Big Bend and beyond

We decided that since we were well due for a day off from riding, rather than just hang out in a hotel room, watching TV for 48 hours, that we would hire a car in Alpine, Texas and drive to Big Bend National Park. Honestly, getting into a car and being able to zoom off to the grocery store, where we could buy way more food than we could carry on our bikes, and then zoom off down the highway 100 miles in about 1.5 hours, was a very liberating feeling! We were definitely due for a bit of 'luxury' in that way. We spent 2 nights camping in Big Bend, and managed to hike 11 miles (16kms) on our 'day off', which doesn't sound like much of a day off, but actually the change of leg motion was nice. I have to add in here the quantity of food that we consumed on this 2 day trip was absolutely exorbitent, and probably enough to sustain a small country for several days. It's embarrassing, but here goes:

1 bag of malt balls, 1 chorizo sausage, 2 cans of chickpeas, 2 cans of tomatoes, 1 bunch of swiss chard, 1 loaf of bread, 1 pecan danish, 1 lg bag of tortilla chips, 1 jar of salsa, 2 boxes of cereal, 1 lg yoghurt, 1/2 gallon of milk, 8 bananas, 6 apples, 2 pkgs gnocchi, 1 jar of pesto, 1 can of olives, 1 red pepper, 1 lg bag of spinach, 2 heads of broccoli, 1 pkg feta cheese, 1.5 L wine, and 2 ice creams.

Isn't that disgusting? Needless to say, when we got back on our bikes after 1.5 days off, we felt VERY energetic. :)

 

So after our adventure/eating extravagganza in Big Bend, we returned our rental car to Alpine, and then rode 30 miles that afternoon to Marathon. It was a pretty easy ride, although we are finding that the wind is almost always present in Texas. We had heard from every cyclist we passed (and by now it had been a lot) about a free hostel for cyclists in Marathon, so we decided to check that out. Turns out it wasn't exactly what I'd call a hostel, but more of a art/hippie commune where some ppl are living, building very odd buildings, and they have an extra room full of random mattresses and beds, dubbed a 'hostel' and cross-country cyclists can stay there for free. We did get a warm night's sleep on a mattress, use of an outdoor kitchen, a shower/toilet and so far, fingers crossed, no sign of bed bugs. :) Really tho, hospitality is much appreciated and we slept very well.

 

Today we rode 55 miles from Marathon to Sanderson, arriving at 1:45! We are now in the land of not-much-in-between however, and so we are staying here, before we ride 85 miles tomorrow to the next town with services available. It should be an alright day, provided we don't have any major headwinds!