We parted ways with Mom and Dad after Davis Mountains State Park. Our last evening together, we reflected on the trip, so far. We all felt that this trip was leaving us with more questions than answers about Bedi's bicycle ride!
What did Bedi bring?
We have no record of what Bedi brought with him -- or even how he carried it. Bikes in 1909 didn't appear to have bike racks or ways to mount saddlebags. Maybe he improvised?? We collectively asked the question, "What did Bedi bring?" -- which we had each been pondering alone.
According to his scant diary of the first few days, we know he did not start out with a screwdriver.
“…caught leggin(?) string(?) as I mounted once on ___ and came near getting a fall. Bolt which fastens chain together came out in front of farm house. Repaired it shortly with aid of screwdriver borrowed from fat farm lady who was milking.”
What? He didn't even bring simple bike repair tools with him? Also, if he caught is clothing in the bike chain on the first day, that implies to me he was a novice bicycler. We know he had been walking to Waco from Eddy to see Lillian in the weeks before he left, so he seems to have purchased the bicycle just prior to leaving.
He had grown up a country boy and had "bummed around" (his words) the US and Europe, so he most likely had decent camping skills. But this six-week trip across the desert would have tested any skilled camper.
Our main question was how did he get his water?? As we drove, we saw few options. The creek beds and washes were dry, the farms were few and far between. It seemed he would have had to carry a lot of water to stay hydrated on such a strenuous journey with towns so far apart.
However, we started to get a more complete picture with more research. We told the Davis Mountains State Park rangers about Bedi's bike ride and our wondering about water sources along the way. They noted there was much more water flowing back in 1909. Many of the creeks did have water. So he may have found streams -- maybe even with shade and fish!
Also, as we began to see the old windmills and cisterns that once supplied water to the steam locomotive trains, we thought perhaps Bedi relied on them for filling his canteen. Even still, he needed a LOT of water in this heat and as he exerted so much energy pedaling or pushing his bicycle along the rocky track under the unforgiving sun.
Lillian (his wife) mentions in her story of his ride that he might stay a few days in a spot with good shade and fishing, so we expect he had fishing supplies.
At the end of this trip, his goal was to find and file a homestead claim in Deming, New Mexico. He may have taken this trip by bicycle to save train fare, but I think he took it more for the adventure. He wanted to be free of the shackles of traditional work and get back to the land -- on his own terms, not as a cotton-picker for someone else.
My Mom, Jane
As Roy Bedichek's granddaughter, Mom is the only one of our group who actually knew him. He published Adventures when she was five years old and died when she was eighteen, so he was "famous" all the years of her childhood memories.
She remembers him telling stories at the lunch table and reciting funny poetry, like
I eat my peas with honey,
I’ve done it all my life,
It makes the peas taste funny,
But it keeps them on my knife.
I imagine those pithy rhymes went over better with his grandchildren than Victorian poetry, his favorite with friends. :)
My mother is a birder, too. She may have subconsciously picked up the interest from her grandfather, but her life as a "birder" began as an adult after she attended a ranger-led bird walk on a 1990 trip to Big Bend National Park. Fortunately, Waco, Texas is a great place for birds -- so her backyard after work was an easy place to begin her birding journey.
She is a faithful and detailed note-taker, like Bedi. Her bird book is a wonderful historical account of her birding career (though notes from earlier books have been transcribed to her current book). We have had a great time birding together on this trip!
Here is her list of unanswered questions:
What did he have to eat?
Where did he sleep?
How did he stay warm at night?
Did he communicate with family? If so, how?
Where did he stop along the way?
What did he do if he heard a train coming?
Did he ever hop on the train?
What did he bring with him and how did he carry it?
How much money did he bring?
How did he get things he needed if he didn’t have the money to buy them?
Did he stay clean? If so, how and where?
Did he wash clothes? If so, how and where?
Did he stay well?
If he got sick, how he get well?
Did he have any trouble with his bicycle that needed to be fixed? If so, how did he get it fixed?
Mom had a great list! Here are some of our other questions.
My Dad, Paul
Dad met Mom after Bedi passed, so he has only "met" Bedi through Mom and the family, as well as Bedi's books and documents. Dad is not a birder, per se, but has learned a lot about birds accompanying Mom, and has more knowledge than most. His main interest, however, is astronomy. He has introduced so many people to astronomy and been the impetus for many others to look up at night and be awed!
He added this info about the night sky during Bedi's trip!
Jupiter would have been high in the evening sky. In the morning, Mars would have been in the east and Jupiter low in the west. The other naked-eye planets, Mercury, Venus and Saturn were too near to Sun to be seen.
Moon phases for March, April and May 1909.
So, Bedi started his trip during a New Moon, which means great stars and no moonlight! The moon gradually grew into a Full Moon at the two-week mark. Then, the moon went through all its phases again, until he reached El Paso around the next Full Moon.
Dad's additional questions about Bedi's ride:
Did he have any maps?
If he got water out of the railroad cisterns, how did he do it?
How far apart were the railroad tanks?
How many canteens did he bring?
Was his plan always to stop at El Paso?
When he got to Deming, how did he get to the land.
How did he pick his land in Deming?
My Husband, Brian
Brian has been a huge supporter of mine ever since I started to hatch the idea of this trip. He has added many great insights, suggestions and been an active promoter along the way when we meet folks. I am a bit embarrassed to promote the blog with folks we meet, but they are always interested to learn more after Brian drops a kernel.
Brian also had a lot of great additional questions about Bedi's ride.
What did he think when he got out in the desert? "What am I doing?"
What did his parents think about his trip?
Where did he stop each night?
How did he decide where to stop?
What percentage of the time was he on the track vs going into town?
Did he get off the dirt track and take the roads into the towns?
How much time on the track, trail next to track, other path?
Did he drink coffee?
Why didn’t he take the stagecoach trail?
How many rattlesnakes did he encounter?
Our List (so far) of What Bedi Brought
After our conversation, we came up with this tentative list.
Water canteen (2?)
Bedroll
Hat
Bandana/scarf
One or two sets of clothes
One or two pairs of shoes
Scabbard (3-5” blade) (opening cans, scaling fish)
Fork & spoon
One all-purpose pot
Fishing line & hook
Basic bike tools (did he wise up and buy some?)
Notebook & pencil (at least at the beginning)
Fire-making (matches or flint stone)
Pistol for self-defense & hunting
Book to read?
Money (for hotels, buying clothes and lodging once he arrived in Deming)
Jerky
Bread