Forests to Rice Fields

For the past several days, we have been riding through forest farms owned by agencies such as Boise and Georgia Pacific. Leaving Oberlin, LA this morning I suddenly broke out into open areas with 45 continuous miles of flat land mostly used to produce rice and yams. At one point I thought I had returned to Viet Nam except I didn't see any water buffalos. The fields were beautiful in the morning light with the humidity rising off the fields. It looked like fog except it was warm to ride through. LA 104 East followed the contours of the various farms. In places the road was like riding on glass and in other places the roughness of the roadway bounced and vibrated the bike like no other roads have up to this point.

Our 11 a.m. lunch break was in Opelousas, Louisiana where we rejoined highway 190 East. Opelousas was a very old town with plantation type houses and is known as the birthplace of Jim Bowie and his discovery of the Bowie knife. Opelousas was even the capitol of LA during the Civil War, and is currently known as the "Yam Capitol" of the South. We recognized on the map that one section of 190 was not recommended for bike riding. Libby went ahead and checked it out. It was a 3.5 mile section of viaduct over swampy land with no shoulders, so she hauled me and the bike across.

That still allowed 40 miles of riding before reaching the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge. Again, there was no lane for bikes, so I was not able to ride the bike up and over the Mighty Mississippi.

The bridge was quite old with the railroad crossing inbetween East and Westbound lanes of traffic.

Having already ridden a total of 98 miles we decided to call it a day and find a motel. We are on the outskirts of Baton Rouge and I will leave from here tomorrow morning.

Miles Traveled Today = 98

Total Miles Traveled = 1,904

Trivia = Lots of water opportunities, but the water did not look inviting enough to dip my head in it. With my luck there would probably be an alligator waiting to take it off.

Chased Out of Texas

Today was full of surprises! I was riding along this morning at about 8:30 AM just thinking about how nice it was going to be to finally be out of Texas. Suddenly from behind me came a female voice saying, “I was really looking good.” After getting over the initial shock I realized I recognized the voice. It belonged to Jeannie Cassatt who with her husband, Jim, a couple of our good friends from the Yakima area. After pulling off the road, we decided to get together about 11 miles down the road at the last community in Texas on Hwy 190, Bon Weir. So at 9:30 Libby joined us, and we all had a short breakfast together for about 30 minutes. Jim and Jeannie were in Texas to visit a cousin of hers and Jim will be attending a Colt gun show in Houston. We knew they were going to be in Texas, but certainly didn’t expect them to check on us in Eastern Texas.

Later in the day, after having lunch in De Ridder LA, I was riding along a rural road that had some fairly tall grass growing right next to the shoulder. A raccoon suddenly appeared on the road right in front of me. As soon as he saw me he jumped straight up in the air made a quick turn and exited off into the bushes. I don’t think I missed him by more than two feet.

Another very unusual site was seeing well over a thousand “FEMA” homes on wheels in De Ridder LA. They were parked at the local airport and you could see them lined up as far as the eye could see.

With the exception of two hills just before leaving Texas, the rest of the day was spent on very flat Louisiana land. Almost the entire day was spent riding through forested areas. There were several large pulp mills along the way. I was able to travel 91 miles today in 7 hours of biking averaging 13 mph. It was 57 degrees when I started at 7 AM and 86 when I finished at 3:30. We are currently in Oberlin LA, and I hope to reach Baton Rouge tomorrow.


Miles Traveled Today = 91
Total Miles Traveled = 1,806
Trivia = We have been introduced to a new bug. They call them Honeymoon bugs or Love bugs. You never see one, they always travel by twos; and they are joined together. You need to ride with your mouth closed. The front of the cars around here are covered with the black twosomes!!!

Jasper, Texas (not Wyoming)

Before church this morning we went for a ride west of town to the Martin Dies Jr. State Park and Steinhagen Lake. Viewed more fallen trees from Ike damage. Very picturesque lake with much wildlife. Couldn't resist snapping a picture of this sign which is certainly something one would not see in Washington!

Jasper is known as the "Jewel of the Forest". There are two national forests just north of town and beautiful Lake Sam Rayburn Area with 550 miles of shoreline, making it the largest man-made lake fully located in the State of Texas. We enjoyed touring around it this afternoon. Yesterday, Leroy rode through part of what is known as Big Thicket Trail. This entire area is forested with pine and oak trees, very attractive to ride through.

