Thursday October 27, 2011, 31 miles (50 km) – Total so far: 1,770 miles (2,848 km)

Chano, born and raised in Sanderson, showed up at 9 with his truck to take us to Alpine for my bike repair. The entire trip I was thinking of the 83 miles we missed. We are not going to make them up and we are okay with that. We made good time and arrived before 11. John, the Proprietor of Bikeman in Alpine, Texas was in and quickly diagnosed my problem as the chain so replaced it and at my request the gear cluster. I did a test drive and all was okay again. He did a cross country 2 years ago and was a pleasure to talk with. We left there and had a good lunch where we met a Canadian couple heading south. We talked with them for a few minutes before we headed out in search for a thrift shop. It was 37 degrees in Alpine and we were not prepared. Jocelyn found a shop and purchased a few items. We then went to a hardware store and bought full fingered gloves. Somewhat protected from the cold we took off for the town of Marfa. A few hours later we arrived and found a nice motel. No camping in this weather! We cleaned up and went to Padres, a place recommended by John the Bikeman. Excellent choice. Tomorrow we will ride to Van Horn then onto El Paso. It was a cold but a fast 31 miles ride today. Tailwinds again!