Sleeping conditions were difficult. It was still very warm when we went to bed, and to keep things interesting, the wind was blowing up a gale. Multiple times every hour, I'd get hit by the side of my tent because the wind was so strong. The soil was too hard and rocky to stake it out, so only my weight and the weight of my stuff was holding it in place.
Eventually, 5am rolled around and we starting moving. We packed our stuff, got our our headlights and flashing tail lights and began riding right around 6am. I must say, riding in complete darkness in the middle of the desert is a very cool experience.
However, it was still so warm that within minutes we were sweating like pigs. Crazyness! If 6am isn't early enough to beat the heat, I'm going to be worried for the Arizona desert.
As the sun rose, we were greeted with a pretty significant cloud cover.
This helped keep temperatures down, but also raised the humidity a bunch (not common in the desert). Luckily, we were able to cover 40 miles by 9am and we rolled into, Dryden, the only town between Langtry and Sanderson.
Dryden only has one store, and this store doesn't have much to offer. They don't have a restroom, they don't accept credit cards of any kind, and their food/drink selection is minimal. I'm not really sure how they survive.
Shortly after leaving Dryden, the clouds disappeared, and the temperature rose. Quickly. The last 20 miles of the day went by much slower. We pulled into Sanderson just before lunchtime and made a bee line for the shade. We probably drank a full gallon of iced tea at the cafe in town.
Today's high was 99. I don't want to spend too much time riding in that kind of heat. We spent all afternoon hiding from the sun.
It's supposed to be cooler tomorrow when we head to Marathon, TX.
Day 52 - xx Miles
Trip to Date - xx miles
Coast to Coast - xx miles
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