm so I could take of my jacket now, though my fingers still took some time to warm up. It is actually lovely riding weather - no wind and fairly flat roads with interesting things around the corners. One never knows what one will see. One thing that was notably different is that as we got closer to the big city of El Paseo, we definitely saw a lot more cyclists. It dawned on me, duh, it's Sunday - and all the bikers our out getting in their ride before the heat of the day. It made me realize how fortunate we are to not just get to ride on Saturday or Sunday - but we get to ride every single day of the week. I am truly loving getting up each morning and spending the day cycling.

As usual, I was biking with Tex and Kathie. As we came around a corner, something caught my eye, so of course I had to stop to take a photo. Hmmm, how do I describe what I saw. Well it was folk art for sure. Even looking at the picture as I try to describe it doesn't help much. Okay, there was a rusted out old truck body - in the front where there should have been the cab was some sort of stuffed animal with a hat on, with teeth bared. In the bed of the truck was some other animal made from straw bale construction - perhaps a dog. There was also a mattress with springs and on top of the springs were old CD's. And to top it off there was a skeleton on a bicycle. One never knows what one will run into around the corner!

I just started going again, knowing I would have to ride hard to catch back up with Kathie and Tex, and lo and behold along comes a guy traveling in the opposite direction on a recumbent bike similar to mine (with two large wheels). He came to a screeching halt, crossed the road and started talking away. His name was Bruce and he had to give up cycling because he had neck problems... and now he is in 7th heaven because he has a recumbent and can ride again. Then he talked about a guy he just passed on his bike who is riding solo and started in Mississippi and is going all the way to Alaska. I think Bruce would have stayed and talked for hours if I hadn't finally said to him, "well it's nice meeting you Bruce, but I really have to go and catch up to my group now." And so we parted. I now had to sprint to try to catch up to Kathie and Tex before we had to turn off the road we were on. As you might remember, I keep my cue sheet in my bike bag instead on my handle bars because it blocks too much of my view of the road. I didn't want to make an error, so sprinting to catch up was necessary to avoid a costly mistake. I did reach them right as they were about to make the turn! They were just gliding to a stop to wait for me when I caught them.

After the second Sag at mile 40 we quickly got more and more into the burbs and eventually the city of El Paso. On one of the hills there is a small sign that reads: Foot Hurt? - The Foot Institute. I thought it was a cruel joke to play given the issue I have been having with my toe! We didn't stop, but it did make me laugh! We did howeve take advantage of the last bike store we would see for a couple of days. I went in because I needed the small chain guard near the front of my bike tightened. I needed a tool that I didn't have handy so I thought I would just pop in and get that fixed. The other gals as well as Liz stopped with me. Now of course we couldn't go into a bike store and not buy anything! I found arm coolers which I purchased. This will help as the continual sun has made me turn to long sleeve shirts. This will give me the option of taking off the arms any time I want. THe young man who adjusted my bike was so helpful. I would ask a question and the answer would always be "Yes Ma'am." Of course he wouldn't take anything for tightening down the chain guard. It was simple enough to do and will sure make the rest of todays ride much nicer!

From there we really got into the heart of El Paso. It was fun riding through the city. At one point a truck full of workers - were in the back of a city truck. We came up to a stop sign and they asked us where we were going. When we said Florida, their jaws dropped. The light changed and off we went. We meet them at the next red light and I said, you guys work on Sunday. One young man took out his ear buds and said yes, we are repaying our debt to society. Turns out all of them were in the state corrections facility. They couldn't have been nicer or more polite. Things aren't always what they seem. Who knows what any of the men had done - but it could have easily been any of us. By the chance of the family you were born into, the color of your skin, the people you hang out with, what side of the border you are born on, it could easily have been any of us if circumstances had just been slightly different. As they drove off I shouted to them, "Be safe, be good". They shouted back "good luck, have fun."

Shortly after we left downtown El Paso, we had to take highways. Not my favorite type of riding but sometimes a necessary evil. It gets a little scary when you come up to an on ramp. One has to make sure no cars are entering as they don't expect to see bicycles going between 15 and 20 mph, when they are quickly getting up to 55 or 60 mph. All went well and we exited about 8 miles later. It was a relief to just be on normal streets. Well it was, until we noticed that we had a bridge to go over and they were doing road work, which meant one lane in each direction. We came up to a stop sign and there was a guy in a VERY BIG truck. He rolled down his window and said "Go ahead." I was leading, followed by Tex, Kathie and Liz. The guy tucked in behind LIz, turned on his flashers and protected us from all the traffic. We were all so appreciative. I was teary at the kindness of this stranger. Here I thought this man would jump out as quickly as possible so that he wouldn't have to ride behind bikes over this bridge. Instead he escorted us through. My preconceived ideas and prejudices about Texas and Texans are being shaken!

One of my concerns about this trip was that we would spend 20 days riding across Texas. My stereotype of Texas isn't very positive. I told Kate several months ago that I will really need to go through Texas with an open mind. Well I can say, that Texas welcomed us with open arms so far. I am thankful for such a positive first experience! I am happy to have my prejudices all shaken up!

Well, I am once again doing some laundry since we got in early. It is nice to take it easy for the afternoon. There are so many other things that happen during the day that never get shared on this blog. This continues to be an absolutely fabulous experience - and certainly an experience of a lifetime. How lucky am I!