February 28, 2024
Day 8: Kermit to Pine Springs Campground (Guadalupe Mountains National Park)
What an amazing day! Big miles, big climbs, big tailwind, big Texas mountains! We started with perfect riding weather - 40-50 degrees and cloudy all day, we kept some layers on and others handy. We battled Permian Basin traffic and construction all day but did pretty well by riding in the mostly smooth but closed off lanes. Occasionally we had to ride on narrow shoulders or in traffic, but 95% of drivers gave us time and wide berths. Only one scary incident as we had several narrow shoulders to shoot through before they widened again due to construction. We usually would wait for traffic to pass before taking the lane. On one instance, Jude got close behind me as we slowed due to a narrow shoulder. Two semis were coming on our tail and I decided to shoot through a 6-inch wide ramp of asphalt into an entrance and get out of the way. I didn’t communicate it well to Jude, expecting him to follow me, but he was following too closely and missed the ramp by an inch or two, he then tried to turn off into the driveway, but there was a good 3-inch lip we didn’t see so he toppled over. He was unscathed as we had slowed to about 10mph and he had plenty of layers on, but the truck behind had to slam his brakes on, worried he would hit him. Thankfully he fell to the right and away from traffic. So grateful to God for keeping him safe!
We had PB&J lunch at the Pilot in Orla after 60 miles in 4 hours then headed out across the desert for 60 miles to the next water stop. Jude wanted to stop every 10 miles and we happened to hit construction traffic lights three times every 10 miles for 5-8 minutes each which was perfect! We made it through the first two lights just before the next cars were coming, then on the third there was a pilot car and an open lane, so we were able to ride in the extra lane closed off to traffic as the pilot car passed the other way. Lots of friendly honks today and a few friendly comments from construction workers (I interpreted the honks as friendly, Jude did not!). Traffic finally thinned out as we neared US60 and the final 20 miles of climbing into the mountains. Also, the desert terrain started to change and become much more interesting with mesas, draws, washes, some thrilling descents and challenging ascents. As we neared the mountains and looked down on a perfectly straight road, we even discussed whether the scene we were passing through was the subject of a Rand McNalley road atlas cover photo. Jude surprised me with his wealth of knowledge and told me that he had googled that already and most of those photos were taken in Wyoming and Montana where the plains abruptly meet the mountains. I congratulated him on already having the answer for one of the only questions I haven’t asked Google yet!
The last 20 miles were the most anticipated of the day, but they went by with some hard work that we were prepared for. After a quick photo opp at the Texas/New Mexico border we grinded out 10 miles to the rest stop for water, food and a bathroom break. Jude took one my caffeine Gu’s and absolutely crushed the last 10 miles to the campsite. We had bundled up at the rest stop since it had dipped below 40 degrees but pretty soon we’re shedding layers as we climbed. I considered taking a victory lap to reach 200k, but those last 2 miles will have to wait! We set up our tent quickly and got out our favorite freeze dried dinners. We intentionally left our stove at home to lighten our packs so we would have to rely on the kindness of strangers for hot water. Our neighbors across the way are a German couple on an 8-week tour of the Southwest and gladly boiled some water for us, thank you Arnaud and Dina!
Dinner and a walk around the campsite warmed me up as I was shivering quite a bit. I got into my new sleeping bag Elizabeth got for my birthday and warmed up right away as I listened to the soothing sound of freezing rain/snow on the tent fly. We’re counting our blessing and praying prayers of thanksgiving to the Lord for keeping us safe. We can’t wait to spend a day off the bike tomorrow hiking Guadalupe Peak.
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Today's ride: 122 miles (196 km)
Total: 584 miles (940 km)
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