Bracketville to Leaky

 Another fun day in central Texas hill country. Another 70 miles in my rear view mirror. A strange phenomenon has occurred. Green. Yes, grasses, leaves on trees and shrubbery.  Reminding me of a trip to skyline drive. Towards the end of the ride, and I knew that it was coming, an extremely steep uphill climb. Treated by a fun and fast downhill into the town of Leaky. The elevation map indicates 3 additional climbs tomorrow.  The hotel owners husband has helped east bound riders "me" avoid these hills using an alternative route. I will catch up with him later today. 

Winding descent. 

River crossing. Way safer than yesterday. 

Relaxing by the pool 

Funny political signage. 

Comstock to Bracketville

 63 miles today. Not a whole lot to report on. Map 3 of 7 complete. Still warm but not as much wind, thankfully. Serious chip seal added to the struggle.  Moving off of route 90 for the first time in 5 days. Hopefully the chip seal issue goes away.

A long very narrow bridge with a tiny shoulder. 

Very cheap gas prices. I have not seen anything in the 2$ range for some time. 

Sanderson to Comstock

Left another 90 miles of rolling Texas hillside behind. Although to do it ,while eliminating the bulk of wind, I did get on the road at 5am. Not a whole lot of varying scenery, I must say. No services along the entire route today forcing me to carry 5 additional 28oz. bottles of liquid. The weight was a bit of a burden but I needed every bit of it. 

Morning sky change. 

Some sort of huge canyon. 

Nearly dried up Pecos river which flows into the Rio Grande. 

Marta to Sanderson.

 Yes still in Texas, as I will be for at least another 10 or 11 days. 105 miles of which I had to hitch a ride for the last 35 due to tire failure.  All tubes are repaired and ready for tomorrow's ride. Starting out early again to beat the winds. Here are more pictures from yesterday. 

The first one actually had sound to it. These were super sized road side murals. 

Van Horn to Marta.

 75 tough miles, mostly uphill and into a steady wind. My hopes are that the winds will at least subside a little or maybe just change direction a little.  Not happening. I am also experiencing lighter winds earlier in the day. So for now it's predawn starting to bet the winds a bit. 

Randome Prada store in the middle of nowhere. Very strange. 

Funky critters all over the road.

Scenery abounds. 

Sierra Blanco to Van Horn

 A scant 38 mile day to concentrate on recovery and in anticipation of a 75 mile straight run to Marfa Texas tomorrow with no services from start to finish.  The bulk of the ride is set between 4 and 5 thousand feet, bringing the temps down a bit. Also hoping the winds cooperate. When I approached the mileage sign for Dallas I thought initially that it read 210 miles. I had forgotten for a brief moment that I was in Texas.

El Paso to Sierra Blanco

 93 miles . Mostly flat to start ,turning upward at the 75 mile mark. Still quite a bit of heat and wind. It was a challenge to consume enough liquid to keep from becoming dehydrated and I believe towards the completion of the ride heat exhaustion was setting in. Tomorrow is a short day to Van Horn to recover fully.