Welcome to Texas, our fourth state and one in which we will stay 19 days and ride 1035 miles.
Today's ride began and ended 77 miles later in a cold headwind. The consensus among the riders is that today was the hardest ride so far and was like a day long uphill climb at 10-13 mph with no relief. One rider commented that she was "close to tears" and many observed that the constant wind sapped your strength as well as spirit. I found the headwind from the East difficult but was troubled as much by the cold temperature that persisted thorouout the day. We left Columbus with a temperature of 42F and I kept on my jacket all day. We did learn from the former mayor of Columbus that the abandoned rail line that we had been following from Douglas had been built from El Paso by Phelps Dodge to support the mines around Bisbee and the road that we used today was built upon the old rail grade. Straight with very few curves.
I found myself obsessed today with the Mile Markers. We receive daily a printed version of the routes, accessible to readers to the right on the blog. They include a map, elevation profile and a cue sheet with each turn and segment. I have tried to keep references to miles and terrain to a minimum, but I must admit that days and dates are oblivious to me but the details of each day's ride are on top of mind. Upon the completion of each day there is a sense of accomplishment and the good feeling that next day will be different.
BTW- We crossed the Continental Divide at 4520 ft the day of the long ride from Rodeo. The sight was so unremarkable I took a poorly lit picture into the sun and did not see the need to publish it.
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