Monday, April 11
Lordsburg to Separ
20 miles on the bike

After all that figuring, I got an email from my cousin Amy, and much of the Bowman family is gathering in Austin to help her move this weekend. That motivated me to get to Texas on the Thursday train rather than Saturday. So I took off east on the freeway to Deming, into what soon turned into a vicious headwind. Luckily, I had salvaged an email from Sadie’s friend Anna in Las Cruces. She said she’d be willing to come pick me up. I’d see how far I could get. As of right this second, I’ve made it just shy of 20 miles in four and a half hours to a trading post in the middle of nowhere. Well, technically at the Separ exit off the 10. 20 miles up, there’s an exit with a Dairy Queen, but I don’t know if I can make it that far today.

This trading post is the kind of place with lots of billboards. From almost ten miles out, I started seeing them. Dolls! Fireworks! Jewelry! Snacks! Mexican imports! Leather! I was just glad for someplace to get out of the wind. I caught sight of the building as I reached the exit sign, and then I started worrying it was out of business! That was a long mile. I decided I’d stop anyway. At least it could be a wind break.

It was open.

On the way out of Lordsburg this morning, I met two recumbent cyclists heading to Savannah, Joe and Alex. They had google mapped themselves a route off the freeway. I wonder how that’s going.

On the interstate, I waved at a lone self-support cyclist heading west. I wonder if that person was on their way to the end of their route, or just gave up for the day. It’s lovely riding heading west today.

At Bowlin’s Trading Post, the cashier told me about a man who stopped in last year that was bicycling cross country backwards, literally pedaling his bike backwards! He had two big mirrors and enjoyed watching the cars almost wreck when they saw him. I do not feel so crazy at all when I hear about that kind of nuttiness. Why would you even do that!?

After about an hour at the trading post, Joe rode in. It seems like he’s moving at least a little faster than me, but still having a heck of a day. They never found the off-freeway route, but the freeway does have a nice wide shoulder. I felt guilty and kind of wimpy telling him I was waiting for a ride. If Anna shows up in a huge vehicle, maybe we can pick him and Alex up, too. They have a long day yet ahead of them, as there is no where to camp before Deming, still at least 40 miles away.

But, as I’ve said before, I’m going where the road takes me. If it works out that not every inch is by bike, that means something else interesting is happening.

For now, that means hanging out in the rocking chair in the moccasin department!

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