Although today was technically a rest day, we did have an easy 33 mile ride with the wind from Clint, Tx to Ft. Hancock, Tx. Roger and Joe went to mass at St. Pious with their mission friends from El Paso while the rest of us got on the road. Brian and Ron took off early and as Phil, Allen and I started to leave 15 minutes later Allen had flatted between the room and the trailer! Not to be outdone, Bob flatted 5 miles down the road on a piece of brown bottle glass the size of a BB. Meanwhile, Roger took our great driver Joe, to the El Paso airport for his trip back to Iowa and then picked up the trailer and brought it to our Ft Hancock motel. Ron, Roger, and Brian then went back to the airport to get our new driver, Rick Runyon. Rick’s son Brian is married to Ron’s daughter Erika and will be driving for us the next ten days.
This afternoon the wind has picked up and is blowing dust and sand across the landscape. We are glad to be in today and hope the wind blowing out of the west continues this week as we ride east. Allen seems to be more interested in the border fence (which is only a couple miles south of us) than the rest of us. He has already taken a side trip down to the port of entry by himself, but I think Jill has given him orders to stay clear!
We have worked on our bikes and are enjoying some downtime this afternoon and evening. Breaded pork chops in gravy with carrots and seasoned rice are on the menu for tonight – life is good!
Allen’s 2nd flat.
Bob’s 2nd flat.
Rick Runyon, our driver for the next 10 days.
Ft. Hancock Motel
U.S. – Mexico border fence
Bike maintenance
Mmmmmm…Pork chops
Southern Tier Comfort Ride 
Happy that Allen is learning new skills but he must have forgotten the one involving his comb. Seriously though Allen, loving the pictures. Keep it up!
I’m making a list…laundry, dishes…be sure to keep me posted of any other emerging skills you notice. I love that you surprised him in the picture so he looks like he has been caught cheating instead of drying a pot lid!
Roger, aren’t you getting a bit jealous that you haven’t had to practice your tire changing skills on your own bike?!
Pam,
Who do you think the guys have been coming to when they have a flat? I’ve had plenty of practice changing flats!
Bob and Allen, I couldn’t help but notice the headrests. Phil, too? Really interested in how you like them
Bart,
All three of us had headrests on the stolen bikes. Allen and I got them on our new bikes too, but they didn’t have one to fit Phil’s Euromesh seat. It takes awhile to get them fitted just right but I really like to be able to lay back against it on the long flat stretches.
Bob
Referring to the photo of my tires vs the other guys’ tires- what the “Blog Master” failed to point out is that since my Schwalbe Marathon Plus’s have twice the footprints (or more) than their tires, I have a much greater chance of getting something in my tire to flatten it. Call me “lucky” if you want but I watch where I’m going so I don’t get thorns or whatever in them. Now if I go out some morning and find an ice pick sticking in one of my tires, well, that’s another story!
one smart fellow running schwalbes..I crossed the ST without a flat running the storied Marathon Plus..everyone else deserves every flat they get.
Should tell you something about tires—the-biggerr the better
Welcome to Texas!! You will see parts of the state that I haven’t been to yet in the nearly ten years we’ve lived here and probably never will! I would have to agree that the border crossings are something to be wary of. Hoping that we don’t have any nasty spring storms for your trip across the state, but can assure you there will be lots of wind! Love the blogs!!!
“The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.” ― Christopher McCandless