Racing Patricia

Last night was another noisy night in my tent. That’s not really surprising or new considering how frequently I’ve found myself camping in somewhat close proximity to train tracks. In fact, I’ve become so accustomed to train noise that I generally sleep right through it. Last night the noise came from a different source. The wind. After spending all day pedalling my way through the wind I spent much of the night listening to it as it tried to pull my tent apart. Spoiler Alert: It failed.

On the upside, it was another warm night – I don’t think it went below 20 degrees celsius. On the downside, it was also a muggy night. A very muggy night. Normally I don’t mind the humidity. Quite frankly, I usually quite like it. However, the humidity combined with the wind’s assault on my tent led to a less than restful night. Perhaps going to bed somewhat calorie deficient didn’t help matters. Whatever it was, I was actually a bit glad when morning came around. So much so that it was still dark when I was packing up my tent. Side note: packing up a tent in windy conditions is not particularly enjoyable. Maybe not as bad as doing so in the rain but still not particularly enjoyable.

With the wind already blowing as it was, there was no point in starting my ride in the dark. Instead I headed back over to the Information Center. It wouldn’t be open for another hour but I could at least get out of the wind for a bit, use their WiFi and eat my breakfast ration.

My breakfast ration consisted of two bagels with peanut butter and honey. A breakfast like that is fine when it’s by choice. It’s a bit sad when it’s by necessity. Either way, it left me with one bagel for the road. But it was the last of my peanut butter.

By the time I finished breakfast it was 8:00 and the Information Center was open for business. For me, the business was to fill up my water bottles and to use the facilities. Both tasks were very successful.

Before leaving, I had a very nice visit with the women working at the Information Center. We discussed cycling, touring, and of course the Texas wind. They both agreed that it can really wear you down – whether you’re on a bicycle or not. I would’ve gladly stayed to chat longer but eventually the time came to move on. My breakfast didn’t consist of many calories and I needed to put them to use on the road.

There were two goals for today’s ride. The first was Comstock, a small town about 50 km away. Usually such a town would pass without much fanfare of sorts but Comstock had something I didn’t. Food. As such, Comstock became a very desirable destination. The final goal for the day was Del Rio which was another 50 km beyond Comstock.

The ride from Langtry to Comstock is rather scenic and on a few occasions comes relatively close to the U.S. – Mexico border. In fact, there were a few spots along the way where Mexico was only a couple of kilometres away. Given its proximity to the border (and the lack of a Trump-approved wall), there was a somewhat heavy Border Patrol presence in the area.

I’ve spent the past little while travelling in areas such as this and I have to say I’m a bit curious about the Border Patrol. I can’t help but wonder how much money is spent on border patrol and how many people they actually catch trying to cross the border illegally. Or, is their presence just to serve as a deterrent to those thinking about crossing illegally? Whatever the reason, I wave to the majority of them and the majority wave back.

My first major stop of the day came at the entrance to Seminole Canyon State Park. It is beyond the midway point between Langtry and Comstock and by the time I got there my body was definitely wanting some calories.

While there, I checked my phone to see where exactly I was on the map. According to the map, I was less then 20 km from Comstock. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can! While looking at the map my phone indicated that there were open WiFi connections available. My phone likes to play games like this every now and then. Considering I was just slightly west of the middle of nowhere and surrounded by desert, I found it highly unlikely there would be WiFi here. I was wrong.

It’s not completely surprising to find WiFi at a State Park; however, considering I wasn’t actually IN the park it was very surprising to find myself suddenly connected to the internet. It was a connection that led to another surprise.

One of the things I enjoy about extended trips of this nature is distancing myself from news and the media. Clearly I have been successful in this regard as I was completely unaware of Hurricane Patricia which was apparently hours away from hitting Mexico. And from there she would be coming after me. Okay, maybe not me personally but certainly Texas was along Patricia’s direction of travel. Despite the obvious concerns for the potential destructive power of Patricia, I couldn’t help but think, “Hmmmm … does that mean I’ll have a tailwind soon?”. While that remains to be seen, it’s a safe bet that there will be rain in my future. And a lot of it.

With Patricia heading my way, I resumed my ride to Comstock – without the aid of tailwind.

As mentioned previously, Comstock is a small town. From a cyclist’s point of view, it has a motel and a restaurant and not much else. I stopped at the latter.

The restaurant is The J and P Bar and Grill. It’s a very unassuming place from the exterior and only slightly less unassuming from the interior. That said, it was a very nice place and there were a handful of patrons there when I arrived. The lone waitress was super friendly and very understanding when it came to my repeated requests for more water. I’m guessing I’m not the first cyclist to stop there. We chatted for a bit about my trip before I ordered a Panther Burger and fries. No, it wasn’t actually panther! But, as burgers go, it was pretty incredible. Seriously. It was a great burger. And not just because I hadn’t had a real meal since Wednesday night (and that was gas station food).

Side note: Today’s lunch was courtesy of Brad who made a another donation through my blog. Hist first donation bought me a beer in Mexico. This donation included a note which read, “Lunch is on me … I hear there’s wind in Texas”. I don’t know if was a donation of support or a donation of pity. Either way, I’m very grateful for the support (or pity).

I left The J and P Bar and Grill with both a full stomach and full water bottles. Somehow I forgot to get the name of the waitress, and I probably should’ve asked to get a photo too. Oh well. It was nice chatting with her and if you ever find yourself in Comstock, TX go to The L and P Bar and Grill. Great people and seriously good burgers!

With Comstock officially behind me, Del Rio was now less than 50 km away. It was a bit of a strange ride as the weather really seemed to change frequently. It’s almost like a giant storm was working its way into the area. It was sunny, then cloudy, then rainy, and of course, always windy. But even the winds were different. No, there was never a tailwind but the strength of the wind seemed more moderate and it was definitely more of a crosswind. I was borderline ecstatic.

Dare I say, the change in the wind made the final 50 km relatively easy and I arrived in Del Rio much sooner than anticipated. And I was welcomed into the city with a Frosty at Wendy’s. Now that’s happiness!

There were several RV Parks as I pedalled through the outskirts of Del Rio, but with my recent discovery of Hurricane Patricia’s imminent arrival, I decided that spending the night in a motel might be a good idea. Actually, I decided that spending two nights in a motel would be a good idea. The forecast is calling for a lot of rain (and flooding) tonight and tomorrow. Whether it sticks around beyond that I’ll wait and see.

Despite the oncoming remnants of a hurricane, I rather enjoyed the weather today. After checking into the motel, I went out to get some food. It was about 6:30 PM and it was about 28 degrees celsius. Not bad for late October.

As for the food, I ended up ordering pizza from Pizza Hut. I have to say, I can’t remember the last time I had Pizza Hut. The pizza in a question was a large with unlimited toppings for $10. I won’t lie, I ordered a lot of toppings. And they were SO good. Side note: On the website, it indicates that a large will feed 3-5 people. Clearly that doesn’t include cycle tourists. I ate the whole thing. Easily. After limited food over the past couple of days, I may have been a little bit gluttonous.

I don’t anticipate there being much of an update tomorrow since I’ll likely be hiding in my motel room all day. Although, at some point I’ll have to go out for some groceries. I’ll worry about that tomorrow.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 96.70 km
Ride time: 5:37:03
Average speed: 17.21 km/h
Maximum speed: 37.53 km/h