From the Droid tonight, from Fabens, TX. No blog last night cuz we were having too much fun visiting Sandy and Peter, relatives in Las Cruces who treated us like dirty, sweaty royalty, even tho we'd never met before. Homemade refried beans, guacamole and vegan tortilla casserole for dinner, then pear cake and cinnamon chip oatmeal raisin cookies for desert.
And I thought we ate well in T or C! We are still in the desert so cool mornings, warm afternoons, and sunshine all day. Mid 60's this afternoon but mid 80's later this week, so we plan for early starts.
The riding around Las Cruces was very good and we saw lots of cyclists out for Sunday rides, especially as we neared El Paso. Eventually we figured out why. Even tho we took the recommended bypass of downtown, the traffic on the east side was brutal. We spent 20 miles on the shoulder of a freeway, which was pretty awful since there were exits every mile or so, then the route led to a jam-packed two lane road with no shoulder. It looked suicidal to us, so we studied the map and found another road that paralleled the route. It was much better, tho still far worse than almost every road the entire trip.
Ergo today's title, and I feel sorry for any cyclist unlucky enough to live in southeast El Paso.
One last note--all those news stories about phenomenal growth in the southwest, well, they're spot on. Looks to me like El Paso is growing faster than Phoenix, which I would have thought impossible. I guess all those baby boomers sunbirds are headed this way. Can't blame them.
Hi guys, Heard about you thru RBR website.
ReplyDeleteSorry you had such a hard time negotiating your way thru
El Paso. We are a sleepy little town of about 700,000. It does get a little hairy at times.
There are several safe routes to get from west to east if you know the lay of the land. Don't feel too sorry for us. We have good roads,varied terrain and great weather year around. Good luck on the rest of your trip.
A dedicated cyclist from Northeast El Paso.