West Texas is, in many ways, a microcosm of the U.S. itself. It’s a place where our history and myth collide with our contemporary identity, where our ideal of ourselves as a nation contrasts with the reality of everyday life.
With big skies, wide-open spaces, and long roads, there is no better way to experience this land of contrasts than on two wheels. Motorcycling immerses you in the landscape and puts you at its mercy, much in the same way as the people who have been living on this land for thousands of years.
As a launch pad for my two-up West Texas tour with photographer Holly Marcus, we chose El Paso, the region’s de facto capital. Sitting in the shadow of the Franklin Mountains, El Paso is a town that is older than nations, a place literally in the borderlands between two worlds. With a population of just over half a million, it’s the sixth-largest city in Texas, but it butts up against Ciudad Juarez south of the border to form a combined metro area of 2.5 million people.
From downtown El Paso, it’s a short ride to Scenic Drive, a two-mile stretch that clings precariously to the cliffside as it winds through the city’s foothills. Two overlooks afford awe-inspiring views to the south. For a closer view of the border, US 375 runs right along the jumble of railroad tracks, warehouses, and high fences that mark the international boundary…