Day 25 - Sanderson to Comstock TX

81.5 miles, 2,675 feet of climb 

Today was a long day with few places along the way for water. We climbed out of Sanderson and the wind was very light. We knew it would pick up in the afternoon and that would be coming out of the South East, meaning a headwind or a cross wind either was bad news.  We hit it hard in order to get as many miles in as we could before the wind picked up. 

We climbed up onto a plateau. The landscape was changing. The desert was greener and the surrounding mountains turned more into mesas and plateaus. We had a discussion while we rode on what the difference was between a bute, a mesa, and a plateau. We decided we had ridden up to the top of a plateau. Kathy had set up a water station about 30 miles out and after everyone had passed was going to go to Langtry, a little town that happened to be the home of Judge Roy Bean, "the Law West of the Pecos," in the latter part of the 1800s. 

I especially wanted to visit the museum since there was a restaurant in Des Moines called Judge Roy Bean's that we used to go to, especially after the girl's dance recitals at the Civic Center.
After about 40 miles, the wind began to strengthen and I was not able to keep up with James and Sharon. 

I ended up riding almost 40 miles alone (similar to my experience the first week of the ride). Even though the wind was getting stronger, I was determined to finish the ride. I enjoy solo cycling and I do it all the time at home in Des Moines. 

As the wind grew stronger, I went slower against the wind. I was trying to keep my speed at around 10 mph in this wind, but I was not able to maintain my speed and dropped to about 8mph. At the rate I was going, it was going to take the rest of the afternoon to complete the 81 miles. The terrain we were riding in was rolling and while the climbs were shorter, they were steeper.

Traffic was more frequent than yesterday along Highway 90, especially trucks. While there was a good sized shoulder, it was still uncomfortable when trucks blasted by.

I made it to Langtry, but by then Kathy had already gone to check us into the park. I did visit the Judge Roy Bean museum and enjoyed it. I went on to finish the ride, still by myself. The wind grew stronger, but I was not being buffeted like I was two days before.

At mile 76 Kathy pulled up in the van right after I had taken a nature break and was standing by my bike on the shoulder. She was worried something was wrong. (I had dropped my chain earlier in the day, but that was a quick fix.) Even though I only had 5.5 miles to go, we put my bike up on top of the van and I called it a day. I felt a little sheepish being picked up so close to the end of the ride, but it was after 4:00 and I was glad it was over with and I survived another day.  No pictures today, just hard riding.