NEVER AGAIN

...will I be 56 years old.  Yesterday (October 3), I had my 57th birthday.  It was a great day -- a "rest day" - we only rode 22 miles (1 hour, 35 minutes) from Leasburg State Park (Radium Springs, NM) to Las Cruces.   The scenery in this southwestern part of New Mexico is beautiful -- farmland with cotton, corn, chile peppers, and Pecan orchards.  

Las Cruces is a nice sized town and we scored with the restaurant/beer scene yesterday.  After settling into a motel, we went to Happy Hour at The Game Sports Bar.  They had a great selection of beer on tap and Rick was happy with his Aggie Ale (an IPA) and I with my Hoptober (New Belgium).  They had this amazing appetizer called The Corked Bat -- Hatch green chile strips encrusted in a pecan breading and deep fried...mmmmmm!!!!  People were really friendly at the bar.  We met Rick, a sales rep for UPS who was born and raised in Las Cruces.  He bought us a round of beer (since it was my birthday).  So now, whenever we see those UPS trucks passing by and we ask "What Can Brown Do For You?"  we know Brown can buy us a beer!!!

And one more Never Again -- staying a little too long at the sports bar and riding the tandem back to the motel - whoa!!

This morning we got off to a not too early start after having breakfast at Whataburger (really good biscuits!!!).  The ride started out beautiful on a country road through groves of pecan trees going through little towns of Mesilla, San Miguel, La Mesa,  and Chamberino.  Just after Chamberino we ran into Norm, Karen, and Bill (they started the same ride a week after we did).  Chatted for a few minutes then headed east towards Anthony Gap.  (Hey Karen, the Gap was nothing; we only went down to Granny gear once for about 100 yards just to save our knees -- piece of cake after Emory Pass!!!)  And 6.5 miles after, we crossed into TEXAS!  

Welcome to Texas!

We HOPE they drive friendly!!!!  The next 20 miles or so were not the best part of the day.  This part of Texas looks exactly like I pictured it -- flat, desert expanses with not much to look at.  The road we were on took us through the Fort Bliss Military Reservation on the "Purple Heart Highway".  Apparently a lot of folks get off work at the military base about 3 p.m. because we went through there just at that time and wow, there was LOTS of traffic.  Also they were constructing a new interchange so we had to ride on the shoulder side of the construction barriers with a large pan grader /earth mover trying to chase us down.  A bit unnerving to say the least....

We stopped to shop at a Walmart and have dinner at Fuddrucker's -- the most expensive hamburger joint either one of us has ever been to and NOT WORTH IT!!!!  Tonight we are bedded down at a nice Microtel on the east end of El Paso.

Total miles:  68.75
Time:  5:05
Avg:  13.52 mph