Distance: 21.42 mi
Average Speed: 11.9 mph
Maximum Speed: 21.7 mph
Time in Motion: 1:47:33
We took our time getting going because we only had 12 miles to ride today. First we tried to eat breakfast in the motel. Their sign out front proclaims in huge letters "BREAKFAST" on Saturdays and Sundays. It's Saturday morning, but the place is locked up tight, lights out. Again, unreliable service annoyed us. So, we packed up and headed out without breakfast. It was a short ride anyway.
It was extremely foggy when we hit the road. The traffic was rather heavy, so I did not enjoy riding in that weather. I kept waiting for it to burn off, but it just got thicker and thicker.
Once in town we stopped at a Burger King for breakfast. For some reason, the workers there couldn't get anyone's orders right and it took maybe 20 minutes for us to get our food. Wow.
After breakfast, Jesse wanted to ride across the border into Mexico, just so he could say he'd been to Acuna, across the river from Del Rio. So, we did that. It's always hectic, busy, and crowded on the Mexican side of the border. There are pharmacies, eye doctors, shoe stores, and all kinds of businesses there. I suppose everything is cheaper. We were only over there for half an hour or so. Then we headed back across the bridge.
We rode back through Del Rio and stopped at the bike shop. Here, we said farewell to our bicycles. The shop agreed to pack our bikes and ship them home for us.
Without our bikes, we walked back to the Motel 6 for check in. We have a day and a half to waste now before our flights take us home on Monday morning (It's Saturday afternoon now). It should be a relaxing time. We'll check out a couple movies at the mall near our motel ($3.25 matinee price), do some geocaching, go shopping for some joy, and attend Mass.
That's it our trip is suddenly at an end. Overall, it was a great experience. There were a few days of cold or windy weather. But overall, we were blessed by great weather when we really needed it. Everyone was helpful and friendly along our way. This was probably one of the most desolate rides I will ever undertake. The scenery was beautiful, but pretty much the same during the whole trip. We saw an amazing sunrise and sunset. The highlight of the trip, however, was definitely the descent from the McDonald Observatory to Van Horn. That was a blast, made much more enjoyable because of all the climbing I endured to get there.
Trip Total Stats:
Total Distance
481.24 miles
Average Daily Mileage
60.15 miles/day
Shortest Day (distance)
34.81 miles from Sierra Blanca to Van Horn. This was also the slowest day with an average speed of 10 mph. We had terrible weather.
Shortest Day (time)
1:47:33 from Lake Amistad to Del Rio.
Longest Day (distance)
111.69 miles from Sanderson to Lake Amistad.
Longest Day (time)
7:21:09 from Van Horn to Fort Davis, through mountains for a ride of 91.01 miles.
