It was totally dark in the hotel room at 7am when I woke up. I have to say it was quite the luxury to wake up in a comfy bed in a warm room for the second night in a row (I hope I'm not getting soft). The sun wasn't out yet due to the time zone change, but it didn't matter much because I was on a closer schedule with the sun than any clock. I had slept well, and was looking forward to at least making it 75 miles today. The ride looked pretty baron but we were planning to meet up with another rider somewhere along the way, so it should be interesting. We put ourselves together quick and were on the road by 8.
On the way out of Van Horn we stopped at the convenient store to stock up on supplies. Due to the long stretch without any services, extra water was a must. It was pretty cold that morning and there was a lot of cloud cover. I expected that it would heat up later, but the key to warming up now was to keep pedaling. I could see up the straight road for miles, and the next few hours the ride proved to be smooth. It also helped having my two new friends to talk to to help the time pass and keep me motivated.
This was the Texas that I think of when I think of Texas. Just vast, huge open space with mountains in the distance and not much else for miles. It's beautiful around here, and feels much like a different country. Texas is that way. There's always that feeling of independence here that just a couple other states have. I don't know if it's something in the air, the water, the dirt or a little of all three but I feel like people from here will tell you that they're Texan before they tell you they're American. It's the kind of place that breeds genuine, unique and inspirational individuals. Individuals like Dex Tooke.
We saw Dex when he was about half a mile ahead of us, on the opposite side of the road heading our way. He swooped around and we all stopped and met this sensational human being. He's a thin man, of average height, with powerful legs. An obvious cyclist. Dex is about 60, but seems younger, and had just finished the Race Across America (RAAM). It's a 3000 mile race from coast to coast in the US, goes through 12 states, and has 170,000ft of climbing. It's 30% longer than the Tour de France, and done in about half the time. Dex finished it in about 12 days. He had also been an accomplished marathon and ultra-marathon runner before he got into cycling. Truly an inspirational person, and here he was riding with us.
Ryan had organized the whole thing. He had worked with RAAM for the past three years, and had known Dex for two. When Dex received word that he would be riding through his area of Texas they set it up so that we would all be meeting up along the way. I now had even more reason to be grateful for riding with Ryan and Nick...and now Dex. It felt great to be out on such a great day, in this beautiful country, with these truly amazing people. I was feeling inspired.
At about noon we came to an odd sight in the middle of nowhere...a Prada store. We were literally at least 40 miles from anything and here was a Prada store outside of Valentine, TX. Well, it wasn't actually a Prada store, it was really an art installation which I think makes it pretty awesome. It really puts things in perspective, the fact that they built this replica Prada store out in open country Texas, miles from water, food, or civilization. I wonder what the cowboys have to say about it.
Another hour up the road I was dying to eat, and we all decided to stop and snack. I think these guys travel a little different than I do. Whereas I might ride in two hour bursts and then stop for an hour, I have a feeling all three of these guys can ride all day without taking much of a break. I'm happy to be riding with them though, they keep me motivated and on my bike. After a quick meal I was feeling better and we were back on the road.
Another few miles up the road we came upon a large piece of property with a beautiful black stallion horse that seemed quite curious about us. We kind of slowed down to say hi, and he would follow us slowly and then kind of stop when we did. Dex was hollerin' at him, with his Texas accent, to get the horse to run with us. It looked as if the horse would burst into a sprint at any moment, but remained cautious and just trotted behind us. I haven't spent much time around horses, but can definitely see different personalities in them, and the whole interaction we were having was pretty cool to me.
He probably followed us for a good mile, and then suddenly just went for it. The horse looked so strong and graceful in the midst of his full on sprint. At the same time that he started running I gunned it too. I think the others fell back, and for maybe half a mile it was me and this gorgeous creature neck and neck. It was a totally surreal experience for me; one of the best of the trip. I felt bad as we approached another fence, which prevented him from running any further. I would have liked to ride with the horse as long as I could keep up, which maybe would've been just another minute or two. Either way, that made my day. The horse had plenty of land though, and that made me happy. This guy obviously just wants to run.
Not long after that, maybe another 30 minutes up the road, I almost ran over a tarantula crossing the road. I had wanted to see a tarantula the whole trip, so I turned around to check him out. The hairy little insect was medium sized, but medium sized is still a lot bigger than any house spider you'll ever see. It was on a mission to cross the road, and was moving fast to get there. I stopped for a minute to try and get some pictures, as well as play with it a little. I had my riding gloves on so I fooled with it briefly, but never actually picked it up. That was just another cool experience to make my day.
We got to Marfa at about 3:30. Marfa is a cool little art community town of about 2000 people. It's a mixture of cowboys and artists, and definitely a unique place. Riding through town we saw a bunch of art cars and old stores that had been turned into art installations. I had heard about this place, but never would have imagined it existed here unless I had seen it with my own eyes. Marfa was also famous for the Paisano Hotel, which was used to film 'Giant' the 1950's film with James Dean and Rock Hudson.
As we rolled into town, Dex told us that he'd be providing us with a hotel room. Not only was he an phenomenal athlete, but he's also a extremely generous person. Dex and his wife, Joni, had treated Ryan, Nick, and I to a big room at the Riata Inn on the east side of town. Well, mainly it was all because of Ryan and his influence...but I was super stoked to be a part of it.
We stopped in to clean ourselves up, and then the five of us all went out to a fancy Texas dinner at the Paisano Hotel. It was probably a little more expensive than I wanted to spend on a meal, but it was worth it for the great company and to eat at a place in the National Historic Registry. after dinner we all went out for Blizzards at the Dairy Queen (the real reason I love cycling) and then took a drive out to Alpine to get a glimpse of the art festival going on there. After all that, we retired to our rooms and called it an early night. Our plan was to get up early and try to make a century the next day...which seemed like a pretty lofty goal.
Miles: 75 miles
RRD: A dead badger
-D
