Date(s): Oct. 14, 1999
Day: Thursday
From: Van Horn, TX
To: Fort Davis, TX
Lodging: Davis Mountain State Park
Segment Mileage: 96.2
Cumulative Mileage: 1347.4
Actual Riding Time: 7:50
Average Speed: 12.2
Weather: Warm, sunny
Temp: mid 80's
Today's ride was supposed to be one of the most difficult of the entire trip. Between Fort Davis and Van Horn, a distance of 90 miles, there are almost no facilities and no campgrounds. The last 30 miles are very hilly as well. Oliver and I started out late as usual, with Jim the only other person behind us. Now that we are just barely in the Central time zone, sunrise isn't until 8am, so no one could get a very early start. The first 35 miles to Kent were uneventful, either on the I-10 frontage road or on I-10. The frontage road is in very good shape and is almost unused. It appears to be an example of highway money spent for political reasons. Either that or Adventure Cycling has a lot of influence on Texas road building; it's an excellent cycling road, but boring nonetheless; straight and flat for miles. The road from Kent is just as well constructed and unused; from Kent to the state park, a distance of 55 miles, we were passed by only 2 cars. There were more construction people than cars.
Most of the group stopped at the
classic general store at Kent, only the 2nd store on our route. It
seemed to be the center of activity for that little community. I saw
Lynne there and passed on an email from friends of hers who are
reading this site, and she was amazed about the fact that she was
sitting in the middle of nowhere reading email from a friend.
At that point Todd and Jimmy left the store and were the lead group. Oliver and I left shortly afterwards. As we left I-10 and rode toward the McDonald Observatory, the vegetation changed from mostly desert to grasslands used for cattle grazing, and small hills began to appear. At the 60 mile point, we started to climb. We were already tired, and the climbing was difficult. We climbed for the next 12 or 13 miles, finally catching Todd at a rest area just before the observatory. Bruno showed up shortly afterwards. A 2 mile road leads from the visitor's center to the telescopes atop the hill and we debated the merits of climbing to the top. This is our last real climb of the trip, and Oliver and I agreed to try it. I thought Emory Pass was the last difficult climb, but the road to the top was the steepest, hardest climb of the trip. I was standing in my lowest gear for most of the way. Once there we climbed up the 5 flights of stairs to the visitor's area to get a view of the 107" telescope. The Univ. of Texas chose this spot because of the high percentage of cloud-free nights and the lack of lights in the area. There is a beautiful view of the surrounding Davis Mountains from the peak.
Despite the difficulty, I always
enjoy climbing. The tops of mountains are always interesting places,
and the descents are a thrill. Oliver and I flew down the hill, past
the visitor's center and on to camp at the state park. Once at the
park we found Jimmy waiting for us. He had also climbed the
observatory, the only other rider to do so and we had seen him fly
down as we made our way to the top. Now he was waiting for us to
arrive to pick out a site, not knowing that Todd and Bruno were
already there. As we rode into camp I watched a huge tarantula, with a
yellow body and brown legs, make its way across the road. We're camped
in a nice spot under live oaks next to a dry creek bed, an ideal spot
for spending our rest day tomorrow. The last of the riders made it
into camp at dusk.
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