John E.
Yelp
Ever since my orientation as a "skinny tire" cyclist by good long-time (50years+!) friend Brooklynite KJ, in which he led me biketouring the boroughs/educating me in the ways of this amazingly skilled subset of cyclists, I've wanted to repeat a specific/strategic survival strategy, namely "eating". As everybody with any brain capacity knows, physical activity requires physical energy, especially elite "skinny tired" cyclists, often identified by their tight spandex clothing clinging to their skinny/no extra weight allowed bodies as they pedal their equally skinny/super strong/LIGHT/racing bicycles; they obey a strict nutrition schedule which is as carefully measured as their clip ons. I had the pleasure/exhaustion of trying to keep up with KJ, and thoroughly enjoyed a few moments off our machines learning the "New Yorker style" of eating/surviving on a single slice of pizza from any of the many small businesses that saturate this densely populated community of~25million.
While our "¡Hidden Gem of the World, Crossroads of North Americ, anchored by El Paso, Cd. Juárez y Las Cruces!" is somewhere over a tenth that many people and El Paso is still smaller, the passion for pizza here is just as great. Unfortunately, sales by the slice are slim (pun intended) and one (cycling or not) has to seek it out, such as I did this warm Friday mornin, 10JUN2022.
I had just finished a disappointing/exhausting/frustrating lapswim at the excellent Marty Robbins Aquatic Center, and needed nourishment. I knew my target: a single slice, available some 10miles/16kms West on the edge of downtown El Paso at "THE PIZZA JOINT".
As I was already partway down the Rio Bravo/Rio Grande escarpment, my route took me West, mostly on the I-10 frontage road and Yandell. At Campbell though, I abruptly altered my direction, turned North for nice one-way traffic ascending the foothills of the Franklin Mountains to Crosby, West to Stanton, then North on an uneasy/poorly designed dual-direction bike lane (the similar Brooklyn Bridge bike lane is better only in that it is wide/better/easier for bicycles to share although worse due to much congestion) along the road's East side. My single pizza slice goal hadn't changed, but I did want a quick visit to the World HQ of Crazy Cat Cyclery, Stanton & Baltimore. My appetite was needing appeasement, and the "coffee waffle" could satisfy it somewhat although it meant I was breaking my 3-week long abstinence of coffee/tea/CAFFEINE! My diet got worse after master mechanic Alex offered me a jelly-filled donut, which I justified eating because "there's healthy fruit buried inside"...!
Once slightly satiated, I reversed course, descending Stanton, being careful to stay far from the deadly/capsizing trolley tracks and on the opposite side of the difficult "bike lane", where I assumed my position as a vehicle in the flow of traffic. At Montana, my choice was to go either left or right; I turned right one block to Mesa, then Left four blocks across I-10 to Franklin, a left turn one block to the great/historic Gardner Hotel, which housed THE PIZZA JOINT on the corner.
Stacking My eBikeKit-assisted CruzBike along the outside chairs, I entered, looked over a tantalizing selection of pies, and placed my order with Ivonne. I noted with more satisfaction that the food handlers were masked, as was I, because this cursed COVID19 is still killing ~300 people daily in the USA. My primary satisfaction was enjoying a delicious slice of pizza, which I rolled New Yorker style, feeling that KJ would also be pleased that I'd learned well. The next assignmen, now, is for him (and his better half, Dianne) to visit here, learn some Far West Texas habits....!
"THE PIZZA JOINT" definitely has my highly coveted "¡Wheel of Approval!" and I highly recommend it for everybody, regardless of your wheels or diet plan.