Sunday, March 24. We're all losing track of days and dates and had to be reminded that this was a weekend so less traffic on the road as we came into El Paso. I began with high hopes of another record ride but after the sandstorm, the temperatures plummeted and it was 34 degrees - yes 34 right here in southern New Mexico. I dressed warmly and got my bike ready by cleaning the chain of the sand and grit and pumping my tires. Then I set off along the backroads and quiet highways to San Miguel, and Las Mesa and McNutt Road which are probably not on most maps.
At first it was just cold - so cold my riding partner stopped at a convenience store after five minutes. I though she said she was going to get gum but she actually went in and bought a pair of working gloves to keep her hands from freezing. My fingers were cold and so were my ears but they warmed as we biked past orchards and orchards of mathematically correct rows of bare branched trees, which were pecans. She used to live in this area and explained the they were planted in the 1940s as a crop and were so successful that today this is the major pecan growing and shelling area in the country. We passed a sign for a shelling center, and after the big trees were rows of small trees - the saplings that will be the pecan trees of the future. They dug deep gullies or trenches between the vast orchards so that they can fill with water when it rains in the spring and water the trees. I am sorry we couldn't be there for the blossom which she assured me was spectacular.
These were roads linking small hamlets like San Miguel, a blip as we rode past, and La Mesa, which had a service station. After the trees there were open fields some green with alfalfa, some still bare from the winter. I saw enclosures with some goats and sheep, and some lovely horses. There was also a horse show starting and polo is played a great deal though from a distance it looked like a lot of younger riders warming up their horses before the show, the way I used to in Colorado when I had a lovely horse called Legacy and went to jumping and dressage shows.
As I rode on, the wind was cold and fierce so that it took a lot of effort just to keep moving, and though it was rolling and not too difficult, it wasn't a lot of fun with the cold wind and the low temperatures. By the time I reached the first Sag Wagon stop at 20 miles, I had decided this was enough for today after my Big Effort yesterday. I can do more tomorrow. So three of us decided to load our bikes on the Sag Wagon, and climb inside and unchill.
We waited until all the riders had passed - including all the slower riders. The faster ones zip by and make it all look so easy. Then we sat in the Sag to the next stop where the wind was blowing fiercely and the air was cold even though the sun was out. One rider stopped with a flat tire, which got fixed, and we joked about having hot soup and coffee next time to warm them up.
The ride into El Paso was not fun - because there was a lot of traffic, and one major road was under construction, and others were confusing. However, everyone used their native intelligence and made it back safely with their bikes, in one piece.
At 5:45 p.m. we will have margaritas to celebrate crossing the state line into Texas. This was such a non-event that I am shocked that Texas, of all places, doesn't do more for the tourist. First of all you drive for miles along a concentration-camp type fence which marks the border and goes on for ever. Not a pretty sight. Then there's a bridge across to Mexico, not big, which has a sign on for Mexico. And then you're in the traffic of El Paso. No Welcome to Texas, the Biggest state in the Union. No howdy cowboy - just malls and shops and DIllards and Pier 1 and all the places we know so well, as well as Starbucks and KFC. No photo ops, no moments of 'wow', no welcome, just traffic.
We also saw helicopters flying over border country and Border Patrol vehicles, which did not look welcoming, while all the Mexican people we met in stores were perfectly kind and helpful to us. I must ask our New Zealand, Canadian, and Scottish riders how they felt about it - yes, we are a wonderfully international group.
Tomorrow we go on to Fort Hancock, TX and I have no idea what that's like - but it will be a new adventure. I'm getting quite used to the hotels and signing on with different passwords, and finding out what switch works what like. The pool and hot tub here weren't open yet because it's not summer yet, but there's free coffee in the breakfast room and there are washing machines. I think I'll wait one more day - no sweat today, it was tooooo cold.
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