I left the KOA in Las Cruces before 8am with another one of the cyclists. We cycled about 4 miles and stopped at The Bean Cafe and Expresso Bar at the corner of SR 359 and SR 28. I ordered a coffee and Pecan Crumb Muffin. It wasn’t long before the rest of our group showed up. After that short fuelling break we checked out the old buildings in the historic district of Mesilla and saw the courthouse where Billy the Kid was tried and sentenced to hang.
After that, a group of four of us rode fairly hard for the next 20 miles or so on SR 28 until we made a left on SR 183 for a few miles until getting on a bike path that follows the Rio Grande to El Paso. Prior to arriving at the bike path we passed many Pecan Orchards and just before the bike path we entred Texas.
Bike path towards El Paso
The section of the Rio Grande leading in to El Paso is bone dry. After about 4 miles on the bike path, three of us turned off at the town of Canutillo and stopped for a late morning Mexican breakfast. It was a great meal. We snacked on nachos and hot chili sauce while we waited for a meal. We took our time because we didn’t want to arrive at the hotel too soon and wait around for our support van.
Rio Grande
After a break of about 45 minutes or more, we got back on the bike path for a few more miles and then eventually ended up riding with traffic on the busy 6 lane Mesa Street. We reached the Mesa Inn after riding about 6 miles onnthe Mesa Street. The ride was mainly flat today and we covered 51.4 miles.