Ride Days 39 - 41

I spent the night at Independence after day 38. There was a store there in town and the owners were very bike friendly and helpful. I told him about my bad day with flats and he offered to let me stay in their yard for the night. So I did and got a good night of sleep. The next morning I had high hope of getting almost all the way across Texas but my bike had other ideas. I got another flat tire near New Waverly and I had no more patches or new tubes. The ACA map said there was a bike store 12 miles off route up in Huntsville. I called the shop and they told me I had an hour and a half to get there before they closed. SO I pumped up my flat and took off at a fast pace to make it 12 miles in that time frame. The road sucked. TX75 North and there were no shoulders, heavy traffic in both directions, lots of hills oh and don't forget the giant logging trucks. I had a terrifying ride but I made it the 12 miles to Huntsville only to find that it was another 5 or 6 miles to his shop on the other side of town. I got to the shop right at 4pm. He was a nice retired music teacher that ran a bike shop for a hobby. He had tubes and helped me change my tire. We talked about riding and he clearly did a lot of riding in the past but now was having health issues that kept him from riding. I enjoyed his sense of humor and his good nature. I left the shop and right away noticed that I forgot something in his shop. I turned around and went back but he was already gone. I found a place to camp in an RV park in town and had a good talk with the owner of the RV park. He enjoyed hearing about my ride. In the morning I went over to the bike shop only to find out that he did not open until 12 noon. I had to kill three hours in Huntsville. I rode around Sam Houston University and went to the Sam Houston museum. They were ok but I just was not into it. At noon I was back at the shop and he opened right on time. There was another couple waiting for him to open also and we talked for a bit. They used to offer warm showers to bikers but had a few bad experiences so they no longer do it. They have young kids in the house and it just did not work out. They still wanted to help out though. They offered me a ride back to New Waverly in their truck. I accepted the ride because the road was so dangerous. They dropped me off in New Waverly about 1:30 in the afternoon and I started to ride. My ride did not go well. I started to have more flats. This time I very carefully checked the tire for goat heads or nails or whatever was causing all the flats but I found nothing. I was frustrated and tired. I got up and running again with a patch which within 10 miles was again flat. This time I examined the tire with a flashlight and cleaned my glasses well before I started. First I marked where the flat was very precisely on the tire. I saw nothing there. SO I bent the tire backwards and folded it. I saw a little glint of light. I dug down with my needlenose pliers where I saw the slight glint of reflection and I found a very thin small wire embedded into the tire. I pulled it out and then went over the entire tire like that and found two more wires. I put the tube back in and started to inflate the tire and my pump blew up. I was swearing just a tad when that happened. I was four or five miles from the nearest source of air and my tire only had thirty pounds in it. I took the chance and rode very carefully until I came to a small general store about 5 miles away. They had a pump for sale. It was a piece of junk. My bike tires inflate to 95 pounds and once past thirty this pump just could not get the job done. I asked a bunch of people where I could find a tire shop or an auto mechanic and someone told me there was a motorcycle shop about a mile down the road. I went down there and they pumped me up to a full pressure. I hit the road again. It was getting late by now. Close to 7:30 I stopped at Dolen and asked a church if I could sleep in their yard. They were happy to help me out. They were very nice and we talked a bit. I was very tired from the long ride and the problems. I put up my tent and went straight to sleep. In the morning I left before it was light. My tires were holding for me. I rode and rode and rode on straight flat roads in conditions that were misty, foggy, and with high humidity. I was sweating profusely again but I was making about 17 mph which is very good. By 9:30 I was fifty miles up the route. I met a couple out on a fifty mile loop ride at a store and we talked for a while. They were nice and friendly people. Then we all hit the road again. I made it 95 miles today before I stopped and checked into a hotel for the night. Texas ends in 10 more miles. I considered going across the state line but there is no place to stay over there and it is all swamp land for the first part of the route. The hotel in Texas just sounded better to me. Did my laundry and am relaxing now all clean and in an air conditioned room. Time to catch up on my sleep soon after I finish my wifi stuff. Tomorrow is Texas in my rearview mirror and hello to Louisiana.