We attended the First Presbyterian Church this morning in Jasper, Texas. It was an uplifting service, just what we both needed with many friendly folks. Last night we enjoyed a Cajun shrimp buffet at the Lone Star Buffet. Lots of different types of shrimp and local catfish as well.

Some of the local scenery included seeing many Dodge/Chevy/Ford dualie, diesel, pickups pulling a trailer holding a camouflaged quad runner and/or deer blind. Guess it is the first weekend of bow hunting season here. Also saw boats of all sizes, shapes, and colors headed to the local lakes for fishing. A group of six were parked at our motel last night.

Tomorrow will be our last day in Texas. Leroy hopes to ride into Louisiana by mid-morning.

Thanks for all of you who have stayed in touch with us through email, reading our blog, commenting on the blog site, phone calls, and holding us up in your prayers.

Fallen Timber and Blue Tarps

These morning glories were blooming here and there along the route both yesterday and today. Even these blooms are "Texas BIG" compared to the wild ones we are used to seeing.

Today was a daylong ride through areas that suffered much wind damage from hurricane Ike. First you need to understand that the area is forested with pine and oak trees. So when the wind came through it blew trees over the power lines and in many cases blew the power lines themselves over. In some of the smaller communities or strip type malls, they were still using generators to provide minimal lighting and services. I don’t believe there is any way I could have counted the roofs that had blue tarps over part or the entire roof. Most of the trees that had fallen across the roads had been cut up and shoved over to the side of the road. We had an ice-cream cone in a Diary Queen that still had plywood over a couple of their windows. I would have loved to have a trailer along and pick up some of the oak logs lying along the road to use later in furniture building.

Today was a wonderful riding day as far as weather and terrain. It was 57 degrees when I started at 7 a.m. and 85 when I finished at 3 p.m. I rode 87 miles and only had to use 6 gears to cover the terrain (slowest speed 10 mph, fastest 18 mph). For the past several days as I have climbed in and out of “draws” I have used at least 15-20 of the available 27 gears on my bike. There was very little wind and there was one stretch of the road that was 15 miles in length with no turns and was perfectly flat as well as lined on both sides with tall timber to keep the wind away from the road. It may not have been the most interesting road, but after the hills and wind it was a very nice change. On this stretch of the road 24 logging trucks and 18 wood chip trucks that were all headed to a plant in Silsbee, Texas passed me.

As we completed the ride at 3:00 PM and started looking for a hotel we soon discovered that there was no room in the inn, or that the hotels were closed because of damage. Most were still filled with Ike evacuees. We ended up driving north to Jasper, Texas, which at this point I know little about except that there is a large lake near by. Tomorrow is a day off to rest, relax, tour, worship, and regroup.

Miles Traveled Today = 87

Total Miles Traveled = 1,715

Trivia = Experienced changing the 11th flat tire today

Pastureland to National Forest

Arrived in Conroe, Texas after 78 miles of more uphills and into the East Texas wind. The shoulders along Highway 105 were smooth and wide for the most part. The morning was through dairy country with Jersey cows whose milk goes into some the finest Texas made ice cream called Blue Bell. The farms appeared to be predominately owned by folks of German descent. Libby toured the creamery in the morning before meeting up with me for lunch. It was a 100 year old creamery which is still a thriving local business in Brenham, Texas.

These wind mills are for sale at most feed, hardware and WalMart stores bordering Highway 105 also known as Texas Independence Trail. Don't have to wonder why there are so many windmills for sale!!!

The surprise today was beautiful Lake Conroe. Here were the first signs of damage from Hurricane Ike. There were trees down, many billboards in piles, and a boat dock that had flipped over and was laying on top of a roof with the pontoons sticking in the air.

The good news today was from the Treasurer of Dollars for Scholars, Kit Brown, that funds continue to come in and we are currently very close to reaching 60% of the $100,000 goal. We were contacted by the local KNDO TV in Yakima and there will be an update on our progress on the news tonight.

The temperature remains cool and agreeable, starting at about 60 degrees in the morning and ending at 85 in the afternoon. The humidity is hardly noticeable because of the wind.

Miles Traveled Today = 78

Total Miles Traveled = 1,629

Trivia = Ate lunch at a gas station/restaurant/mini mart/insurance office/liquor store that had four mounted wild boer heads on the walls -- we were sure thankful we ordered a chicken sandwich instead of pork.

