Day 19, Long ride, Sanderson to Del Rio TX, Pecos River, Judge Roy Bean museum, HEAT

This was the big ride we have been facing with trepidation, but we all road well and even finished our120 miles ahead of our schedule. Thankfully we enjoyed a day on highway 90 with an overall significant elevation drop. Unlike the previous rides, the landscape changed to shorter rollers (up and down hill climbs). Up until today the land was long duration 1 to 3 % climbs of many miles. Today’s frequent rollers, similar to what we experience in Virginia, allow you to retain momentum from a down hill to carry you part way up the next hill. The biggest challenge for me was the heat that jumped to about 94 degrees F (Ugh!) at the lower elevations of Del Rio. What also changed on this route was the appearance of water including a scenic crossing of the Pecos River after our lunch break the Judge Roy Bean in Langtry.

To achieve 120 miles in a day, we don’t exert ourselves in speed nor powerful hill climbs. This has been our strategy the entire trip. Accelerations from breaks are very slow to preserve our legs and overcome stiffness from even brief stops. This strategy has been serving us well so far. Also, we try to eat a lot more food including ice cream and post ride protein.

We had a good 62 mile lunch stop with support from Carol and Julie, and it allowed us a brief tour of the Judge Roy Bean museum. His story was covered in at 1972 movie starring Pau Newman called, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean. I think I will watch this again when I get back to Virginia. They also stopped for us a 90 miles, which was my time to eat ice cream in a very hot day. The Wayne’s RV has a summer cold freezer!