Day 23: Seminole Canyon State Park, near Comstock, Texas

The most difficult three day stretch on the tour began with an 81.5 mile day from Sanderson to Seminole  Canyon State Park.  The closest town is Comstock, Texas, which is about 10 miles away.  The day involved a series of long climbs, punctuated with a steep climb as we crossed the Pecos River.

We experienced tailwinds for the first two and a half hours of riding.  The forecast called for winds to change at 10:30am, so we started as soon as the sunlight peaked over the hills.  The remainder of the ride consisted of some head/side wind and temperatures around 90 with plenty of long climbs, all combining to make for a long, tiring day.

Two more days of 70+ mile days and then a rest day.

The nearest town to our campground, Comstock, Texas, has a population of 400, so services are obviously scarce.  For the first time on our trip we are "incommunicado" (post delayed a day).  There was no cell service available and we had to rely on the state park WiFi which worked fine for normal use, but was brought to its knees by all the C2C users - commenting on Facebook and uploading photos.


After lunch, we took a brief respite from our cycling activity at the Judge Roy Bean Museum, , in Langtry, Texas. Judge Bean was known as "The Law West of the Pecos"and known for his brand of wild west justice.  There is not much there, but the garden and memorabilia are lovingly kept by the Texas DOT and most importantly it is air conditioned.

Near the end of today's journey, we crossed the Pecos River and transitioned from West Texas to Hill Country.  A few years ago the two lane bridge was renovated and they LOWERED the guardrail to approximately 3 foot high.  Not feeling safe, I checked behind me for traffic, which was traveling in excess of the posted 75 mph.  With no traffic in sight, I sped across the span riding in the middle of the traffic lane.