Austin to Brenham

Today started off with 17 miles of perfect riding conditions. Nice broad shoulders on the road, with some rolling hills and a perfect 66 degrees for nice cool riding. However, after 17 miles the shoulders disappeared, and I found myself riding on 6 to 8 inches of shoulder along a four-lane road. I am very thankful for the respect that the vast majority of vehicle drivers give me as I ride along these sections of roads. At the 20 mile point the good old wind out of the East began to blow causing the forward progress to get tough. We stopped in Giddings for lunch and then continued on to Brenham. Had there not been a slight directional change of the road so that I was not pedaling directly into the wind, I’m not sure I could have made the total distance today.

The farther we went east the greener it got. The ponds along the road were full of water, and all of the fields looked like we are driving in the Skagit Valley of Washington. Brenham is a community of about 15,000 and is known for all of the antique shops. We are driving Libby’s Honda Civic so there is no risk that we have room to pick up any goodies as we cross the country. All of the storefronts seem to be full so it looks like things are relatively healthy in the area. We have been through many communities that have had more than half of the storefronts boarded up.

Rode past some new oil wells in the Giddings area, more and more cows in the fields, and lovely green fields. Also saw a prefab housing business that built small cabins that could be added on to with the same design two or more times. Looked interesting and a very good idea.

Texans are proud of Texas and it shows in many subtle and obvious ways. Texas flags fly from most businesses and the entrances to the bigger ranches. Libby had the occasion to use a rest room at the McDonalds in Elgin, Texas this morning (home of George Bush, Sr.) that had a Texas shaped washbasin in the bathroom. A few days ago at the breakfast buffet in our motel, we had Texas shaped waffles for breakfast. She also had the car serviced after lunch at Wal-Mart in Giddings, and the paper laid on the floor was Texas shaped. Dairy Queen in really big across the middle of Texas where we have traveled and the outline of the state of Texas is in the middle of the DQ logo.

Miles Traveled Today = 81

Total Miles Traveled = 1,551

Trivia = Six dead racoons. Thousands of singing blackbirds lined the wires overhead for miles on end.

From Hill Country to City

At 7 a.m. this morning I headed out of Fredericksburg on this road. The day began with 21 miles of beautiful farming countryside; peach orchards, grape vineyards, hay fields, cattle ranches and pickup trucks pulling livestock trailers to the nearest auction, which turned out to be a huge newly constructed yard along the highway.

One community I passed through celebrated their cattle ranching with all of these painted cattle along the road. There were many of them and were fun to view.

Once I reached Johnson City, home of LBJ, it was a return to the up and down draws with rough shoulders to ride on until reaching Austin. We had lunch at Dripping Springs which is a fast growing community. I did manage to get in about 50 miles of riding before the wind picked up. Each community has their own unique water towers. Libby has taken pictures of many of them.

As I rode through the countryside, I was impressed with the many grand entrances of the area ranches. Each was unique and displayed varied craftsmanship using native rock, metalwork and carved signage.

Upon reaching Austin, an attempt was made to negotiate the many on and off ramps of converging freeways. I decided that life was more precious than trying to ride through the metropolitan area, thus a call was made and my SAG wagon picked me up and we drove through the city and landed in Manor, Texas (just on the outskirts of Austin).

Since spending three days in the Texas Hill Country, I certainly have a better understanding why Lance Armstrong has such strong abilities to climb mountains. However, I am looking forward to the time when the terrain flattens out.

Miles Traveled Today = 82

Total Miles Traveled = 1,470

Trivia = Saw my first albino skunk

Crossed 17 creek beds with no water in any of them.

Junction to Fredericksburg (TX)

This was another day of climbing hills and facing the wind in West Texas. A major change after 430 miles of riding on I-10, we left at milepost 477 to continue riding hills on Highway 290 to Fredericksburg.

Another discovery after leaving the freeway was that the shoulders became to rough to ride or disappeared entirely. Because of sparse traffic I found myself most of the day riding on one of the lanes of the 4-lane highway. Today was the first day since El Paso that I have viewed cultivated fields, even though it was quite marginal.

