Sara: Day 15

Whew, today’s ride from Clint to Sierra Blanca – not my best.

First, it was our longest ride yet at 88 miles. We actually rode the 66 miles to Sierra Blanca, then added another 22 miles from our ride tomorrow so we can start catching up from our rest day. Making up the day isn’t really imperative, but Mike is coming next weekend (yay!) and this will better position us for his visit. It also gets us to Marfa a day early, a town which could be the subject of an entire blog entry (unexplained light sightings, one of the “top 10” haunted hotels in Texas – yes, we’re staying there).

Second, I think the rest day on Saturday is backfiring. One day of peace and it’s back on the pain train all over again. My butt has been hurting so much the last 2 days that I succumbed and switched to the new seat my mom bought me for this ride. She and the man at Performance Cyclery consider it an upgrade from the leather saddle I’ve been using; my dad does not. I’m assuming it won’t make much of a difference either way, but hoping for some sort of placebo effect because tomorrow is another long day.

Third, there was a hill today from miles 48-56 that completely kicked my ass. It came out of nowhere (admittedly, I’ve been a little lackadaisical with my reviews of the routes; my dad probably knew about it) and lasted the full 8 miles at varying degrees of incline. It wasn’t even steep, it just would. not. stop. It had seemingly no effect on my dad, who flitted along, eating his dates and checking his map, and put a healthy distance between us. I appreciated the distance because, first and foremost, it meant he was feeling better and I had firmly reclaimed my spot as the weak link, which is where I am comfortable. Second, it meant he couldn’t hear me yelling profanities into the wind every time I got to the “top” just to find more hill.

All in all, we finished the 88 miles, inclusive of stops and 2 more flats, in 7.5 hours, so it was a respectable day. The town of Sierra Blanca is as empty feeling as Lordsburg, but at a population of 500, it is actually empty. Aside from the motel owners, the only humans I’ve noticed are a cop and the prisoner (jumpsuit-clad and all) he was accompanying at the gas station.  That prisoner is in good company, though, as Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg, and Fiona Apple have all been locked up at the county jail. I have it on good authority this town is where “weed-packed tour buses go to get busted”.

7am departure from Clint, TX

Action shot of my dad using his bike pump to
save me from stray dogs, courtesy of the GoPro

Post-hill (refer to bullet point #3 above)

Made it to Sierra Blanca!