Going around the (Big) Bend An opportunity came my way to take a bicycle tour in the last two weeks of April. This is a good time to ride down the California Coast from San Francisco to Los Angeles. However, I've done that ride a half dozen times and one more time didn't interest me.

I didn't want to fly too far for just a 2 week ride, so I limited my destination search to the Southwestern US. I selected the area around Big Bend National Park in southwestern Texas after a suggestion in this discussion thread at bikeforums.net.

As usual, I dug into the planning and quickly discovered that Big Bend NP is located in the Chihuahuan Desert. I was concerned that the views would be monotonous, the weather hot, the wind a problem, and the services limited. But, I was attracted by Big Bend NP and the chance to ride through some of the canyons of the Rio Grande.

There are no commercial flights very close to Big Bend. There is train service to Alpine, the largest town near the park, but either I board the train in LA or have to fly to some town along the way. Eventually, I discovered a bus from Midland, TX, where there are scheduled flights from SF, to Alpine, TX, a reasonable starting point. I created a planning page for this trip where I put all the information I found out about this area.

In the end, many of my fears and hopes were met. The desert scenery got monotonous but often broken by attractive buttes and roadside wildflowers. I got hot and there was little to no shade. But, it rarely got unbearably hot and occasionally got very cold! The services were even more limited than I imagined. There was wind every day, but usually blowing in my direction.

On the plus side, Big Bend NP is, in fact, a pretty place. I spent three night in Chisos Basis, a high plateau (over 5000 feet in elevation) ringed by interesting peaks, full of hiking paths and wildlife. The ride along the Rio Grande was stunning for its mix of canyons, striated landscapes, and slowly flowing river.

In the end, I would rank this tour among the least interesting I have taken. There was simply too much desert, too few services, and not enough exhilaration to make it much more than a hard grind though unforgiving country. I would strongly recommend a visit Big Bend, but I'd suggest either doing it in a car or having one along to transport you and the bikes to the more interesting areas without all the intervening desert to cross.

I tracked my daily progress using the TrackMyTour app on my iPhone. You can see my route and waypoints here. Return to Main Menu

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