This area is mainly cattle, sheep and goat ranching along with private hunting ranches. This is BIG hunting country -- deer, wild turkeys, and wild birds. One of the most unique things that we see at all the local lumber and hardware stores are feeders for wild game, and blinds to sit in and shoot the wild game (as seen below). Every community also sports at least one taxidermy and game processing place of business. An amazing discovery is that even during the actual hunting season it is permissible to feed the game, which is also where the blinds are located.

We are staying in Fredericksburg, Texas a good-sized city that is a major tourist attraction. It hosts much German culture as they settled in this area over a hundred years ago. The town in very unique with shops, bakeries, restaurants and literally hundreds of B & B's in the old homes. They have maintained the originally architecture of the area using local stone for most of the buildings.

After a stop at the local bicycle shop to purchase more inner tubes and supplies, we were informed that after about 100 more miles of hill country Texas would flatten out. It is my hope that my legs will sustain me for another 100 miles of uphill into the wind.

Miles Traveled Today = 71 miles

Total Miles Traveled = 1,388

Are these buzzards waiting for a tasty Washington cyclist?

Trivia = Dead buzzards exceeded all other dead critters along the road. Spotted my first armadillo!

From Draw to Draw

Today was a day of many, many ups and down through draw after draw. What looked to be a straight shot between Ozona and Junction, Texas turned out to be 27 draws (meaning uphill and down hill) and on top of that; the wind blew most of the day and I was riding into it. I guess you could say that if anyone wanted to learned how to maximize how to shift a bicycle, this would be a good section of the road for training! Twenty-seven times I was in the lowest gear of the bike pedaling at 6 mph with the highest speed being 24 mph on the down hill and still into the wind. Unfortunately, 6 mph uphill is four times longer than the brief 24 mph down.

The weather was cool and overcast until early afternoon when it did clear up to a balmy 85 degrees. Locating a place to eat at mid-morning or mid-day meal was difficult as there really wasn't much in between the two towns above. So reliance on my guardian angel came in handy again when she arrived about noon with a DQ hamburger, fries and lemonade.

There are no pictures today because our laptop won't turn on for some strange reason so we are at the public library in Junction, Texas.

Miles Traveled Today = 91
Total Miles Traveled = 1,327
Trivia = 9 dead porcupines and 27 draws (or cuts in the hills)
Also experienced my 9th flat at the end of the day so just walked the last mile to our motel.

Ozona, TX - Day of Rest

Ozona, Texas is where" History Hangs Its' Hat! The entrance to town is graced with a very nice Chamber of Commerce building and park area.

We spent the day in Ozona, Texas attending worship, reading, relaxing, planning the next week and doing some bike maintenance.

Enjoyed this sight of wild turkeys crossing a lawn near our motel.

We worshiped at a Methodist church contemporary type service. The Youth Pastor/local English teacher led the service since the Pastor was attending a conference. Not only was she an excellent song leader, but her message on Matthew 20 was very well done. Lots of interest as to why a couple from Washington was visiting their community/church, and they were very interested in learning about a ride by bike across America.

Following the service we drove around the community to make sure we took in all of the tributes to Davy Crockett and any other points of interest. We also had lunch at the local Dairy Queen.

We have now laid out the rest of the route across Texas, and to the best of my ability to calculate, we should be exiting Texas on September 30. Hopefully, we will be in De Ridder, Louisiana on September 30. For those of you that have had the names of the communities we had planed to stay, certainly have recognized we have made many modifications to the planned route. Most of these adjustments have been made after talking with local people in various communities we have visited. So far the advice of the local people have not steered us wrong. In most cases they have suggested not taking some of the very rural roads I had planned, because they lack shoulders on which to ride and even water not being available.

Spent some time trying to figure out what caused all of the flats yesterday. The first flat was caused by a bad valve and was a very easy fix. Second flat by a very thin piece of wire stuck into the side of the wheel casing, and I am pretty sure flat number three was caused by another one of the spines from a Texas Thistle. So after some repairing, I have three spare tubes and when we get to the next community with a bike shop; we will pick up another half dozen tubes just to be safe. In most cases it takes about 15 minutes to check out and repair a flat tire. Pumping up the tire to 120 psi with a little hand pump that I carry on the bike is the toughest part of the tire-fixing ordeal.

Tomorrow it is off to Junction, Texas via Sonora and points of interest in between.

Texas Anniversary

This is a small picture of what Crockett County, Texas pretty much looks like.




