“And at last, here I am on the hill
overlooking El Paso —
I can see Rosa’s Cantina below.”
I thought of those words from verse 6 of Marty Robbins’s famous 1959 song as our plane came in for a landing. I was looking forward to actually EATING in Rosa’s Cantina this time, by taking an Uber there. When I was here in March, I stopped at Rosa’s on my bike, and took some photos of the outside, but didn’t want to go inside and leave my bike out front in that neighborhood.
Alas, Rosa’s is CLOSED MONDAYS. 🙁
It’s just as well, as I didn’t have much spare time today. Even after getting to the MSP airport around 6:00 am, I was still busy all day. After a connecting flight in Dallas, I finally got to the “West Texas town of El Paso” around 3:00 pm, which then changed to 2:00 pm, since this sliver of Texas is in the Mountain Time Zone.
I carried my pannier off the plane, and headed to baggage claim to get my cardboard box containing the rest of my gear. Two of my panniers with camping gear were packed with the bike, so that lightened my load.
It was 4:30 by the time I checked into the hotel and walked to Crazy Cat Cyclery to get my bike. I was a little disappointed that they hadn’t reinstalled the pedals or the handlebar bag mount. I carried the seat with me on the plane, since I wanted more time to break it in after shipping my bike two weeks ago.
I looked around a bit at the bike shop. I picked up a tube of chamois cream, but at half a pound, I really didn’t need a second one, since I knew I had packed one from home.
I took advantage of a Panda Express right across the street to fuel up for tomorrow. Then I rode back to the hotel to start reassembling the rest of my bike.
But first I had to Uber 12 miles to Cabela’s to buy fuel for the stove. I was glad they had the small 100-gram canister, since I wanted to minimize weight and space, and that size fits right into my Jetboil.
I bought additional things that I couldn’t bring on the airplane: a lighter for the stove and an air horn to fend off attacking dogs. I saw some new flavors of dehydrated meals, but decided to buy only one, since I knew I had packed two more from home.
I walked to Walmart to buy some more supplies, then took another Uber back to the hotel. It was already dark. I had to install my handlebar bag bracket, cell phone binder, bike computer, homemade GoPro holder, and dog horn. By the time I finished all that, and emptying and reorganizing all five panniers, it was well after 11:00 pm, which felt like midnight to my body.
I was hoping for a very early start tomorrow to get in 50 miles against a headwind. Then I realized I couldn’t find the dehydrated meals I was supposed to bring from home. Nor could I find the chamois cream.
Dang. I keep meticulous lists and do not check things off until they are packed! I have no idea how those two items slipped through the cracks. Now I’m nervous about what ELSE I may have forgotten.
Since the possibility of saddle sores is my number one nemesis on long bike trips, I really can’t take off without the chamois cream that helps prevent sores. I won’t see another bike shop until Del Rio, 11 days away.
So I guess I’ll have to hang around El Paso until Crazy Cat Cyclery opens at 9:00 am tomorrow morning. We’ll see how far I can get fighting headwinds with a late start.
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TRANSLATIONS/BACKGROUND: “TEXBIRD” = Texas Bike Ride, my own nickname for the 800 miles in the middle of Southern Tier Bicycle Route, from El Paso to Austin, using maps from ACA (Adventure Cycling Association). This will complete my ride of the Southern Tier from the Pacific Ocean (San Diego) to the Atlantic Ocean (Jacksonville). (I biked the 1500 miles from Austin to Jacksonville in March 2024, and the 1000 miles from San Diego to El Paso in February 2025.)
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LINKS:
Old-fashioned BLOG if you have friends who don’t use Facebook:
“Old Scouter” Facebook page if you want to follow big adventures with more pictures and video clips (but not unrelated personal posts):
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100066334039590
“Old Scouter” YouTube page (when I get time to edit after the trip):