Tues, 10/21/2025; 30 miles, 712 feet of climb
Today’s weather was unlike any day yet. It started out cool with high winds even before dawn (16 mph), but after noon they started calming down. (It’s usually the other way around.)
The second part of the day was perfect biking weather: temperatures in the low 70s, light winds, and downhill all the way to Sanderson!
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to bike the second half of the day.
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I hit the road just a few minutes after sunrise today, because I had 55 miles against a pretty stiff crosswind. Well, it was SUPPOSED to be a crosswind from the north as I headed east, but there definitely was some headwind component. I was working hard but averaged only 9 mph after two hours of pedaling.
I was getting tired but there was nowhere to stop until I finally found a guardrail. At least I could lean my bike against that to take off my raincoat and leg warmers (both of which made their debut for this trip).
Wouldn’t you know it, just three miles later there was a nice rest stop with shaded tables! So I guess that calls for an other break.
I studied the map and the weather, and it looks like my suffering was almost over. The winds were supposed to drop from 16 to 10 mph, and it was all downhill. What a perfect day to cruise into Sanderson!
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Not long after that, I had ANOTHER FLAT TIRE. There was a big goat head thorn sticking out of my rear tire.
The dilemma is that both of the spare tubes I’m carrying already have holes in them. So I guess I’ll have to patch this one, but I had no water source to help find the leak.
While I was still straddling my bike, a nice couple in an older car stopped and asked if they could help. They offered water which I used to fill my bottles. He asked me if I had cell coverage, and I had nothing but SOS. So he offered to wait until I got my tire fixed! I told him that was very kind, but it’ll take probably me an hour and a half. So I let them go.
I walked a bit to find some shade. Just as I was getting settled in behind a bush on the side of the highway, another lady in a pick up truck stopped and asked if I wanted to ride to town.
I was kind of torn, to be honest. It was finally starting to get nice, with the wind dying down. And I had downhill all the way to Sanderson!
But I decided I shouldn’t turn down an offer like that, since I wasn’t sure whether the tire could be fixed. Stacey is a nurse who works at the hospital in Alpine. She drove me through town to show me where Mike & Kelli‘s church is, then she dropped me off at the coffee shop, Ferguson Motors.
This is no ordinary coffee shop. They have a huge back room with concrete floor, table, and shade. The owner told I could bring my bike back here, so I could change it my tire in luxury.
I met another biker there. Charlie Gandy is riding westbound, but NOT on the Southern Tier Bike Route. He lives near Seattle and it turns out he’s building a whole new trail called “XTX.” This is a new 1500-mile trail across Texas, like the Appalachian trail! Except this is also for mountain bikes and horses.
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When the coffee shop closed at 5:00, we rode to First Baptist Church. Pastor Mike Ellis and his wife Kelli have been hosting Southern Tier bikers for seven years now. Someone once told them they would be involved with international ministry, and now they have hosted people from dozens of countries right there in small-town Sanderson.
Last night they hosted the group of 12 that I met in Van Horn six days ago! They allowed us to sleep on the floor in their fellowship hall.
But it doesn’t stop there — Kelli let me shower in their house, and she insisted on washing my bike shorts. Then we sat down to a great meal and conversation.
Better yet, Mike offered to drive me part way to Del Rio tomorrow! I was nervous about the 67-mile desolate stretch against even worse headwinds tomorrow, especially with two compromised tires and no spare tubes.
In Del Rio, I will finally get access to things I’ve been ordering on Amazon and shipping to Nate’s Bicycle Shop, including a new tire, sealant, FOUR new tubes, a GoPro tripod, and a used iPhone.
I decided to take him up on his offer. I think I’ll sleep better tonight.
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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):