A perfect riding day

March 28th, 2013 Friday
     Today was one of those perfect bicycling days that reminded me  and everyone else who rode what fun it can be without sandstorms or wind or dramatic climbs and sudden drops. We had breakfast at Indian Lodge created by the chef and then l bicycled off with a few of the riders around 8:30 a.m. The directions today were simple - stay on the road to Alpine TX and then turn left towards Marathon TX for a total of 60 miles. The two highways were both quiet. The first had more ups and downs than the second but they were all doable, and we had fabulous open views of rolling scrub with cactus and distant uneven hills and low mountains. The air was cool, about 60 degrees, and there was a cloud cover so no burning sun.
       I was riding with Helen and we decided to stop in Alpine for a snack. The first place we saw was the Bakery & Donut Shop so we went in and he gave us two small donuts for one, a cappuccino and her coffee for about $5 altogether. Such a deal. We both laughed at how we eat at home and avoid sugar and candies and here we are, so hungry we can scarf down two donuts without hesitation.
      Then we drove on into Marathon, a small one-street town with an enormous old hotel, which once belonged to the wealthy banker from San Antonio who built it and used it to entertain his friends. It's in pink adobe, with outdoor courtyards and shaded piazzas, and inside there is a high ceilinged lobby with a stuffed mountain lion, and stuffed elk or deer heads on the walls, old fashioned prints and paintings and heavy wooden western furniture. Upstairs, where I am there are rooms off a long corridor. No. 9. the Badlands, has a big iron double bed, old prints on the wall, a big wooden table, and black and white cowskin mats on the floor and on the low sofa. The bathroom had a big shower in white and black tiles, and a tile floor.  It is a most imposing place and has a restaurant but we are not eating there.
     Our two guides are in a small house adjoining the property with a walled garden, and that's where we had lasagna, garlic bread, and salad for dinner, sitting outside on our plastic chairs, sipping wine and laughing about the day. Those of us on the second floor of the hotel left our bikes there too so we didn't have to drag them up the 20 narrow stairs and down again.
     When I first got in,  -  that was about 1:30 p.m. - I had a shower and went for a walk. I found a bookstore - yay - and of course bought a book, the biography of Johnny Cash's daughter Rosanne, which I had heard of and was interested in reading. I also bought some postcards and then wandered down to the Post Office - very small - for some stamps, and to the French Grocery which was like a 7-11 but was called the French Grocery because a family called French once owned. Now the owner is a tall striking looking woman from Slovakia who lived in Austin TX for 20 years but decided it was too big a city, so came to Marathon leaving her three grown children there now that they had finished college. She made me a cup of Turkish coffee, and I bought a cookie, and I sat outside at a picnic table in the shade and sipped my coffee and watched the customers who drove up and went in and came back with soft drinks or bags with things in, or nothing at all. It was hot and sunny and extraordinarily quiet.
     The occasional long long train goes through the town on tracks parallel to the main street and that makes a noise. I walked down to the second hand stores - nothing really interesting  - and also peeked into the dress boutique with an odd mixture of high-priced fashion and western gear. The Bakery was shut, as was the art gallery.
     Somehow I missed the hotel swimming pool, where some of the others went to swim in the fairly cool water. But I sat outside in the courtyard and listened to the birds and breathed soft air and the faint smell of wisteria and felt very peaceful and relaxed.
     Tomorrow we have 54 miles to Sanderson TX and another simple day. WHen the route map is only half a page, you know it's not complicated. Everyone made it in today, doing as much or as little as they wanted to ride, and we have an 8 a.m. breakfast call,