Day Thirteen - Rough Start to a very Tough Day

We had a great stay in El Paso. As we were ready to wheel our bikes out of the room at 4am, Robin noticed her rear tire was flat and one of the spokes was broken (freewheel side of course). Thankfully we had all the tools and a comfortable room to do the repairs.

On the road by 5am and got out of El Paso easily as it was still quiet. Unfortunately it didn't stay quiet and traffic got pretty awful as we headed southeast on route 20 paralleling the Mexican border. As we rode across an intersection, a small car came along side Rick and turned right immediately in front of him. They collided and Rick went down! Miraculously Rick and his bike are fine. In fact the only evidence of the accident are a small bruise on Rick's left calf, some duck tape holding his handlebar bag support together, and a small dent on the right side of the car. Thank you to all who have been praying for us as we are truly fine!

After that we had three more flats, climbed 1200 feet crossing the Sierra Blanca mountains in heat that topped out at 113 degrees, and rode the 115 miles to Van Horn, TX. We are so happy to be staying in an air conditioned cabin tonight and to have this day behind us!

Day Twelve - Pecans, Prickly Pears & Paso, El

We left Las Cruces this morning and headed south on Rt. 28 - a gorgeous route cutting through Pecan Groves much of the way. It was heavenly being surrounded by trees and interesting to see how they flooded the groves via raised irrigation channels.

We crossed the state line into Texas - three states down! Once in El Paso, we stopped for a big breakfast and some groceries. At the grocery store we were fascinated by bins of prickly pear fruit, which are called tunas (no relation to fish or pianos). We asked the produce employee what they tasted like and how they are eaten. He cut one open and gave it to us to try. They are full of crunchy seeds and fruit, you eat everything but the skin. Rick likes it, Robin not much.

We finished our 44 miles, checked into the Double Tree and hit the roof top pool to cool off and for some r&r. We need to be ready for our first century of this trip tomorrow as its 115 miles to Van Horn, TX. Almost forgot, we had one more flat today, that makes 11 total!!

REMINDER: If you attend Fellowship Bible Church in Bainbridge and fill up your gas tanks (cash only) at the Russell Shell Station on Rt. 306 and Rt. 87, the Gaetjens will donate 10 cents a gallon to Destiny Rescue the month of September. Thanks for all the support!!

Day Eleven - Stock Up and Laundry Day

It's a slow news day here in New Mexico. We rode 66 miles to Las Cruces and were pleases to find a bike shop here in order to replenish our tubes and co2 cartridges. These flats are getting expensive! We had the shop change out all four patched tubes on our bikes. Having had no flats today and now carrying a small stockpile of virgin tubes we were feeling pretty confident as we got back on the road for the 2.3 mile trip to the Siesta Campground. Imagine our sheer delight when with the campground sign in view, Rick's front tire went flat! Flat changed, we made it to camp where we spent some quality time at the laundromat. We are celebrating our last day in New Mexico by going out for Mexican food tonight. Olay!

Day Ten - It's All Down Hill From Here

Today we made it to the Continental Divide. While we know that we still face some climbs, in a sense it is all down hill from here. We covered 66 miles and made it to Deming, NM by 9:30 am, just in time for second breakfast. It was a wonderful day! We are happy to report that we had NO flats to add to our totals!

The weird sighting for the day was a dead porcupine and the cool sighting was a live jackrabbit racing along the edge of the road faster than we could bike!

We stopped at a DQ in town where a man asked if he could check out our bikes. He turned out to be the editor of the local newspaper, The Deming Headlight. He snapped our photos on his iPhone and we gave him our blog address and told him about Destiny Rescue. We are available for autographs at the Roadrunner RV Park through this evening.

Day Nine - Dream Day

Aside from two more flats and a few horrible stretches of road, much of today was what cyclists dream about: watching a glorious sunrise over the mountains, flying along up to 24 mph with a heavenly tailwind, getting in 49 miles by 9am in the cool of the morning.

Some interesting sightings included 2 desert fox, jack rabbit and an owl, sadly all road kill, as well as one very alive desert horned lizard.

We totaled 75 miles, crossing into New Mexico and arriving safely at Lordsburg KOA Campground just in time for a swim! Hope everybody had a wonderful Labor Day weekend?!?!

Day Eight - Climbing for Kids!!

Today we climbed 3,000 feet, peaking at 4,975 feet at the top of Texas Canyon and totaled 81 miles! While we were eating breakfast (at 3:30 am) we looked at our donation status for Destiny Rescue and were so excited to see it is up to over $5,000, which helped keep us motivated for nearly 60 miles of climbing!

Today's interesting sites included gorgeous scenery, a large dead rattlesnake, and tons of the biggest grasshoppers that we've ever seen! They don't seem to hop, they just walk slowly.

We had flats #6 and #7 today, both in our last 4 miles to Wilcox, AZ. It was particularly frustrating as the temperature had risen to 105 and it seemed like we would never get to camp. Tonight we are trying camping again, so much for the 100 degree rule?

Week One Stats

Today we rode to 75 miles to Tucson, AZ, had two flats and found a fantastic bike shop! The ride was much longer than expected, so by the time we arrived it was 105 degrees!

We thought it would be fun to share stats from the week:

Miles - 450
Dead on the Highway - snake, large bobcat, ostrich, birds, rabbits
Live Animals Seen - rabbits, hawk, lizards, cows, squirrels, several dogs (2 of which chased us)
Weather Temps - highest 117 and lowest 59
Flat Tires - 5 (2 steel belted radial tire wires, 1 tack and 2 pinch flats)
Max. Elevation - 3,950 feet
Min. Elevation - below sea level
Lots of Kind People

Thanks all for your prayers, we sure need them! Heading to a mountain pass tomorrow.