Today is our 42nd wedding anniversary and what a day it turned out to be. Our goal for the day was to ride 84 miles, double the number of years we have been married. Since Libby was dropping me off between Fort Stockton and Ozona it was easy to hit the exact location on the freeway that would give me the 84 miles necessary. I got on the bike at 7:00 AM and rode 10 ft when I discovered the back tire was flat. (Flat 5) Since we have been carrying a spare rim and tire, I decided to simply put on the spare. So by 7:05 I was on my way. The first 15 miles was covered in 58 minutes and I thought I would make it to the Ozona destination in record time. Just about that time I noticed there was a very long hill in front of me. Four miles later at 8 mph I was at the top and ready for another 12-mile gradual downward sloping road. Just as I was starting to get up to about 17 mph I noticed the bike tire was very low. So I pulled off the shoulder and began to replace the tube after checking the tire for any type of problem (Flat 6). No problem located so I took off for another 12 miles when once again I noticed a low tire. Made a stop, took off the tire pulled out the last tube I was carrying and replaced the tube once again (Flat 7). I pulled up another 4-mile hill only to discover at the top of the hill that once again I had a flat tire (Flat 8). At this point all I had left was patches to fix the tire. As I began to fix the tire I thought it would be best to give the guardian angel a call and bring more resources to my aide. So my 42-year bride brought me additional supplies and for the last time of the day I fixed one more flat that allowed me to make it the rest of the trip into Ozona.

I had no idea when I left this morning that the route between Fort Stockton and Ozona would require climbing about 14 miles of 6-7 mph hills. Pulling the hills was not all that bad except that going down the hills was severally restricted to speeds under 15 mph because of high winds. If I got going any faster than 15 mph the wind would start to shift me around to much and when you’re on the freeway shoulder, getting thrown around is not a good idea. So after 3 flat tires and 14 miles of hills and some high wind, I finally reached the Ozona community. I also rode past more wind generators, oil pumps and grazing sheep in the Bakersfield (TX) area than I could possibly count.

So after feeling sorry for myself and how difficult the day was, I had to give thanks just how blessed I really am to even be faced with these difficulties. Two years ago on our anniversary I was stuck in the hospital beginning my recovery from another round of chemotherapy. So what might seem tough at the moment simply needs to be put into proper perspective.

Libby and I went out to a local steakhouse for our anniversary dinner. It was a great dinner and we are currently enjoying M&M peanuts and Reese’s buttercups for desert as I attempt to share the day with you tapping on this keyboard. Does it get any better?

Trivia = Ozona, Texas is the only town in Crockett County which is 3,200 sq. miles!

Total Miles Traveled = 1226

Texas: Day Three

We left Balmorhea, Texas at 6:45 AM after a hearty breakfast of oatmeal cooked in the microwave. It was still dark, but I was able to follow the white line on the side of the road until I got to the I-10 freeway and by that time the sun was starting to peak over the horizon. Even though it was 55 degrees, it was too warm to be riding with my jacket on. My destination for the morning hours was to reach Fort Stockton where I would meet up for lunch with Libby. The morning hours went very well as all conditions were as perfect as one could ask, and 4 hours after leaving I had ridden 52 miles.

We had lunch and I took off to add 25-30 more miles to make it so that by Saturday we could make it to Ozona; where we will take Sunday off. At 67 miles the good old wind started to blow and drove my progress down to the good old 10 mph. I didn’t have to suffer too long since at 77 miles I ended up with flat number four. I had picked up a “Texas thistle” thorn in the front tire. I had just got off the bike to walk it to an area that I could get behind a guardrail to repair the tire when my great rescue angel, Libby, showed up. I decided to call it a day and we drove back to Fort Stockton where we will spend the night. In the process of turning around, I discovered we were entering one of the windiest areas in Texas. Much to our surprise, we were able to view well over 1,000 wind generators on the ridges of both sides of the road.

Today’s traffic consisted of many bucket trucks that I suspect were headed to Houston to help restore the loss of electricity in the area. The trucks loaded with generators continue to be headed that way also.

Trivia = On the flat I pedal at 80 rpm, in one mile it takes 380 revolutions. In a typical 7-hour day I make about 34,000 pedal strokes. The bike moves just about 14 feet per stroke. As you might guess all of that depends on hill and other terrain covered each day

Total Miles Pedaled = 1142

More BIG

Another beautiful, cool, Texas day with no head winds allowing for 107 miles of freeway travel. Yes, we have changed our travel plans once again. In looking over the planned route, Leroy just didn’t like the back roads with no shoulders and opted for freeway travel along I-10 – as it is the shortest distance between two points through a lot of nothing. He enjoys the eight feet of his own lane with billows of boosts from passing semi-trucks (the shoulder).

