Dixon, NM to Santa Fe, NM I have been finding excuses to stay at Bill’s. Snowstorms, then unusually cold nights. One last trip to Taos for food, coffee, and eye candy. It finally takes something outside of the bike trip to draw me away. I’ve called a girl in Santa Fe that I once fell…

Bill shares his life with me as he has in the past. His daughter Megan, now 15 and full tilt into puberty, comes home. On Sunday we pick up Sage, 6, and Tyler, 4. All beautiful, spirited girls. My dad gets a taste of how Bill and I operate before leaving on Monday. Life is…

Roswell, NM to Dixon, NM Christmas breakfast at Denny’s may not sound like a jubilant event, but we make it one. They serve us some surprisingly good food. It seems like a long, leisurely, luxurious meal. We talk and talk. It’s cold and rainy out. Determined to stick to our plan, I set out on…

Malaga, NM to Roswell, NM The drums work into a frenzy again and again during the night. Not loud, just present whenever I surface from sleep. They’re still going calmly when I leave in the morning. I get another cactus flat and fix it in the breeze. Amazingly, the sky is still the same as…

Ft. Stockton, TX to Malaga, NM I am truly thankful when the tire holds air. I pick up a couple of burritos on my way out of town. It’s cold and windy again, but that patch of clear sky is still up north. I go for it. The terrain is much flatter today, with very…

Sanderson, TX to Ft. Stockton, TX It’s cold again this morning, but only a few miles into Sanderson for breakfast. After that I try to return to a state of no expectations for another day’s ride. I need some kind of help to get there. It’s foggy, windy, and bitterly cold. It’s also uphill, and…

Del Rio, TX to Sanderson, TX I’m up early, grab a couple of breakfast burritos to eat in my warm room, then ride north out of Del Rio in a chilly mist. I have no expectations, no landmarks or towns to anticipate, nothing to do but ride until I’m tired. This helps me reach a…

Lost Maples, TX to Del Rio, TX I expect a tough, hilly morning and I get it, but I also have fun. The road twists, climbs, and dives over the wrinkled land. I’m only a bit exhausted as I swoop down into Leakey. Suddenly the temperature drops, a bitter wind rises, and I scramble in…

Blanco, TX to Lost Maples, TX 10598 mi Another cold, cloudy, windy morning. It’s right back into the hill country out of Blanco. I throw myself into the task. These hills are tough. They’re getting more barren now – more rock, more prickly pear, and fewer junipers and other scrubby trees. Finally I start a…

Bastrop, TX to Blanco, TX 10493 mi The morning starts cold and gets colder. The wind comes up. It’s cloudy. By the time I reach Martindale I’m pretty miserable. It comes out in my phone calls to Mom and Dad. I’m outside on a payphone in the wind, and can’t pay attention. Then between Martindale…