Langtry, TX to Sanderson, TX (60 miles)

Saturday May 31, 2008

4:30am I woke up again. Not even close to daylight, but dawn could not wait. I emerged in the dark, broke down camp, repacked my bags (with this much gear, everything has it's place and if it isn't put in it's place, the bags won't close), and left town with a flashing headlamp on my helmet and a red tail light on my bike.

Before leaving, the Immodium I took was wearing off. Not willing to go into the brush, where yesterday when inquring about "restrooms" I was warned there may be snakes, I found a unfortunately more noticeable place behind the Community Center that would enable me to "have some back support". Immodium must do some strange stuff to the human body to enable such a shutoff valve. What happened next happened with such pressure it may have exceeded yesterdays wind speed. Normally concerned about how I leave a campsite, I had no concerns this time.

Biking away in the dark was interesting: Deer jumping over nearby fences, sounds that cannot be identified, etc. One car on Hwy 90 even pulled over to wait for me to approach not sure what they were seeing from a distance given my flashing headlamp. I should've taken the opportunity to swerve all across the road and maybe take my glowing headlamp and throw it to simulate a UFO or something that would give them something to tell Mary Ann and Joan the next day over a burger.

It wasn't long before twilight: 6:15am. I passed the turnoff for Pumpville. So many of these towns have their history rooted int he railroad. Every 30 miles or so there was a water station to provide water for the steam locomotives. People on the train wanted to get off while the trains were refilling with water, and there were employees needed for the water refilling, thus a town was born. Pumpville's fate was worse than Langtry's. After steam went by the wayside, the trains went right on by. All that remains of Pumpville is a church.

I wasn't interested in the turnoff to Pumpville. I had enough hills and canyons that challenged me this morning, just like yesterday. There would be no extra spurs to my route today. An upcoming town named Dryden was an unknown to me. I had inquired with people what might be there since it was the only thing between Langtry and Sanderson. Some folks said nothing was there at all, but one person told me there was a store. I was hoping the one person was right.

Due to the early start today, at 9:30am I had made the 40 miles from Langtry to Dryden. Lo and behold, a store was not only there but OPEN! Pleased, I rolled up and while parking the bike, met the mailman who delivers mail from Del Rio to Sanderson. That is a 120 mile route.
Walking inside, the man who owns the store was sitting at the table talking with a local named Charlie Sikes. Charlie is kind of a local. He and his wife live in Houston, but they "bought a place here". Where that place was, I have no idea as this was the only place I saw for 40 miles. Charlie's wife talked me into having breakfast since you can order just about anything you want. The dining style here is... if you're thirsty, get up and go get yourself a drink from the refrigerated cases, if you're hungry, get up and get yourself something to eat, and before you leave, tell us what you had and pay for it. After talking with Charlie and the owner about my trip, being asked "Why are you doing this?" by Charlie and having the owner man respond "because it's there" (which is kinda right), Charlie said "it never bothered me none that it was there" and we all started laughing, on my part, maybe due to lack of sleep. Charlie and his wife had first come to the store to get 4 bags of feed for the deer, but with how Charlie was set in that chair when I walked in, there seemed to be no rush. As I was leaving, he and the others had gathered around the bags of feed, but were all just leaning on it, talking. It may have been a Dryden Community Meeting taking place as I think all residents were present.

Back on the road at 10:30am, the next 20 miles were brutal. The hills and canyons were up and down throughout, and given the lack of sleep, I wasn't sure if I would make it. The owner of the store at Dryden had said "oh yeah, right before Sanderson, you will cross that last big hill. If you can make it up that, you will feel like Superman and coast for the next few miles into town with your chest inflated." Each big hill I came to, I thought "Is this the one?" only to find another one behind it. 3 miles from Sanderson, I saw a picnic shelter. Not much to it, no restrooms or water, but a table shielded from the sun. I rode up to it, dismounted the bike in a clumsy way I am sure, and layed on the table. A trucker was parked nearby, but it wasn't long after my arrival that he left. "On my own now" I thought, as if he would come over and say "hey, let me take you into town". After a 10 minute cooling period just short of the "I'm never leaving" stage, I started pedaling again. I never saw another hill like those I had seen before, and I never coasted into town. The owner in Dryden was wrong. He must've been thinking of another road, though I don't think there is another one out here.

Renewed by my arrival at my destination town, I went to the Shamrock gas station where I met Phyllis over a cold Coke. This was Phyllis' last day working here before retirement. On the inside walls of the station, there were the pieces of art that were once a coloring contest. "That was from 15 years ago" Phyllis said. "We tear them off and give it to them when they graduate from highschool." Cute.

Before I left to go settle in at the guesthouse of Alpine-resident Liz Rogers, a little Mexican grandma was being lead to the front door of the Shamrock station. I opened the door for her and said "Come in where it is cool." She hesitated and responded "No ingles." So I said it in spanish. She commented "Hace calor... mucho calor" and seemed pleased with our simple exchange.

After cleaning up and settling in at the house, I went to the Public Library in this town of 861 residents. Arriving in the open hour window of 2pm-5pm, I did a quick preliminary update of my blog, before searching for a restaurant for dinner. The only place I could find was a bar that was open. Confirming they served pizza, I ordered one from the same woman I saw in the library. Her name was Bonnie and she likely beat me in here only by a few minutes to start her bartending shift. Unique place as the bottled beer is stored in ice coolers like you might bring to a tailgate party. It was all good by me. I had a beer, ate my pizza, and went home to collapse.

start time: 5:48am
end time: 12:30pm, maybe later. Was just glad to be done.
time on bike: 4:44:55
mileage: 59.86 miles
avg speed: 12.60 mph
max spped: 38.60 mph. I wonder if my brakes work?
calories: 4,502
conditions: Hot. 99F. I wasn't sure I could pull off the final 3 miles, but I did.
End elevation: 2,793 ft but I had to climb to that many times. I hate canyons.