At our mid-morning break in Van Horn, Texas we ran into two very nice young men bicycling from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to Seattle, Washington. We enjoyed visiting with Jason Taylor and Aaron Van Gelder (a Dordt College graduate). They had been zigzagging through Texas to visit with family and friends. Hope their travels go well.

Texas is big as far as the eye can see as portrayed in the picture above. It has its own beauty, but really lacks in rest stops, motels, restaurants, and places to relax. We did find a really nice motel in Balmorhea, Texas, population 527. It is located three miles off the freeway close to a State Park fed by a natural spring creating a perfectly lovely swimming hole of which the locals are most proud.

The restaurant recommended by the motel owner was excellent and also owned by his family. It is dubbed as “the best little restaurant in Balmorhea”. We chatted through dinner with two of the local teachers who were all excited about the completion of a junior high 6-man football game. The local school heralds 115 students in K-12.

Miles Traveled 9/18/08 = 107
Total Miles Traveled = 1,065
Trivia = Passed by at least 100 semi-trucks carrying generators to Houston to help with the power outages.
First day to average 13 mph.
Encountered two dead havalinas that won’t be chasing Libby!!

Texas is BIG

Leaving El Paso at sunrise

Pecan groves along the way

Roads traveled September 17

Must have been 50 Border Patrol cars and SUV's parked here; a similar sight in many small towns we traveled through.

Our motel in Sierra Blanca!

Today, September 17, 2008 is the first full day into Texas. We left El Paso at 6:30 AM and arrived in Sierra Blanca at 2:00 PM, a distance of 91 miles. The first 60 miles was through some of the most beautiful farmland hosting a variety of crops many of which were being harvested. One of the more unique signs that we saw today was posted on a fence that had a large Pecan grove behind it; the sign read, “Do not pick my nuts.”

Some of the big things we have noticed: high school football stadiums, cotton fields and many other crops, full size 4x4 pickups with oversized wheels that howl like crazy as they drive down the road. Since they have had lots of recent rains, I rode past a big mud puddle along the edge of the road that was a ½ mile long. For supper we ate beef ribs, not only was it a big plate of ribs but also the ribs must have come out of a huge cow. When looking at a high school parking lot it is very clear that the biggest game in town is to run the pick ups through the big mud puddles and see how much dirt they can accumulate on their trucks.

The weather continues to be ideal. We started out at 57 degrees and ended the day at 75 degrees. The strong breeze started about 10:00 AM and of course it was blowing east to west. I will just have to learn to live with pedaling about 11 mph, and not let the wind get the better of me. I believed I was going to be riding about 14-15 mph, but I cannot maintain that for hours on end when riding into the wind. All the books I read in preparing for this journey suggested riding from west to east was the way to go because the prevailing wind blew from west to east. Apparently they have not ridden through Texas.

Tonight our accommodation in Sierra Blanca is a motel complex that was built in 1938. It is very unique to say the least. Real rock wall for exterior, solid pine wood floors and one electrical outlet!

Miles Traveled Today = 91
Total Miles = 958
Trivia = Passed up by no fewer than 47 Border Patrol vehicles

On to El Paso

Beautiful designed homes in New Mexico and Texas.

Leaving Hatch, New Mexico at 6 a.m. at 50 degrees, riding into the sunrise the first 45 miles through Las Cruses was a dream: no wind, little traffic, viewing a variety of crops and many beautiful country homes with the Southwest architecture.

After meeting Libby and having a second breakfast, I was off riding on country roads to El Paso. What a Garden of Eden I was privileged to enjoy. In one stretch of Highway 28, I rode through fields of wine grapes, corn, sorghum, cotton, red and green hot chili peppers, green bell peppers, pistachio nut groves, and later many miles of pecan groves. For one stretch of the road the pecan trees created a tunnel for over five miles of riding. Since the temperature was only 75 degrees tops today the trip under the trees was actually very cool.

I ended the day with riding 20 plus miles on busy windy city streets through historic El Paso. Busy means three lanes of traffic with little or no shoulders.

