Date(s): Oct. 18, 1999
Day: Monday
From: Dryden, TX
To: Comstock, TX
Lodging: Seminole Canyon State Historical Park
Segment Mileage: 65.5
Cumulative Mileage: 1549.5
Actual Riding Time: 4:1
Average Speed: 13.9
Weather: Cool, overcast
Temp: high 50's
Halfway point. Today we crossed the Pecos River, the dividing line between West and Central Texas and the halfway point of the trip. We've been on the road for a month with another month to go. Yesterday was the first day in which there were no hills or mountains in sight in front of us. At one point we came over a rise in the road and looked out on a sea of land, the flat Texas plains. That view was deceiving because the route today included a lot of short climbing from one dry canyon to another. The flatlands have been heavily eroded by flash floods over time, leaving many steep canyons. The state park where we are camped contains several of these canyons where Native Americans made their homes and drew pictographs on the walls, a major attraction in this area. To reduce vandalism, tourists are required to follow guided tours to view the drawings, and they are only held on Wed-Sat, so we did not get to see them.
This morning Oliver and I left camp in Dryden around 9:00, loaded with water for the 40 miles to Langtry, the only stop along the route. There we visited the Judge Roy Bean museum and visitor's center. Bean was known as the only law west of the Pecos, and was notorious for his unique legal style, running a saloon inside his "courthouse", making many rulings on the front porch. The original building is still standing and we could walk through it. There was also a very nice cactus garden on the grounds. Next we rode to the Pecos River crossing, a bridge over 200 feet above the gorge below, where grazing cattle looked like birds they were so small. As I pulled over to the side of the bridge, my pannier hit the high curb and I did a slow motion fall, not able to get my foot unclipped from the pedal in time. Oliver was very sympathetic, taking a picture as I laid there in the middle of the road. We lingered for a while, then rode to the overlook. There we saw the old road that hugged the edge of the cliff, crossed the Pecos on the valley floor, then climbed the opposite bank. The Pecos was a major roadblock for many yers, a dividing line between the lawless (except for Judge Bean) West Texas and the rest of Texas.
We are in a nice camp where we overlook the plains for miles in all directions. Dinner was the ramen noodles and donuts we had hauled from the day before, as there were so few stores along the way. Tomorrow is an esy ride of 40 miles to Del Rio and our last chance to visit Mexico.
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