Socorro to Van Horn, TX - Mon 3/5

Today was a record-breaking day!  We rode more than 100 miles for the first time ever, we passed the thousand mile mark, and we crossed into the Central time zone.

We hit the road about 7 AM with the temperature in the 30s.  It took a couple of hours to get warm.  The sun was shining, the air was still, and the road was flat at first so we made good time.  We stopped for a photo of a giant chicken and for a barely edible  lunch at a combination grocery store and Mexican restaurant.  The next restaurant or store was about 70 miles away, so we ate it anyway.

We saw lots of horses, cows, sheep, and goats, and were chased by an unusually large number of dogs.  But mostly the desert was empty.  The first 60 miles were flat and then we started a 1000 foot climb.  We decided to ride 80 miles to Sierra Blanca and then decide if we could do the other 30 miles to Van Horn.  After riding 80 miles by 3 o'clock we decided 30 more miles sounded really easy.  It turned out to be not so easy with the hills and we rode the last 10 minutes in the dark but we made it.

Why did we ride so far?  Because it seemed the best way to make the rest of the week 's mileage work out.  Tomorrow will also be hard but then the rest of the week easy.

Lessons learned:
1.  The beauty of the desert has faded.  We've had enough of it.
2.  Even after resting for four days we still feel like we've ridden a thousand miles.  Which makes sense because according to the maps we've now gone about 1060 miles and are over at third of the way done .
3.  I'm sitting on a gel seat with an extra gel cover but still have contusions from the seat.

Miles:  115.9  Average: 12.2

The truth from Ruth:  Today is my official least favorite riding day.  We rode so many miles, I was exhausted.  We climbed a big hill, but it was just the freeway rising so there was no cool view or anything.  When we stopped for lunch, our map said the town, Fort Hancock, had all services.  We rode through to the other side in just a few minutes, and saw nothing but old, falling-apart buildings.  We turned around and took the only street there was.  We finally got to a little convenience store that had a hand-written menu.  I ordered the tacos.  It took about 20 minutes to come, and it was 4 warmed-up, dry corn tortillas with chewy meat.  Next to them were a half avocado with the pit removed, a small container with cilantro and onions, a lime cut in half, and a container of really hot sauce.  I guess I was supposed to put it all together, but I didn't even have a spoon.   I am glad today is over.  There just isn't much in West Texas.