Away we would go today on our first day of biking . . .

. . . first chore of the day was to ‘break camp’. Once you get all your gear packed up, you drop it at the trailer where Russ and or Megan will load the it up. The two alternate riding ‘sweep’ (the last one in the string of riders to make sure there are no stragglers or to help riders with breakdowns) or driving the van.

. . . and the first order of business for the pair that are cooking for the day is to get the water boiling for coffee!! The group agreed coffee would be ready by 7:00am each morning with the breakfast and lunch goodies out by 7:30am. This three burning stove was a HUGE improvement over the the two, one burner backpacking type stoves, we used on the cross country rides!!!

. . . all the lunch makings and breakfast goodies look so nice and orderly

. . . before the swarm of bikers come through like a plague of locusts  and pack/eat everything in site!!

It was a beautiful morning and soon we were on the road to Marathon.

Of course, Texas is know for tumble weeds and this was the first of only two I saw on the whole trip. The plants mature, disconnects from their rooting stock and ‘blow’ away distributing their seed as they roll around. Either it was too early in the year or they have not reached this area of Texas. They are thought to be native to Eurasia, and their seeds entered North America in shipments of agricultural seeds. They became naturalized in large areas.

It was already 80 degrees and it was hard to believe it could ever get cold enough here to have icy bridges. Oh, we would experience those type of temps later on the trip!!!

Mom teaching her little one the ways of the world . . . and what interesting creatures there are running along side the road on two wheels!!

It was DRY here in Texas and range fires are a BIG issue. In fact, the Wisconsin DNR had just sent down four forest fire engines and 8 rangers in a cooperative agreement with the State of Texas to help with the fire situation . . .

Another thing you may notice at a county line is the change in the pavement structure. Not a big thing when you are in a car running down the road at 70 miles an hour, with good shocks, the windows up, the AC blowing and the tunes loud and clear . . .

. . . but a big deal when you are on a bike. When we rode the Southern Tier, from San Diego to St Augustine, we all agreed Texas had the widest range of road surfaces, mostly a type of pea gravel with asphalt binder. Gravel is the key word here where the size of if ranged from smaller than peas to about the size of softballs. The larger the size the ‘rougher’ the ride, especially on skinny 25mm tires like I was running!!! Paving roads is surely an  economic issue for a county but you can really see the difference at the county lines.

Soon we rolled into Alpine, which looked familiar. With the US Courthouse and the round turret . . .

. . . the donut shop and the ‘asparagus’ plants (everything is BIGGER in Texas) it was like de javu all over again!!!

However, I did make a new friend, Mary. She and her husband were on the way home from a Veteran’s Convention on their Harley. Quite the wind protection mask she wore. Never did see her face!!!

Although the Wisconsin Boys would not be cooking what we envisioned to be our, ‘Wisconsin Night at The Grill’, we stopped in town with the first four cooking groups to shop for our brats, just in case the next grocery store, four days down the road in Cottonwood, did not have brats. Hard to have a brat fry with no brats!!!

Just outside of Alpine, I met Elroy heading west on his recumbent. He was biking from Atlanta, heading to Oregon and then east again. No real end point in view . . . ahhhh, the joys of road touring!!!

It soon became evident that the road was not friendly to the Texas hare. By the HUGE number of road kills we saw during the trip it is a good thing they ‘breed like rabbits’ because the species would soon be extinct!!!

From about a mile away, I could see someone walking towards me and of course I had to stop and chat. It was ‘Walking Tom’ who had started with a backpack at the Santa Monica Pier in California and was walking to Bar Harbor, ME.!!! Not raising money for any organization, or going through a mid life crisis, it is just something he always wanted to do. Half way through his walk he switched from a backpack to a Thule ‘Baby’ Carriage’, to haul his 6 gallons of on-board water and other gear.

Since he changed to the carriage, at least once a week he is stopped by police who have received a 911 call from motorists who have seen a man walking down the road with a baby, in a carriage, in 100 degree heat!!!

On our route there will be a ‘Prada storefront‘ constructed near Marfa, TX. A piece of ‘art’. Not to be outdone, some other ‘artist’ has created this poorer sister, the ‘Target’ Store!!!  FUN!!!!

About 6 miles out of Marathon, our home for the night, I road past this white bike, a memorial to someone on a bike who had been killed. I definitely remembered this from three years  ago on our Southern Tier ride and knew I had been on this road before. Sure enough a quick check of the maps that night revealed these miles were part of the Southern Tier ride. The green line was our Southern Tier Route and the red that of this Big Bend Ride.

Rene dies after being hit by a drunk driver. You can read about it here. Very sad.

We were staying at the Marathon RV and Motel again where our group had stayed three years ago, in cabins. I checked the price of a cabin and it was $120. No takers on splitting a room so it was on the ground tonight. Unique vehicle used by the cleaning staff. Who needs doors!!!

They had a GREAT patio area where we could hang out in the shade . . .

. . . just like we did three years ago as we waited for our rooms to be cleaned!!!

Jane and David drew the short straw for cooking the first night and set the bar high with a great selection of viddles including farro grain with chicken strips and roasted veggies, followed by strawberry shortcake!!!

It was soon time for our map meeting. I had been waiting for ‘Walking Tom’ to come walking by and sure enough soon he appeared on the horizon . . .

. . . ACA has a policy where one can invite ‘guests’ to dine and stay with the group for a night. I invited Tom to dinner, and to use our campsite and shower. He gladly accepted!! Denise, a fellow rider from last years Northern Tier ride, is about a week ahead of us this year on the Southern Tier ride. She met Tom a week ago and he remembered she was from MI. Small world!!!

I sent Denise this picture because having talked to Tom on the road while he was ‘dressed for work’ with sunglasses and his hat pulled down around his face to shield him from the sun, she never got a look at his full face!! He has a great journal and you can follow him here.