Today was supposed to be really hard-we had 85 miles to go, it was very hilly, and there was a lot of wind. It turned out to be the most scenic day to date. We crossed the Pecos River bubbling at the bottom of a deep spectacular canyon. Much to our dismay, there was road construction on the bridge with traffic down to one lane, so we felt we couldn’t stop and gawk at the river’s beauty. We had beautiful mountains in the distance, and the wind was at our backs! Once “west of the Pecos,” we cycled through many canyons- Deadman’s, Eagle Nest to name a couple. We then detoured into Langtry to see the original Jersey Lilly Saloon of Judge Roy Bean fame. (He was the Law west of the Pecos!) They also had a beautiful cactus garden with dozens of varieties. Continuing on our journey, the heat, hills, and hardness all increased. We had purposely not filled all our water bottles, thinking it would be better to fill up along the way. The map said Dryden had a convenience store, so we were banking on getting water there. When we got there, it was a total ghost town. We had 20 miles to go and scant water. We entered Sanderson Canyon and it was spectacular. We went down into the canyon for several miles before reaching Sanderson at dusk. A storm was rolling in, and the RV Park we were to stay in was right on the main highway, so we opted for a local motel. The manager was amazingly accommodating and even offered to make us dinner, which we declined as we had our rehydrated meal all ready. The next day: The manager brought us milk for our oatmeal, Indian Chai tea, and a breakfast egg thing that was odd, but delicious! We certainly got our money’s worth there! We had been looking forward to today all week. It was supposed to be a reward day for all the recent heavy mileage and hills. We had only 55 miles to get to Marathon and a really nice historic boutique hotel. Since we had had the wind at our backs for two days straight, we envisioned a day of cycling nirvana, arriving at our hotel early and soaking in the hot tub a fella we met said they had. What occurred was the most exhausting and grueling physical and emotional test either of us has ever endured- and we’re both marathoners! Cycling to Marathon was harder than running a marathon. Right away the climb started. We counted the miles uphill- 5, 10, 15, 20. The wind had shifted and was in our faces and blowing steadily.Our pannier bags were catching the full force of the wind’s strength and pushing us backward. After 28+ miles of climbing and wind, we had been cycling for 4 1/2 hours! We had to stop frequently to regroup and catch our breath, and each time the wind buffeted us and was so loud it made communication difficult. We became angry as we realized we were going to miss time relaxing at the hotel. We wondered aloud if we would be able to finish the day without vehicle assistance. Finally, at about 33 miles, we turned and saw a long straight road stretching toward the distant mountains. It looked slightly downhill, and we had turned- maybe we would get a break from the wind. We had actually turned directly into the gale, and the wind speed had increased. Going slightly downhill, we struggled to go 5 mph. It was horrible and demoralizing. We counted every tenth of a mile to gauge progress. Mind games started: “If I can just get to 45 miles, we might make it.” After 10 miles on this arrow straight road, the mountains seemed no closer- in fact, they seemed to be receding! It was like a hallway on a haunted house. It was truly beautiful, but we were too spent to enjoy it. Finally we arrived at the hotel. We received a less than robust welcome, and had to push our bikes up four stone steps to get inside. We later learned there was a ramp that the girl at the desk neglected to tell us about. We were disappointed to learn there was no hot tub, and we didn’t have the type of room we thought we had booked. Although the day had not gone as we had hoped, we had a great dinner and evening, and were glad we made it! We learned that expectations are often much different than reality. Total cycling mileage: 85 + 56 = 141 Total hiking mileage: 5 + 2 = 7