Day 19: Fort Hancock to VanHorn, Texas

Day 19: Fort Hancock to VanHorn, Texas
Miles: 84.30
Theme: Things change on a dime!


The motel we stayed in last night was - well what can I say, not a place that I would recommend. My mom always taught me if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. I will stick with my mom's advice!

Because this hotel didn't have a complimentary breakfast (thank goodness) Linda made up scrambled eggs and the fixings for breakfast burritos, hot oatmeal, coffee... I have to admit I personally prefer when the hotels don't have breakfast as Linda's is a much better way to start the day! After breakfast, we loaded our luggage in the trailer, filled water bottles and headed down the road. Tex, Kathie, Liz and I were riding together today. Given the winds that came up yesterday we wanted to get in as early as possible in case the wind was in our face!

We started out and we were sailing down the road. The countryside wasn't that interesting. Once again we are very close to the Mexican border so you see a lot of border patrol vehicles as well as the Bush Fence. The ride was relatively flat (maybe even a bit downhill and with the wind at our backs, we were cruising. Since we started early as well, the weather at this stage was fantastic! It also made for fun shadows. I could see my own shadow of me riding the "BarcaLounger (Ms. B as my friend Kelle has dubbed my bike). What can I say, life was a breeze. I did enjoy however the lines of deep furrowed fields - as they lead the eyes to the mountains. Of course I had to stop and take a photo or two

We quickly came to mile 19ish, where Lise, Nancy and Lisa caught up with us. At the intersection Nancy (aka Sacagawea) looked at her directions while riding and said go right. Those three quickly put some distance between Kathie, Tex, Liz and me. The four of us were cooking down the road, pleased with our pass and thinking that we wouldn't have too much trouble with the 75 miles we were suppose to ride today. The road was empty so rode 2 abreast. It was nice to have some conversation and see the miles quickly go by. Given that the scenery was rather barren, conversation and a tailwind were greatly appreciated.

Off in the distance I saw a group of cyclist coming in the opposite direction. It is fun to see other riders as occasionally you meet up with others going across the country. As this group got closer I saw an orange jacket. An orange jacket is fairly unusual and the only person I know who has one is Lisa (Young Pup). As they got closer it dawned on all of us that it was the three from our group. As they passed us they shouted we went the wrong way at the turn --- 6 miles back! Our hearts sank! To top it off when we turned around, what was a beautiful tailwind was now a very UGLY headwind. Oh, how my heart sank! Tex and I both took a quick bathroom break and then started up the hill -- yes to add insult to injury not only did we now have a head wind, but we also had to go uphill! As we got over the small rise (that felt like a BIG HILL) Liz, Kathie, Nancy, Lise and Young Pup were all talking.

Lise is an M.D. and also was a colonel in the Army. She knows about leadership and leading a team. She said "okay ya all, we are going to ride a pace line and this is how it works." She explained that we would have one person in front, breaking the wind, then that person would drop back and the next in line would take lead. The idea is to lead just for a short time so everyone keeps fresh legs and benefits by drafting the person in front of them. Most of us hadn't ridden a pace line before. It took us a bit, but we quickly got the hang of it. It also helped that Lise (pronounced "please" but with out the "p") used her colonel voice. We kept a good pace and probably most importantly, we kept strong mentally! In a relatively short time, we were back where we should have turned left instead of right!

I was really thankful for Lise's leadership and how she helped turn a situation that could have been very frustrating - and people could have pointed fingers at one another, into a time where we all worked together and actually enjoyed the experience. Liz said to me a bit later you know we just learned in about 30 minutes what takes many people a lifetime - and that is teamwork. We all are the wiser for the experience and the price --- well it wasn't painless, but wasn't too hefty!

Lise, Lisa and Nancy went on ahead now that we were all back on track and the 4 of us set off again at our pace. The next few miles were somewhat painful. We were again riding into a headwind and to top things off the pavement was what is known as Chipseal. Chipseal is basically a coat of tar with small works thrown on top of it. It is a cheap way of making roads and leads to a ride that is very much less than comfortable! Also, it makes for a very inefficient surface for riding on. I have come to truly appreciate smooth roads! Unfortunately there are a whole lot of Chipseal road in Texas - and as you know, we are going to be in Texas for a very long time!