Tomorrow it is off to Sierra Blanca, Texas.

Miles Traveled = 97
Total Miles Traveled = 877
Trivia = Saw 3 pairs of sunglasses and one pair of glasses along the road.
The first 45 miles was on a road that did not have any culverts. Signs warned that there might be water over the road.

Facing the Wind

This is for yesterday, September 15, 2008. We were not in a wireless zone last night so couldn't get on line.

The New Mexico moon as Leroy was leaving Lordsburg and the struggle to get uphill and against the wind. . . . .

They say the wind was caused by hurricane Ike, but whatever the reason the wind blew all from the East to the West at 15 to 20 mph and it never let up. I was riding on the shoulder of the I-10 freeway, so the only time I got over 9 mph was when a semi truck would pass by and create a momentary vacuum. It would have been nice if there had been a solid stream of trucks pass by to really allow me to have maintained a nice speed. I did ride 79 miles today after starting at 6:00 AM and ending at 4:30 PM. Almost 10 hours of riding time. So after experiencing a day of wind we decided that tomorrow we would start from up north of Las Cruses, and ride from a community called Hatch, New Mexico to El Paso, Texas. Hatch is located on Hwy 185 about 30 miles north of Las Cruses.

We did manage to cross the Continental Divide at 10:00 AM at an elevation of 4,585 ft. I thought it would be a struggle because of climbing up a slope, but instead it was a struggle because of wind. Once over the divide there was no noticeable difference, the road continued to look totally flat.

We stopped at a bike shop late this afternoon to pick up another bike tire. My rear tire had six ¼ to ¾ inch cuts in it, that I suspect was caused by some glass that I have run over the past several days. I changed the tire tonight knowing that it is much easier to change in the hotel room as opposed to the side of he road.

The terrain remained very consistent all day so it will be nice riding through farming country tomorrow.

Hi! This morning I started the day riding my bike out with Leroy about eight miles. I turned around and went back towards the motel and experienced two interesting sights. The first was a rustling in the grass along side the road and out hopped a huge jackrabbit. He took off away from me, thank goodness. What a sight; it jumped up about eight feet in the air with each hop. Then about a mile down the road I heard hoof steps coming towards me and there were two havolinas (wild boars) coming towards me from across the road. Fortunately, a pickup truck was passing by and the gentlemen stopped his truck and then drove the wild boars off the side of the road.

The day ended with a flat tire on the car. Fortunately, I had already picked up Leroy and he changed it, drove to Wal-Mart and purchased a set of new tires. What a day!!!

Day of Rest

These tall and stately yuccas cover the landscape for miles around this area of New Mexico.

The copper mines goes on for miles on the way to Silver City.

The good Lord knew what he was doing when he assigned a day of rest. Not only has my body taken on new signs of recognizing what it feels like to be renewed, but my soul as well.

Libby and I drove up and over the continental divide to Silver City to check out the sites as well as to worship. We worshiped at an Assembly of God church and just by chance picked a church that was also celebrating the Lord’s Supper. For those who believe that one-hour is long enough to spend worshiping on Sunday, may have found the two-hour long worship a little stressful. We really enjoyed the service and found the people to be friendlier than in any church we have visited.


Silver City is a thriving community. It serves as the county seat as well as home to Western New Mexico University. It is also typical of most tourist communities with lots of different little boutique shops. The area surrounding Silver City has some of the largest open pit mines we have ever viewed. Most all of the mining is for copper so I guess the name Silver City comes from the past. For the past few days we have been passed on the road by truckloads of cooper ingots on the way to various places to be turned into many different commodities. We saw our first wild animal, a deer, since on the trip as we were driving up the continental divide. I have no idea why we have not seen more since the vegetation is very abundant and there certainly is nobody around bothering them.

On the way back from Silver City we drove to Deming which is the next largest town east on I-10. I will be headed there tomorrow and wanted to get a look at what faced me, as I know I will be pedaling across the continental divide for part of the ride.

Arizona Cotton Fields to Lordsburg, New Mexico

We were truly been blessed by the best of conditions today. Libby and I got up early and rode together for several miles and then I was off on my own. The Safford AZ area is a beautiful agricultural area with many different crops, but mostly cotton. After about an hour on the floor of the valley it was time to climb up into the high desert.

