Trans America Cycling Day 17 - Sierra Blanca, TX to Van Horn, TX
The link to today's route and statistics is found here.
The best possible way to rest is to have fun!
Our Trans-America Cycling team spent our first full rest day, Day #14, “resting” in Las Cruces, NM. I planned a full day of visiting key spots around town for the team, and we had a blast.
We started by taking Uber downtown. Just ordering an Uber from my iPhone was a cultural experience for our Maltese riders. They found the drivers and vehicles to be, “quite exquisite.”
When we arrived downtown, we found a comic store, museums, a movie theater that plays the classics, bookstores, and restaurants, all with a fountain for kids to run through in the center. We made our way to Beck’s Coffee where we got coffee that met our Swiss riders’ standard.
From there, we walked to Little Toad Brewery where we shared flights of beer
and got to listen and dance to “Wait for What?”, a fantastic married duo who play Neil Young, Tom Petty, and some other classics.
We made friends with the band’s groupies who enjoyed learning about our bike trip. At the end, I compared my footwear with my new friends, since clearly we have different taste!
While at Little Toad, we learned there was a beer festival in town to raise money for one of the owners suffering from cancer, so of course we took Uber there next! We played corn hole, tried some peanut butter stout, and listened to even more live music.
Finally, we made our way to St. Clair’s Winery & Bistro, where we sat listening to some guitarists, looking out over the Organ mountains, enjoying wine, great food, and most importantly, good company. At the end of dinner, we had the privilege to meet the owners, who treated us to a bottle of wine. We actually declined in favor of getting a photo with them instead! It was the perfect end to a fun day.
Here are the key lessons I learned from our rest day: 1) having fun is rest, and 2) if you need a rest day after your rest day, it means you had fun!
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Today we passed from Mountain to Central time zones, even though we are still surrounded by mountains. Tonight we are staying in Van Horn, a town of over 2000 inhabitants at an elevation of 4042 feet in the Central time zone. Services can be few and far between in west Texas. Cyclists on unsupported tours must carry extra food and water to span the gaps. We are happy to be on the Trans-America Cycling tour.
Today's ride was a partial ride of only 32 miles in length. This relatively short day of riding is positioned in the schedule to let riders recuperate prior to some more difficult days ahead. A tailwind of between 17 and 25 mph literally blew us from Sierra Blanca to Van Horne, making it an even easier day yet. Most of the ride took place on a frontage road to I-10, but 8 miles near the end of the ride was on I-10, including several miles of high speed downhill on the interstate shoulder that ended abruptly due to road work. We believe that today's interstate riding was the last in the tour. Riding bicycles on interstates is allowed in the western part of the United States, but generally not in the eastern part.
It was so windy today that after the ride one could cycle to our motel from a restaurant west of the motel without pedaling. Just sit in the saddle and let the tailwind propel you. The author achieved a wind propelled speed of 12.5 mph after coasting one block and was still accelerating when turning into the motel.
Special Blog of Rest Day in Las Cruces on April 14 by Guest Author, Kristin
Our Trans-America Cycling team spent our first full rest day, Day #14, “resting” in Las Cruces, NM. I planned a full day of visiting key spots around town for the team, and we had a blast.
We started by taking Uber downtown. Just ordering an Uber from my iPhone was a cultural experience for our Maltese riders. They found the drivers and vehicles to be, “quite exquisite.”
When we arrived downtown, we found a comic store, museums, a movie theater that plays the classics, bookstores, and restaurants, all with a fountain for kids to run through in the center. We made our way to Beck’s Coffee where we got coffee that met our Swiss riders’ standard.
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| In front of Beck's Coffee |
From there, we walked to Little Toad Brewery where we shared flights of beer
 |
| Toasting at Little Toad Brewery |
and got to listen and dance to “Wait for What?”, a fantastic married duo who play Neil Young, Tom Petty, and some other classics.
 |
| Dancing to the band, Wait for What? |
We made friends with the band’s groupies who enjoyed learning about our bike trip. At the end, I compared my footwear with my new friends, since clearly we have different taste!
 |
| Comparing footwear |
While at Little Toad, we learned there was a beer festival in town to raise money for one of the owners suffering from cancer, so of course we took Uber there next! We played corn hole, tried some peanut butter stout, and listened to even more live music.
 |
| Having fun while supporting a wonderful cause |
Finally, we made our way to St. Clair’s Winery & Bistro, where we sat listening to some guitarists, looking out over the Organ mountains, enjoying wine, great food, and most importantly, good company. At the end of dinner, we had the privilege to meet the owners, who treated us to a bottle of wine. We actually declined in favor of getting a photo with them instead! It was the perfect end to a fun day.
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| Cheers |
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| Meeting the owners |
Here are the key lessons I learned from our rest day: 1) having fun is rest, and 2) if you need a rest day after your rest day, it means you had fun!
_______________________________________________________________________
Today's Ride
Today we passed from Mountain to Central time zones, even though we are still surrounded by mountains. Tonight we are staying in Van Horn, a town of over 2000 inhabitants at an elevation of 4042 feet in the Central time zone. Services can be few and far between in west Texas. Cyclists on unsupported tours must carry extra food and water to span the gaps. We are happy to be on the Trans-America Cycling tour.
 |
| Crossing from Mountain Time to Central Time today, sign probably damage by high winds here |
Today's ride was a partial ride of only 32 miles in length. This relatively short day of riding is positioned in the schedule to let riders recuperate prior to some more difficult days ahead. A tailwind of between 17 and 25 mph literally blew us from Sierra Blanca to Van Horne, making it an even easier day yet. Most of the ride took place on a frontage road to I-10, but 8 miles near the end of the ride was on I-10, including several miles of high speed downhill on the interstate shoulder that ended abruptly due to road work. We believe that today's interstate riding was the last in the tour. Riding bicycles on interstates is allowed in the western part of the United States, but generally not in the eastern part.
 |
| SAG1 with all 14 cyclists and all 3 TAC staff |
It was so windy today that after the ride one could cycle to our motel from a restaurant west of the motel without pedaling. Just sit in the saddle and let the tailwind propel you. The author achieved a wind propelled speed of 12.5 mph after coasting one block and was still accelerating when turning into the motel.
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