We finally got to the first Sag stop which was at mile 26ish. For us it was more like mile 36 however. Katherine was driving Sag today and was so relieved to see us. She had tried to call several of us. She tried me twice as others informed her that we must have taken the wrong route as we were ahead of them. I have always just carried my phone in case of an emergency - and had a rule not to answer if it rang while riding. I am not sure I would have heard it - but I am definitely changing that rule!

Katherine was a sweetheart as always, encouraged us to no end and gave us everything we needed. We headed out once again - this time we hoped that we would read the cut sheet a bit more diligently! We hammered out the next 20 miles and meet up with Katherine again. At this point we had to decide whether we would stop to get lunch at one of the two options in the town or simply eat from the Sag wagon and keep pushing on. We all decided to get what we needed from the Sag - or things we had made in the morning (like a PB & J) and go on. It was getting hot and again we didn't want to be out in the sun any longer than we had too - and we didn't want to deal with winds changing directions... We ate sitting on the steps of a old restaurant which had been abandoned. All the glass windows had been broken... It might have been in nice at one time, but that must have been quite some time ago!

And off we went once again. Thankful the wind continued to be a tailwind for the rest of the day. We were all very grateful! We finally caught up to some of the others who had stopped for a proper lunch. We kept speeding down the road. We we got to the last Sag stop of the day - Katherine was there once again. And this time she had Zinc Oxide. Several of us had quite badly burnt lips - so magically she either went and bought some or had it hidden away somewhere. Katherine gave us all a squeeze of it and told us to put it on. Well some of us are better at putting on lipstick than others! I could not look at Tex or Liz without busting a gut laughing! Oh my. And so that that is how we ended up the day. Faces filled with Zinc Oxide. I told Tex that the cars coming the other direction up Interstate 10 would be blinded if they didn't have on super-duper sun glasses! But I want to tell you, I am not sure if Tex ate something special at the Sag stop because up the last hill of the day --- she was a rocket. Then again maybe she thought if she went fast enough - no one would see her. I can understand why she might want to do that!

As we were gathering to go out for dinner tonight - (we went out to dinner - due to the windy conditions - or so we were told at the time). Before that Marge updated us on her sister. If you recall Marge found out from her sister a couple of days ago that she was told she had ovarian and pancreatic cancer. Today was the day for surgery. Thankfully what they thought was ovarian cancer was a very large cyst which they removed. The did find that she had pancreatic cancer but the good news is that it is stage 1. So given the initial outlook, no one could have hoped for better. We were all very glad for Marge and her sister!

After that news, we went to a Mexican/American restaurant. It was great. As always, with a group of 17 women cyclists, we decibel level increased many fold when we came in. We all ordered off the menu. Not a problem, until the waiter came to Liz. She had to order 4 times as every time she ordered something they ended up being out of what she wanted. To top it off at the end of the meal Liz and a couple others wanted dessert. She asked what they had. The waiter sheepishly said they had sold out of one of the desserts and they only had one piece of lemon fruit cheesecake left. She immediately said I want that - and get it now! She did get her homemade lemon-fruit cheese cake. It was a good thing - as who knows what might have happened had someone else snatched it before her! Liz was a good sport about it all!

We got back her to the hotel and did a quick map meeting. Tomorrow we will have a 90 mile day --- and unlike most long days there are some really steep hills (about 15 miles of climbing) --- and they are nearer the end of the day. Ouch! I just have to say it's just mile by mile, not to worry, just go one mile at a time.

Linda then told us about the hotel. Again we have been warned that there is no Internet connection. We will be in a state park and so I really do think we won't have connection this time. There is also very limited cell phone connection. We will be having a rest day here, so I may not be able to post my blog for a couple of days. As always, if I can I will, but I am doubtful this time.

... Good night all. Stay safe, be well!