Day 20: Marfa TX to Alpine TX

Today was intended to be a very easy, active rest day and we accomplished the goal.  We woke up with the sun around 7:30AM and had coffee at the tent.  After hanging around for a hour or so we walked to the local burrito shop for breakfast.  I am not a big fan of Mexica for breakfast, but this was good.  We ordered two Burrito’s that had us stuffed.  

Breakfast of Champions...

After breakfast we packed up and I headed off for a quick two-hour ride to Alpine.   The ride was easier than I expected and had the first real down hill in days.  The 2Hr. of ride time includes about 20~30 minutes of riding around town and finding Sandy at camp. 

Time for a new sign...

The early scenery on ride was much the same as yesterday.  As I approached Alpine the terrain change and there were cool rock formations along the road. 

Did I see this on Bonanza or some other Western
we watched when we were kids!!!

Nice all the way around today

Closer to Alpine things changed

We moved from Marfa to Alpine to see if we could find a more interesting town.  Mission accomplished on this.  Marfa is nice and a good place for a quick stop but one day is enough.  Alpine is a much larger city (still small).  We ate lunch/dinner at a local bar then headed off to a bar/bar.  The bar had so much character and catered to people passing through.  We met a bunch of guys who finished a long weekend of hiking & camping at Big Ben.  During the conversation the bar tender overheard that I was riding to FL and allowed me to write an entry into the biker log at the bar, cool to think that I am part of a long tradition of people riding through. 

Lunch in Alpine



My next new favorite bar...
This place had so much character

After a lunch and a few beers its back to camp for a needed rest.  

Hope we don't see a Tarantula

I did some math today…

So far, we have covered 1,181 miles with 47,044 feet of climbing.  I have been in the saddle for 3 days, 14 hours and 16 minutes.  We have 1,965 miles to the finish with 57,901 feet of climbing.  Who said it was flat when you hit Texas?  Now what you have been waiting for, when will I hit NSB.  The range of dates is between 10-April and 15-April.  There is a lot that can go right, and we arrive around the 10th, but a lot can go wrong, and we are closer to the 15th.  When we hit the border of Texas, I will give you another update.  For now, it is one day at a time, ride on…

As mentioned, todays ride was active recovery and the wind was generally in my favor. 

Today’s ride stats:  ***

Start Time: 10:40 AM Central Time           Finish Time:  1:01 PM Central Time

Elapse Time: 2 Hr.21 Min.                          Ride Time: 1 Hr. 59 Min.

Distance:  29.6 Miles                                   Average Speed: 14.9 mph

Climbing/Descent: 702/869 Ft.                 TSS:  43

Average Power: 119 Watts                        Normalized Power: 146 Watts

Calories: 850                                                 Ave/Max HR:  98/125 bpm

*** Todays stats include at least 20~30 minutes peddling around town waiting for a call from Sandy.  It was a very easy ride.

For food today, I ate nothing and had no drinks.  With such a short ride there was no lunch. 


For tomorrow, the ride will be 80+ miles into Sanderson TX.  I am sure there will be a lunch tomorrow. The profile is generally downhill, but this has fooled me in the past.  Let’s hope for friendly winds and an easy ride.

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