Day 15

Our intention was to start riding about an hour before sunrise but when we got up it was raining and the winds were big. We decided to wait until things settled down. Worked out well. It was cloudy and foggy around 8:00 but it had stopped raining and the winds went away. We had great riding conditions for most of the day. We were hoping to get to Del Rio today but we ended up settling for Comstock instead. Still a full day of riding, 90 miles. Brad ended up having unsolveable issues with his pedals/cleats. In fact, he rode the last 15 miles in flip flops, less than ideal. It was a good ride but demanding. It was up and down ALL day. We started out at 3,000' elevation and finished at 1,000' but we ended up climbing 2,200' in between. Think about that. It just shows how much up and down there was. Brad has been telling me what a strong rider Darla is and watching her ride this week makes me realize that was an understatement. She can ride... all day long and loves to climb. Tomorrow is our last day with her and we will miss her. Thanks for coming out Darla, I really appreciate it. Plus having any distraction from Brad is a huge bonus.

Each of us have commented on just how much space there is down here with absolutely nothing in between and not much more when you actually do arrive somewhere. The biggest industry here appears to be the Border patrol. They pass us in both directions constantly. We have had to go through two check points so far with another one coming up in a day or two. It's an entire industry here.

Tomorrow, we will ride the final 25 into Del Rio, ship Darla's bike back and get her to the airport. we'll take the rest of the day off and start a strong push for Austin the next day.

We really do look forward to your comments so have at it. Thanks.

Day 14

Today we rode from Ft. Davis to Sanderson, 114 miles. It was raining a little when we started but it quickly stopped. We had great riding conditions today. No real winds until the last 15 miles but that didn't slow us down too much. We covered a lot of ground in pretty good time, averaged 16.2 miles an hour. It helped that we had some down hill.

I'm not even going to mention the flats today ,as I am sure Brad will.

Sanderson is another dying town in west TX. We were lucky to find a place to eat; Dairy King. Maybe we weren't that lucky after all.

Yesterday we crossed into the Central time zone and gave " Hi Fives" for hitting our first 1,000 miles.

Tomorrow could be a harsh day. If we go all the way to Del Rio it will be a 121 mile ride. Winds, again, are slated to be right in our face and there is a 50% chance of thunderstorms. So we'll see. We are going to start before sunrise again just to try and cover some ground before the weather shows up.