Day 29 Alpine to Marathon 31 miles

Oct 17th
Taking stock in Alpine I have covered just over 1200 miles of the route , 100 more than that on the odometer as I sometimes cycle off route. At this rate I will be on the shores of the Atlantic 11 days before my flight back. Today I can only do 31 miles as there is a long couple of streches without services ahead so off on a pleasant little jaunt to Marathon, pop 500.
The route is uphill a little and then a gentle descent through some steppe like plains between the Glass Mountains and the Del Norte Mountains . The sun is out , there are no evil headwinds to contend with and I am surrounded by little butterflies that make an odd clicking sound as they fly , often alongside me for a bit. Very pleasant cycling with the local country music station on the earphones and after two and a half hours I am arriving at the hamlet of Marathon.
In a most serendipitous coincidence I arrive in Marathon on the eve of the great 'Marathon to Marathon', marathon. Cheap camping at $10 , good internet and the invitation to the 'M to M' hoedown tomorrow at the campsite convince me to take a day off and stay till Sunday. Free beer at the post marathon hoedown is something I could hardly skip after all !
The motel, RV park come campsite, is one of the prettiest I've been to, all adobe buildings , and I have a delicious inexpensive meal in the restaurant, the staff and locals are so friendly. This is the first time I have 'eaten out' in ages, and I have a good chat with some marathon participants before getting on the net.

---

---