Day 18, Post 16: Wonderful and exhausting day. Cycled uphill almost all day against moderately tough winds. I'm now in Marfa, TX - an arty, pretentious and monied town. Quite the scene, given it's in the middle of Texas ranch country. I'm still biking with two guys from the east coast and another cyclist from Madison, WI. We are all going to St Augustine, and it's fun having others to cycle with (even though I also quite enjoy cycling solo as well). Time will tell if we continue to travel together or not, but for now it's ok. Right now I'm sitting in a bar at the St George hotel in the center of town where the 4 of us are taking a break from camping and are splitting the cost of a room. It's a suite, in fact, and the hotel let us have it at almost half price because they knew they wouldn't rent it otherwise. The town is CRAZY. Between an annual festival called Marfa Magic and spring break (I guess this town is popular with University of Texas students) and the fact that there is nothing else around for hundreds of miles, it's a madhouse.
Check out my road cycling activity on Garmin Connect.
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1618006311
Pic 1, on the way to Marfa one can find this art installation. Some people seem to take it literally and admire the shoes. I think it's a clever ironic criticism of consumer society.
Pic 2, a good example of the landscape I am now going through. The open space is almost stupefying.
Pic 3, I woke up to 32 degrees and strong winds. A tough way to start the day but it was beautiful nonetheless.
More to come,
Michael