Sunday October 6, 2013, 75 miles (121 km) – Total so far: 202 miles (325 km)
Today we started early from the very nice and comfortable Hotel El Capitan. We decided to take 90 East to Marfa instead of staying on I-10 and climbing the Davis Mountains to Fort Davis. Route 90 from Van Horn to Marfa is a great road to bicycle: very little traffic and nice shoulders. It climbs about 1000 feet in 75 miles, thought, so it’s a deceptive incline. We all felt like we climbed much more than just 1000 feet, but the riding was pleasant, just long. Tonight and tomorrow we are staying in The Gage Hotel.
Leaving Van Horn at sunrise Sunday morning
Every Southern Tier blog has a picture of the sign past Hope, AZ and a picture of this Prada “store” on the way into Marfa.
Another roadside work of art in Marfa, TX.
An art gallery in the back of a pizzeria in Marfa.
Every ranch has a windmill to pump underground water to the surface. Some of these ranches are 20 miles long and take an hour to ride across.
An Air Force facility between Van Horn and Marfa. There are plenty of things to look at along this long stretch of TX Rt. 90.
Our home away from home for the next two nights. We met two other Southern Tier riders at breakfast. Bruce and Dick Myers are a day ahead of us on the way to Florida. Another brothers bike ride.
A beautifully restored and very elegant hotel in the western cowboy motif. The busy season is coming because fall is the best time of year to visit Big Bend National Park.