Ride Day 38

I stayed at the Colorado River Landing RV Park last night and it was very nice. They had a pool, good showers and a lounge room. The best part though is it was quiet for sleeping. I got a good night of rest and was ready to go this morning. I left as usual around 7AM. The ride was rolling hills with lots of twists and turns. Not much excitement along the road. The temp was in the 90s and the humidity was maxed out. I was sweating heavily as I rode. It was getting in my eyes and dripping off of me. I can take it but it doesn't make it comfortable. My bike gave me trouble again though. I had another flat and this time I had no spare tube. I tried to take off the tire but my hands were so slippery from all the sweating that it was almost impossible to get the tire off. I struggled but finally got it off. I found a leak and patched it. After another struggle I got the wheel back on the bike and pumped it up. More correct would be tried to pump it up. It was still leaking. I got a bit pissed off about how stupid I was to not test the tube before I put it back on. I needed to rest before I tackled the job for the second time. I struggled even more this time but got the job done after way too much time and effort. It held air but the whole affair stole my desire to ride for the day. I pushed on anyway and made it to my destination finally. My hands are cramping on me from struggling with the tires. I was not a happy biker today. The best part of the ride for me was when I ran into a biker coming from the East Coast. He told me he had ridden 1060 miles so far. I thought I had more like 1400 miles to go but he had his odometer going so he is most likely right about the mileage. That was like riding 250 miles today for me. I could make the coast in about two weeks if that is all the miles I need to ride, and it flattens out from here on. While riding along a quiet two lane country road today a cop came up behind me and told me over his very loud loudspeaker, "This is a warning. Bikes must ride right of the white line so move over." I moved over and he cruised by with his truck right at the far right edge of the lane just to show me that the lane was his. What an asshole. He also does not know his law. I included a pic above of the "shoulder" he told me I had to ride on. I was pissed off at him and had a hard time not turning around and just giving him the finger as I moved to the center of the lane. I decided to just let him go away instead but I was burning for a couple of hours after this. Bikes get no respect from some people. More later...

Ride Day 37

I had fun in Austin TX last night. We went out for some Cajun food that was very tasty. I had lobster bisque followed by Blackened salmon with crawdads, shrimp and crab along with some dirty rice. I loved it. Then we went out to a bar that had karaoke where we listened to some singers and then one of the girls with us sang a song and we left for home. I had quite a few beers and I did not think I would be able to get up and hit the road the next morning. I did end up hitting the road though. I decided to just get myself back out of Austin so that I would be able to get a good ride the next day. However, once I started to ride I just kept going. I made it to La Grange which was a long haul of about 95 miles from my starting point. I set up my tent, did my laundry and now I am just waiting for it to be late enough for me to go to bed. I feel good right now. I only have a few more days left in TX. Tomorrow I should be able to make it to Navsota TX which is about 75 miles or so away. The RV park I am in is right on the Colorado River and is clean and quiet so I should be able to get some sleep as long as my pain doesn't get too high tonight. There is a swimming pool but I did not swim and the showers were perfect after my long ride. I did not take a single pic today. I am too burned out on seeing the same things every single day. I will try to find something tomorrow to take a pic of. I am always telling people my bike is my wheelchair but this bike in the pic above is the real thing.

