Day Twenty
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When I woke up this morning, I was greeted by the friendly neighborhood pit-bull, Pebbles. As I packed up my things, she wanted to play. It was a great way to warm up to the day as I playfully chased her around the park as I retrieved back my shoes, helmet, biking gloves.
With the wind at our back, we set our sights for greater distance today. We rode along the boarder, frequently passing the boarder patrol officers and the occasional truck. For the most part, the ride was traffic free with a tailwind aiding us as we glided along the roadway. We entered the central time zone and made it to Kent, TX early enough to enjoy some daylight before calling it a night.
We asked the owners of the Mercantile in Kent if we could camp behind their store, and they said it would be ok. We had just finished setting up our tents when the Red Bull Super Scenicruiser pulled up to the attached gas station. “Nice bus!” shouted one of the Old Bones. “It looks even better on the inside!” shouted back the driver. I jumped to my feet and headed over to get a closer look. The driver said to go on in. He also encouraged us to grab as many Red Bulls as we could carry. At that point I wished I was in an Orange Juice Super Scenicruiser, because I don’t drink caffeinated drinks, but when he offered us a fifth of vodka and a bottle of cranberry juice to go with it, my thoughts of orange juice went away. As we posed for pictures with the driver and talked about his trips to spring break hotspots, up pulled the Jagermeister trailer. He showered us with t-shirts, hats, and do-rags. It was a strange scene in the middle of a gas station as four cyclists enjoyed spring break the Daytona Beach way.
Later in the evening the owners of the Mercantile returned with a baby Javalina. I had seen one earlier in my trip down Emory Pass, but this little guy was so tiny and I worried he wasn’t going to make it without his mother. The owner told us the mother had been killed and he rescued the baby. He was trying to nurse it until it was old enough to release back into the wild. We posed for pictures as we sipped on our cranberry juice.
We laughed ourselves to sleep as we joked of tomorrows ride. As I write this post a day late, I can attest that it was a mostly uphill battle that none of us saw coming. Happy Spring Break to all and to all a good night!
Starting point: Camping in the middle of Sierra Blanca
Ending point: Camping behind the Mercantile in Kent, TX
Total miles on this day: 71.5
Total miles to date: 1111.6
Average MPH: 16.1
Max MPH: 40.5
Saddle time on this day: 4:26:08
Saddle time to date: 108:05:28
