Van Horn, Texas

When the rivers were deep we didn’t falter. When the valleys were low we still believed. When the mountains were high it didn’t stop us, no no. We knew you were waiting, we knew you were waiting for us to arrive safely!

Safely completing each day of biking the USA borderline is no haphazard occurrence, but instead a well executed example of planning, implementation and deployment. Late yesterday evening after consuming 4 bottles of beer, beef burritos, chicken enchiladas and tacos, we had an epiphany, ‘Our Hotel doesn’t serve breakfast, so what are we going to eat for breakfast and lunch tomorrow?’ Fortunately for us, on the way back from the restaurant to the Hotel, we stumbled across a Food Market and purchased a collection of meat, cheese, granola, bread rolls, milk, chocolate, butter, bananas and other food goodies… You may laugh! Eat the borderline…Ha ha, very funny. But this example of food planning would prove instrumental in the successful deployment of Trusty & Steed for today’s high altitude, 90-mile sortie across the Davis Mountains of West Texas.

Imagine how we felt getting up at 6:30am to prepare our Granola and Banana breakfast eaten out of make shift plastic bowls; slice cheese, ham and tomato with a pocket knife to make our sandwiches to be eaten later on the side of Interstate 10; and being informed by The Weather Channel that the first stage of our 90-mile ride would be implemented in 18°F/-8°C temperatures. To say we were slightly apprehensive would have been an understatement. This ride was different! It started straight out of the blocks with a 3-hour, 21-mile, 2000ft climb up to the McDonald Observatory perched 6315ft in the Davis Mountains; and believe us when we say, “getting there nearly made us throw up”. No down hill reprieves and no tail winds, just dragging us, the bikes and 60lbs of kit up some seriously steep ascents. Once at the top, however, everything turned into pure joy. The views, the descents and the road surface were to die for; even Edwin and Talwin decided to share the rest of the day.

We got to our hotel ahead of time and promptly went across the street to Papa’s Pantry to replenish some of the 6470 calories burned!

Pictures speak a thousand words, so make sure you check out the photos.

Rest day tomorrow…only 5 more days left in Texas.

Us x