Day 23 - Setting up for Finish!

Today was our last transit day. We left Las Cruces, NM and rode entirely on the I-10 interstate to get to Sonora, TX. Nothing exciting, just grinding away the miles to set up for our last day tomorrow when we ride our final Challenge roads - 3 Texas back roads dubbed the "Twisted Sisters".

Today's route file:

Today's elevation profile:

As you can see from the above, we ran mostly "downhill" to lower elevations than we've been in over the last several days. We also crossed back into the Central Time Zone so we are now just one hour behind "home time".

We did have to run through El Paso, which can be a real pain if its normal traffic, but since it was early on a Sunday morning, it was pretty much a breeze. The temps were warm enough to start that we didn't need liners in our jackets, and by noon the temps had warmed into the upper 70's.

We did have to make a stop at the border patrol checkpoint and wait our turn in line to be asked if we were US Citizens before being allowed on. It probably held us up for 5 minutes, which doesn't sound like much unless you are sitting in an ambient air temp at 95+ degrees. I don't see how that can be justified, but it is what it is and there's nothing I can do to change it right now.

After our lunch in Ft. Stockton TX the temps were 93 and climbing. It leveled off in the upper 90's but I did see a brief flash to 100! We got in at 3:30 local time and I got a really appreciated dip in the outdoor pool.

So now we are making our final plans for the ride home. We both are expecting to make it home by Thursday evening, or Friday at the latest.

Today's stats: 427.1 miles in 5:57 moving time, 7:07 elapsed time.