Days 16 & 17: In and out of El Paso

Leaving El Paso

Still cogitating on the complicated relationship between the border towns in the U.S. and Mexico, I left Columbus yesterday morning and rode sixty miles without seeing a building or tree and almost no traffic.  Eventually we reached Sunland, a New Mexico suburb of El Paso and our primary destination; a Dairy Queen.  Our delight in chocolate milkshakes was slightly dampened by finding that John had a flat tire (caused by a goathead thorn)  but he changed it and off we went on a rather unpromising bike lane.  Not a couple of miles later he had another flat-- this one was more of a disaster because it was a back tire, we could not identify the cause, and we were broiling under a merciless sun alongside a very busy highway.  Nothing for it but to change that one also and we were under way again.

Getting into cities on a bicycle is always hard-- it tends to happen late in the day when one is hot and tired and there is rush hour traffic.  This was one of the worst-- bad roads where we had to merge and make difficult left turns and it was all dust and dirt and glass and the bigger scene was cement plants and gravel quarries  Finally we crossed over the Rio not so Grande, took our pictures at the Texas border (where the words "Home of George W. Bush" on the welcome sign had been painted over) and battled up a steep hill  to the hotel (yes! hotel).  I was very bent out of shape on arrival but the hotel was quite nice.  We then were carted off to my most unfavorite restaurant, the "Golden Corral".  This is a buffet offering countless options and all you can eat.  I enter determined to exercise restraint and depart feeling ready to explode from over eating-- some things never change.

This morning after a good night's sleep we battled our way out of El Paso-- a process much more pleasant than our entry because it was cool and we were rested.  Bubba routed us on residential streets for some time, then we rode right through downtown El Paso.  We eventually got on Delta Drive and rode that to the "North Loop".  It was a good twenty miles before we were out into the country.   For the last some miles and for the next several days we will be riding on Texas Route 20.  It was hot but with a good breeze and our 56 mile ride to Fort Hancock very pleasant overall.