Because of recent rains, the high desert was green and lush with many types of cacti, yucca, and flowering weeds of various types. Since the vegetation is so available, many of the little critters that live in the area were also plentiful. I would be lying to you if I said I ran over less than 5000 of the biggest grasshoppers I have ever laid my eyes on. By the time I finished my trip today my bike and my legs were covered with grasshopper innards. Not a pleasant thought but so very true.

I rode 107 miles today, which marks my fourth century ride. I rode two of them when I road the Seattle to Portland ride, one the first day of this ride across America and then today. I thought the tough part of a century ride would be my arms, legs, or lungs, but instead it’s my butt. I could have kept going today except my bottom said that’s it! Since we will be taking tomorrow off I’m hoping it will be prepared to take on another week of riding. The other difference in being able to go the long distance is the temperature. Today I started at 64 degrees and ended at 87 degrees.

Tomorrow we will attend church here in Lordsburg and then drive up into the mountains to Silver City. We’ll give you a report on it after the visit.

On Monday I will be heading for Las Cruces via Interstate 10. Numerous people told us that taking the route down close to the border was too risky with all of the drug traffic and other activities going on in the area.

Trivia: 5000 + dead grasshoppers by bicycle
3rd flat tire. This is only the second flat on my front tire in over 5,000 miles. I wish I could say the same for the back tire.

Total miles ridden = 701 or an average of 87 miles per day

Apache Junction to Globe and Beyond

A New Day Outside Apache Junction, AZ -- Scenes Along the Way

What a day! 85 miles and 5700 feet of elevation gain. I got a nice early start and all was well until Superior AZ, then the road took off to the sky. After three hours of climbing on Hwy 60 with cars and trucks whipping by at 55 mph with no shoulder; I finally reached the summit. Since I was riding at 5.4 mph. I had to get off four times to take short breaks; the old legs were screaming.

Libby had gone to visit a classmate in Surprise AZ. and then drove to catch up to me; she arrived in Globe AZ. within 15 minutes of my arrival there. We had lunch and I was feeling like I needed a few more miles before calling it a day. So after riding up hill for 3 hours I got to ride down for about an hour and half to cover the next 30 miles. As I think about the day, I know that I certainly have much more energy to put into biking when the temperature is 15 degrees cooler. It never got over 84 degrees on any part of the ride.

We saw lots of different types of terrain. Much of it was mining country that goes way back to the 1800's. Many old mining relics dot the hillsides as well as huge cuts in the earth where they have been excavating for mostly copper.

We found ourselves out of cell phone contact many times throughout the day, but were able to find each other after some searching.

We are staying in Safford AZ. this evening as it was the next town with motels available. Tomorrow I will be shooting for 100 miles. We will be staying in Lordsburg, New Mexico Saturday night and all day Sunday for my first day off the bike.

Miles pedaled = 85

Total Miles = 594

Wickenburg - Where the West is Alive

There were many reminders that yesterday was 9/11 as every community had flags at half mast and the businesses we entered had folks wearing patriotic colors. This picture was taken at the end of our trail for the day

-- Apache Junction, Arizona --

Wickenburg is to Arizona as Ellensburg is to Washington. Nice town with lots of remnants of the Old West.

Left Wickenburg on Highway 60 yesterday morning headed to Phoenix. The first flat tire occurred after twenty-six miles of riding. Weather was quite pleasant up in the foothills, but it did warm up considerably once reaching Surprise. However, the weather was an improvement over the previous few days, as it didn’t reach a high of 94 until the end of my ride about 3:00 p.m. in Tempe. The second flat occurred at 39 miles. Libby joined me with reinforcements - a heavy duty tube and the portable air compressor.

Libby worked out at Curves in Surprise, and then spent the remainder of the day following the bike path on the city streets, getting lost, and car touring many residential districts in the process.

After a hearty second breakfast, I left Highway 60 for streets through residential areas and onto the Arizona Canal bicycle path. It was a beautiful path along the canal, which took me through Phoenix. Many times along the pathway, it was tempting to take an off ramp down into the canal for a cooling swim, but I resisted. The pathway took me along the base of Camelback Mountain, through parks, around multi beautiful churches, and ended at Arizona State University Stadium in Tempe.

We didn't get to blog last night as a dust storm blew in making the WiFi connections unavailable. We spent the night near Apache Junction where I will leave this morning headed to Globe.

Miles Traveled = 79

Total Miles Traveled = 509