The Great Big Bend

George and I spent Sunday riding The River Road in Big Bend Ranch State Park and various roads in the national park. The former was some of the most challenging riding in some of the most amazing scenery I've seen. ("Amazing" is misused and overused. But in this case it applies.)

In the national park we rode to the Chisos Basin, Boquillas, and Santa Elena Canyon. It wasn't easy to not violate the 45 mph speed limit too badly. Again, the combination of the unworldly terrain and sweeping curves made for great riding.

Even if I did have a close encounter with a vulture. It barely pulled itself away from its roadkill snack before getting smacked by me at 50 mph. As George said, had I hit the big bird, I would have had to go to the hospital and I would have stunk of vulture gore.

We tried going to the hot springs but they were too crowded. So I cooled of by getting my back wet in the Rio Grande.

We finished our day with 13 miles on the Old Maverick "Road." It was a blast, lots of washboard and loose rock. The Tenere must have wondered what it had done to be punished so badly. It performed wonderfully, very forgiving for an off-road novice like me.

We ended the day with well-deserved cold adult beverages and pizza. We both felt more tired than after our long previous day. Probably the cumulative effect.

(I shot more photos with my camera rather than the iPhone; I'll add them later. The last one is Boquillas Crossing. If you look closely, there are some cabrito makers walking along the banks on the Mexican side.)