Day 8: Saturday

Distance: 62.57 mi.
Average: 14.8 mph
Maximum: 28.2 mph
Time in Motion: 4:12:12

We woke up around 7:00 and headed for a McDonald’s breakfast. We wanted to be on the road early to avoid the forecasted wind and blowing dust.

The ride was great. We enjoyed warm weather and little wind as we continued pedaling through more pecan groves and small ag towns. The only trouble was yet another flat tire I got (that makes 4 for me).

After I replaced my tire and inflated it to a decent pressure, I cruised! It must have been low on air and slowing me down. It did not take us long to reach Sunland Park and El Paso . That’s when the fun ended.

El Paso is not my kind of town. Bike lanes are nonexistent and sidewalks are even sporadic. Busy streets are everywhere and the walk signals don’t usually work.

On the twenty-some mile ride across town to our motel, the Best Western Airport Inn , we passed a lot of bars and strip joints. In search of reading material to fill the time on the plane and in the motel, we visited the massive mall near our motel, a drug store, and a gas station. I was hoping for a novel or maybe a Newsweek. No such luck. There were plenty of smut and teen mags around, though. The phone book for El Paso lists little other than adult book stores. How can that be in a town of half a million people?

We called a few places about shipping our bikes. We plan to drop them off at a UPS store on Monday morning before we head to the airport.

Tomorrow we plan to ride into Mexico for a few minutes. Other than that, we’ll hang out in the motel until it’s time to drop off our bikes and hop on the plane.

After arriving at our motel, the forecasted winds arrived and the air filled with dust. The great view we had of El Paso became a white wall of airborne dust. My throat and sinuses started to complain a little bit. Other than the city riding, today was a pleasant ride.

The El Paso and Ciudad Juarez skylines, as viewed from our motel, are pictured above. The lights go on to the horizon.