Last Chance to Turn Around Before Entering Mexico
Written by Jon on 30 March 2010
I woke up right as the sun was coming up. It was way too cold for the cold showers the campground offered. This was our first time packing all our gear, tents, and sleeping bags after a night of camping so we were slow. It took us about an hour total. We went back to the gas station from the night before in search of breakfast. A guy working in there recommended the Jacksons at a place across the street called the Krazy Chicken Café. I ended up eating two of them and they were definitely the best breakfast burritos I have ever had. They were flour tortillas with beans, eggs, Mexican sausage, cheese, peppers, and homemade salsa. We rode to Del Rio and passed an Air Force base on the way in to town. It was non-stop jets flying over our heads only a few hundred feet above. We needed some bike supplies and found a bike shop in town. We talked to the guy working in the shop for about a half hour before we got on our way. He said he is planning on opening another shop across town. Not realizing we were already on West 90 we pedaled the opposite way in search of it. This went on for about 2 miles until we saw a sign that said, “Last chance to turn around before entering Mexico.” At that point we both realized we were going the wrong way. An army guy at the Greyhound station already warned us that it is very easy to enter Mexico without passports, but hard to get back in the USA. Neither of us have passports so that could have turned out bad. We pedaled on throughout the day with plans to make it to Comstock. We ran into a border patrol station on the highway. We told the guy our story and he asked if we were US citizens. We said yes and he let us go on our way without showing identification. The maps said Comstock had a grocery store, restaurants, post office, and campground. We got there and the one restaurant in town was closed. The grocery store was actually a convenience store/bar. There were people buying single beers and getting drunk inside. We chatted with them awhile and headed on to the RV park. The sign coming into the park said, “Read your bible.” We found the owner and he only charged us $5 each to camp. The site had electrical outlets and what he called a “solar shower”. It was actually a building with a black rubber hose on top that heats up and in turn heats the water. Unfortunately, we were too late in the day and got stuck with cold showers. At this point a cold shower was better than no shower. We ate the convenience store food and hit the hay.

Broken Spokes and Flat Tires
Written by Jon on 31 March 2010
Upon waking up we had peanut butter and jelly for breakfast, got packed, and quickly got on our way. We rode near the Mexican border all day. There were Border Patrol trucks nearly every mile searching through the bushes for illegals. We went through some beautiful scenery including canyons and rivers that run from the USA into Mexico. Andrew broke a spoke on the way to Langtry. Unfortunately, it was on the drive side. The cassette has to be removed to repair this. I packed a cassette tool, but forgot to bring a wrench to fit it. It was quite scary, because spokes usually break in a domino effect. Once one breaks it is a chain reaction. We pedaled on in hopes of finding a wrench. When we got to Langtry there was only one business in the whole town. It was a general store. They served food, but the only two things on the menu were cheeseburgers and beef brisket sandwiches. We opted for the cheeseburgers. They were made out of black angus beef and were so good we had two each. A guy doing the census was inside and I asked the population. The man and woman debated if it was 18 or 19. They finally came to the conclusion the population was a whopping 18 people. While we were eating two men and woman rode in on touring motorcycles. I recommended the cheeseburgers to them and they all ordered. We got to chatting and it turns out they are also from Fairborn, Ohio. They trailered their motorcycles to Dallas and are touring the Big Bend area. They were extremely interested in our trip. They bought our lunch and told us to come out to their house to party when we get back to Ohio. We took some pictures with them and got on our way to try to make it to Dryden before dark. Andrew got a flat tire and realized four more spokes were broken. His wheel was hitting the frame. I trued it roadside the best I could, but was very fearful it would fall completely apart before we made it to the next town. We pedaled through the hills and fortunately made it to Langtry. This town only had a population of 11 with one general store/post office. We bought some food and asked if they had a wrench. The owner let us use one and we got the cassette off and the spokes inserted. Unfortunately they were too short so we decided to wait until morning to fix it. I asked the owner if he knew somewhere to camp. He initially said roadside and I asked if it was legal, but he said he wasn’t sure. He debated a little longer and said we could camp in an old building with no roof he owns across the street. He said he is weary to let cyclists camp in it, because the last group had left tons of trash behind. We bought some more food, thanked him, and headed across the street to the building. We set up our tents, but the wind was so rough it was blowing them down. I took my rain fly off to help the problem. We got to bed, but I didn’t sleep too well with all the wind and the semis passing by all night.

What Goes Up Must Come Down
Written by Jon on 01 April 2010
We woke up in the abandoned building and picked up the trash the previous cyclists had left behind. I figured we would give cyclists a better image so the owner would be more inclined to let future cyclists stay. I rebuilt Andrew’s wheel. Luckily Bryan at Links and Kinks had given us 12 extra spokes each and we had to use 9 of Andrew’s to fix his wheel. I woke up to another flat and Andrew repaired that while I fixed his wheel. He found holes in my tire so put a new one on the front. I told him he should put new rim liner in his rim, but he didn’t. On the way out of the building his tire popped. We pushed it across the street to the general store, he changed the tube, and we ate some brunch. With all the mechanical problems we didn’t end up getting on the road until 11am. We had a goal of riding 20 miles to Sanderson and then 55 miles to Marathon. The maps said we would be climbing 3000 feet in elevation. The hills started nearly instantly and it was uphill nearly the whole way to Sanderson. We rode through some ranches at first and then started hitting some beautiful scenery in the mountains. In Sanderson we ate at the Dairy King. They served Mexican food and we both had the chicken fajitas. We stopped at the gas station for some energy bars and tons of water. This was our longest ride with no water in between at 55 miles. The first 40 miles were a slight incline uphill. We passed some cyclists heading east who stayed in Marathon the night before. They said to ask for Gill who owns a hostel that hosts cyclists when we got to town. The last 15 miles turned out to be absolutely amazing. It was nearly all downhill, the wind was at our backs, and the temperature finally started to cool. When we arrived we stopped at a gas station with three Hispanic guys sitting out front. They knew Gill, but it was hard to understand their directions. The guy inside helped us out and we pedaled on to the hostel. When we arrived they told us Gill is a pilot and was out of town, but we were welcome to stay. They host cyclists free and had warm showers, beds, and laundry facilities. They recommended a restaurant down the street and we rode there first before settling in. We sat down to dinner and I quickly realized how chill the atmosphere was in the town. Everyone is extremely laid back and go easy. Much, much slower pace of life than I am used to in Ohio. It would be best described as a small Mexican town in Texas. A lot of the houses are even made from clay and stone like in Mexico. I had the spaghetti and it was some of the best I have ever eaten. It was southwestern style and very spicy. It turned out our waitress is also living at the hostel. The people who stay here work on the organic farm in order to pay for room and board. We did some laundry, showered, and I worked on my blog before bed. I met a guy named Norbert who is staying at the hostel. He is from Australia and works at random organic farms around the world. He leaves tomorrow for Utah and plans to do the same thing in Europe and India in the future. Andrew and I chatted with him awhile before going to bed.