14 April 2025
My last day off was a week ago, in Navasota, Texas. In the years around 1910, it was one of the most dangerous towns in Texas, with over 100 killings over a few years. A young Texas Ranger called Frank Hamer was appointed as town marshall and he brought law and order to Navasota. A few years later, Hamer led the team that tracked down and killed the infamous Bonnie and Clyde- and he was played many years later by Kevin Costner in the movie!
On my first night in Navasota, I was taken out to dinner by my 9th cousin Susan Natalachio (née Griffin) and her husband Bert. They live about a mile away. Dad and I met them last year when they came to England. Our shared relative is from the early 18th century and lived in Winford, North Somerset. The following day, I was taken out to lunch by a Texan friend and Honeywell colleague from over 30 years ago, Dave Baker, and his wife Barbara. It was great to catch up with someone who had such a positive influence on my working career.
Nineteen days later, we left Texas and crossed into Louisiana. The scenery changed quite quickly, and is similar to the Somerset Levels but with better weather and rice paddies and “crawfish” lakes. Went to a traditional Cajun music bar too. Yesterday, we cycled along a road known as swamp road- and saw a large family of otters, turtles, several alligators, and an owl. A few miles later, we crossed the Mississippi – the widest river I have seen other than the Danube last year. SWe are staying at St Francisville, about 30 miles from Baton Rouge, just off Highway 61 (which will mean something to Bob Dylan fans). We will revisit Highway 61 tomorrow. Only 1,000 miles left to go!
13 April 2025
12 April 2025
Goodbye Texas, hello Louisiana! After 19 days, we’ve left Texas and arrived in Louisiana. Today, we will clock up our 2,000th mile!
10 April 2025
Tonight was my last in Texas. After 19 days, we will leave Texas and cross into Louisiana tomorrow.
7 April 2025
Another rest day. I have completed around 1,750 miles so far. Yesterday’s 72 miles was into headwind and a lot of rolling hills, with the lowest average speed for a number of weeks.
Beautiful Texas countryside, with fields full of bluebonnets and indian paintbrush flowers.
I met my 9th cousin, Suzanne Griffin and her husband Bert for dinner. It was great to catch up with them. Sadly, I forgot to take a photo as we talked so much!
3 April 2025: Half-way point in terms of distance
Day 21 to Day 27
My last update was from Marathon, Texas. At the end of our rest day there, we visited a very unusual community of artistic houses made from waste material and scrap etc.
As we cycled out the next day, we spotted a Javalina so we’ve all seen one now. Despite being similar in appearance to wild pigs, the Javalinas are related to anteaters apparently and they enjoy eating cactus. We also saw more Pronghorn antelope and increasing numbers of cattle. Mesquite bushes are starting to get greener with new leaf shoots.
Marathon and the next town we stayed in, Sanderson, are where the Coen Brothers filmed No Country for Old Men. This applies to old cyclists too as we met three American cyclists who are doing virtually the same route as us to celebrate one of them turning 70! I also learned that one of that group has a good friend who lives near Bath!
Our evening meal and breakfast were cooked for us by two mothers and their daughters from the local Baptist church as a fundraiser. Lovely people and great food. Had ‘biscuits’ and ‘gravy’ with bacon and eggs for breakfast.
The next day was one of the longest of our trip: we cycled 90 miles in over 30 degrees of heat. We were up on a high plateau where we could see probably 60 miles in every direction.
We had lunch at the museum where Judge Roy Bean’s original salon/courthouse still stands – “the only law west of the Pecos.” Some of you may have see the film starring Paul Newman. You can read all about Bean below:
The following night, we stayed in a converted barracks at Fort Clark, Bracketville- which was occupied by the US Army from 1854 until after WW2.
Ulvade memorial
We also cycled through Ulvade, Texas where there was an horrific school shooting in 2022 in which two teachers and nineteen pupils were shot dead by an ex-pupil. Seventeen more were wounded. The memorial in Ulvade’s town square was extremely moving and brought tears to my eyes. May they rest in peace.
In Ulvade, we also saw the grave of John King Fisher, a gunslinger and vigilante from Texas during the heyday of the American Old West.
We then cycled on to the Texas hill country where we are now staying for a day relaxing, cleaning our bikes, and watching humming birds.
Day 21
Our day off! We are in Marathon, Texas, 1,200 miles into the trip. Staying in a great airbnb with humming birds on the veranda!
