Day 22: Marathon to Sanderson, Texas

We had been warned that today would be very tough and I spent some time getting myself mentally prepared.  Hit the road at 8:30 but with all the sturm und drang I had neglected to charge my Garmin so I had no idea of time, speed, distance, etc.  Since there is nothing between Marathon and Sanderson I didn't worry about getting lost, just settled down to enjoy the early morning miles when the desert is at its best.  There was little scenery, and nothing of particular interest...in fact I took no pictures, but before I knew it I had reached the first SAG at about 20 miles.

Left there, still waiting for the ride to turn bad, and found myself sailing along with little effort on a gradual downhill, feeling great and just knowing that the miles were adding up fast.  With some amazement I soon reached the second SAG at mile 43.  When was the misery going to begin?  It was getting a bit hot so I poured water through my helmet and down my back and meeting up with John we started off together.  By this point there was only ten miles left but the riding was still easy and mostly downhill.  I could see a ridge ahead and braced myself for the climb.  It turned out that the road twisted and wound its way through a gap that magically appeared as we sailed along and very quickly I could see a town ahead.  It seemed impossible that we could have ridden 54 miles so quickly...was it a desert mirage?  a Potemkin village?  No, it was Sanderson, our home for the night.

So much for where worrying gets one.