Day 17 - El Paso, Texas

Today has been somewhat uneventful. It was an easy 53 miles from Las Cruces to El Paso, TX. We enjoyed a great breakfast at El Bean. James has been enjoying the various Mexican restaurants we've encountered on our trek through the Southwest but l think he loves American hamburgers the best.

The road to El Paso was similar to the day before. It was lined with chili pepper farms and pecan groves. We spotted a few wineries that looked appealing but there's a rule prohibiting drinking alcohol while riding for MS. I really was never tempted since we passed the wineries during the early morning hours.

As we neared El Paso we got on a very nice bike path at took us to about 10 miles from downtown El Paso. This is where the ride became a little precarious. As in most big cities the volume of traffic becomes a safety issue when on two wheels. We road along a very busy street and encountered a hostile sanitation worked that read us the riot act for using a road that he felt was for cars only. It wasn't a warh welcoming to Texas.  I was a little worried that many Texans may have this same hosti attitude towards bicyclists. However, that incident was our only negative as we made our way down the streets to the Unitarian Church where we're staying for the nigh. We have the entire rectory house to ourselves. We had a great meal at a restaurant called Beer and Burgers. We Ubered back to the rectory and later that night we marveled at the city lights far off in the distance from the hill where we spent the night.

Tomorrow we have a 97 mile day to Sierra Blanc, TX. At the end of the ride we will have traversed over 1,000 miles. 

Tomorrow the adventure continues.