Day 40: Van Horn to Fort Hancock

March 26, 2025

Entrance to I-10 West. My first bike ride on an Interstate Highway.

Backward look up the hill on I-10 after Van Horn.

Border Patrol Checkpoint on I-10 East. We were riding on the access road.

We rode on this. There was very little traffic so we rode on the roadway.

Sign on downhill on stretch of I-10 west of Sierra Blanca

I-10 Westbound. The shoulder was grooved concrete.

Big Beautiful Wall (BBW) visible in the background.

School across the street where we took our (cold) shower.

Irrigation canal on US side of the border. A lot more water in it than in the river.

I went to bed about 9:45 and woke up about 5:50. I woke up a few times, so didn't feel fully rested. I ate the usual (oatmeal) and packed turkey and Havarti for lunch (I put it in the van so I could get it at the meet-up as I did yesterday rather than carrying it). It was requested that we ride in groups of 2 or 3 on I-10, so BW and I rode together. I would have been ready for an early departure, but lost my Karoo when it fell out of my electronics bag and I put one of my duffle bags on it. It took me 6 minutes to find it. We still left at 8:02.

We took I-10 business in Van Horn for about 3 miles before merging onto I-10 proper. The first 10 miles was a 1-2% climb. I tried to hold between 130 and 150 W at JW's request. We had a tailwind and the shoulder was nice and smooth so at times it felt like I had a motor on my bike. After the climb there was a mile or two downhill before we got on the access rode. We caught up with SR, PB and JE just before the access rode. SR joined us from the rest of the day.

The access road was chip seal, but there was no traffic. We had a good tailwind, so even though the surface was a bit rough we were going around 20 mph. We stopped at about mile 20 for a nature break and I ate an apple. We arrived at Sierra Blanca, the meet-up site, just after the van and with less than 2 hours of riding time. I ate my sandwich, a clementine, and drank a lemon-lime soda. I filled my water bottle and renewed my sunscreen and we left. We were on an access road for about 7 miles and then got back on I-10. There was a short climb and then a downhill. Our direction changed and there was a gust crosswind. The downhill was a little gnarly. My bike was shimmying, I think because of the crosswind, so I did some braking. There were some spots in the shoulder that were blackened and the concrete was damaged. JW says they are where there were car fires. It was hard to see them in advance, and sometimes there was quite a bump. I am glad I had good rubber and that nothing bad happened.

After we got off the interstate were on local roads for about the last 20 miles. We stopped at a convenience store and I got a gatorade electrolyte replacement and drank it. The first 2 miles were into a very stiff headwind. However, we turned onto a road that was almost directly north and thus there was a tailwind. It was mostly that directly the last 16 or so miles. SR and I had a few episodes where we ran it up over 30 mph. We were not passed by a car the entire part of the ride. We saw a roadrunner run across the road (how appropriate) in front of us. We arrived at the school at just a little over 4 hours of riding time, but decided to go downtown to find something to eat. There is basically only one restaurant in town, a small Mexican place near I-10. I got carne asada. I expected a stew, but it was a piece of thin grilled pork. It was good and it was a nice restaurant with good service.

After lunch we went back to the church. The van was there and unloaded. I claimed a small room to sleep the night. It is nice not to have to set up my tent. We had burgers for dinner and I ate my fill. For some reason my phone, and thus my watch, refuses to recognize the new time zone and change the time.

Tomorrow we ride to El Paso. It is about 62 miles and mostly flat. We are staying in a hotel and I am rooming with JW. The ride is a very slow uphill for the first 60 miles and then there is a little steeper climb to El Paso. We are riding through the town and staying in west El Paso. There is supposed to be a tailwind in the morning shifting to a headwind later in the day.

I am feeling pretty good. I have been trying to sit on the nose of my saddle and spin more. That puts less pressure on the saddle sore. I carried muciproin with me and put it on a couple times during the day.

Today's ride: 78 miles (126 km)
Total: 2,035 miles (3,275 km)

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