Day 16 to Day 21
Since my last update, we’ve cycled from Columbus, New Mexico to El Paso in Texas. At our drinks stop in a lay-by close to the state border, there were two men and little girl about 200 yards off road shooting an automatic pistol at a target in a sand dune!
I cycled over the bridge across the Rio Grande. No much of a rio at the moment and not very grande either!
The following day as we left El Paso, we cycled through large areas of pecan trees.
Finished the day at Fort Hancock (which features in the film The Shawshank Redemption). As there is no accommodation there we bussed to Van Horn and bussed back in the morning. Near to Van Horn is where Jeff Bezos of Amazon has his space rocket base. During the cycle from Fort Hancock to Van Horn, I saw a talcum powder mine!
From Van Horn to Marfa, Texas, was 75 miles along a single road, unfortunately into a strong headwind- and it was a really tough day. (We were told afterwards that this is the toughest day on the tour). Lunch was made for us by the kids at a tiny school in Valentine (population 72) and the donations we gave for the food was the school’s major fundraiser for the year! Very humbling.
Marfa is a town with a large community of artists. As part of that, about 20 miles from anywhere, there is a small store selling mock Prada!
We stayed in an interesting little hotel: my room (which was underground) was a nuclear fall-out shelter from the 1950s! I never expected to sleep in one of those.
That evening, four of us went out to try and see the famous, but elusive, Marfa lights (a bit like the Northern lights) and we were lucky enough to see them. We also saw two Pronghorn antelope.
Day 16
I have completed another nine days cycling and have crossed Arizona into New Mexico. To date, we have covered around 800 miles.
The cycling in Arizona and New Mexico has been at altitude- between 4,000 and 6,000 ft above sea level, and through different desert landscapes- one day sandy, half a day volcanic, but mostly stones and stone dust. We are typically cycling across plateaus surrounded by low mountains. A couple of days in Arizona, the vegetation included cacti of various types- but mostly low scrub, short leafless trees, and areas of parched grass. They haven’t had any rain for over 200 days.
It was interesting to visit Tombstone and see the site of the gunfight at the OK Corral. We also visited Boot Hill Cemetery. It contains around 200 graves of which the vast majority were either murdered, shot, killed in some other way, and one who was hanged by mistake (they then discovered he was innocent- see the gravestone).
We’ve also visited the site where Geronimo finally surrendered.
Temperatures tend to start at around zero degrees C in the morning when we start cycling (around 8 am)- so we need to wear a lot of layers, but it becomes warm by mid-morning and quite hot in the afternoon (at least 20 degrees C ).
We are currently having a rest day at Columbus, New Mexico which was burned down by Pancho Villa in 1912. About one mile from the border with Mexico. Tomorrow, we cycle to El Paso in Texas.
Day 7
I’ve just completed the first seven days of cycling. Two days uphill, four days out of the next five cycling into the wind! Had freezing mornings, warm and hot afternoons, and a torrential downpour.
So far, I’ve seen mountains, farmland (including the lettuce-growing capital of the US) and desert.
We are eating a lot so I’m probably putting on weight!
Day 1 to Day 4: California-Arizona
I have now completed the first four days cycling, and crossed out of California into Arizona this afternoon. First couple of days were sunny but chilly, as we climbed long straight roads up into the mountains. These are much longer slopes than you typically get in England, and at 7% gradient are a similar steepness as Cheddar Gorge. There were a few very small patches of snow at the top in the shade.
Day 3 started with temperatures of around zero degrees C, made colder by a 12-mile descent down 2,000 ft on a long fast road. At the bottom was a desert where it was about 20 degrees C, so I could take off a few layers of clothing. Then had a 30- mile cycle along a flat road into the wind, through sandy/gravelly/rocky desert.
We passed what used to be the world’s largest solar farm, and stayed at Calexico on the US/Mexican border. Our dinner was cooked for us by 8th grade children at a church school which is run by a charity and our dinner allowance went towards funding the school. A picture of us with the kids is attached. We then walked behind the school to see the border fence, built by President Obama.
Today it was 55 miles, again into the wind, across a sand desert with some very high dunes nearby in places, until we crossed into Arizona over the Colorado river, into Yuma. We then went to gaol! We visited the historic state penitentiary that was featured in the film 3.10 to Yuma.