Ride Days 35 & 36

The road from Del Rio to Austin was not as bad as I expected. The map I use from ACA made it seem much steeper than it actually was. Don't get me wrong, it was a tough ride through "rolling hills" narrow roads many times with no shoulder. There was very little traffic on the road so that made it better. The winding, rolling hills had no shoulders and it was a very very dangerous place to ride a bike. The only way to safely get up and down these hills is to make sure that there is no traffic behind you before you go ahead. The scenery was repetitive Texas high desert and then a forested area up higher in the hills. I am getting a bit tired of seeing the same things over and over again. Texas is a big place but a lot of it is wasteland. I took a few pics but nothing special. I did come across an injured bike rider. He was going down one of the rolling hills and wiped out pretty badly. He had a bunch of other riders with him and a support van so there was no help I could offer to them so I continued on a bit shaken. If I wiped out alone I would not have a bunch of other riders and a support van to help me out. It could be ugly. I just have to trust that I will not fall or get hit or something like that. Life requires taking some risk but seeing him down brought those risks home to me very effectively. My bike broke down so I had to get a ride part of the way into Austin to get it repaired. I just picked it up from REI and it was $189 bucks to fix it. I can't afford repairs like that. My money is running short now. I have been trying to do this ride on thirty dollars a day but those hotel/motel bills add up when I have to break down and stay in them. I will be doing a lot more camping and less hotel/motels for the remainder of this ride. My biggest expense is food now. I need to eat a lot to keep from losing too much weight. I will be doing a lot more cooking from here on out. More later...

Ride Day 34

I am beat up from all the roller coaster hills and the heat is only getting hotter by the day. I left my campsite a bit later than normal today but I only intended on going 40 miles. The wind was blowing before I even mounted my bike today. I shrugged it off and just started to spin my legs in the direction of Del Rio Texas. The ride was one hill after another all day. I did have my first bike trouble today. I was spinning along looking around instead of at the road in front of me and I ran over a rock that snake bit my front tire. I was very disappointed that my kevlar tires did not protect me this time. I started to change the tire but I was too exhausted to get the tire off so I just sat down and ate some food, drank some water and rested for a while. When I attacked the flat the second time it was much easier. It took me about ten minutes to put a new tube in it. At the end of the day I patched the other tube so that I still have a spare until I can buy a new tube. I was just happy I did not ruin my tire with my careless sight seeing instead of paying attention to the road. I checked into a hotel in Del Rio because I wanted to get a good night of sleep. I can't afford these hotels but I can't afford to not sleep in them once a week or so just to catch up on my sleep and to be able to shower and charge up all my electronics. Some of my campsites do have showers but not all of them. The next part of the ride goes back up into the mountains and then drops down into the Austin area but not directly into Austin. I am going to go into Austin and get my bike worked on at the REI there. It is only 6 weeks old but it has 2400 miles on it already. The road closer to Austin is the serious roller coaster ride. So far I have only been riding the kiddie roller coaster and that has been killing me. We shall see how it all turns out. There is still about 550 miles of Texas left to get through. I have not been into taking many pics lately. The scenery is pretty repetitive and I am getting over it by now. I have been stuck by enough thorns already. I miss a nice green soft lawn to sprawl out on. More later

Ride Day 33

I started my day out with a healthy breakfast of two corn dogs and a medium cup of coffee. It was still dark out so I waited until it was light enough to go. Of course while I waited I ate more junk. My plan today was to just see how far I could get in the desolate rollercoaster hill country I needed to go through. The temperature was predicted to be near 100. The ride started off well. The road was good the temperature cool and there was no wind. I cruised at close to 17 mph for three hours and made it 40 miles without much problem so I continued on. A light breeze started and of course it was in my face yet again. It did not take long before it was blowing hard again just like the last three days. I struggled to make the miles slip by. The roller coaster road was frustrating to ride on. It was one hill after another and some of them were high and long which with the wind in my face was very tiring and mentally draining. There were no breaks of easy riding for even a short distance. I was spinning my legs in low gears again and doing only 6-9 mph. I rested often. As my miles started to build up, 50, then 60 and so on the next miles just got tougher and tougher to keep going at it. But I was in a desolate place and I kept telling myself to just take my time and I will make it to at least the State Park which was 70 miles. After many hours of sitting in the saddle my bottom was starting to get sore. I stopped at a picnic table and considered stopping for the night but there were lots of hours of sunshine left so I pressed on. The wind was swirling and blowing over 25 mph by now. It was blowing my bike every which way but forward. I started to get angry but did not know what to focus my anger on. I made it to 80 miles, the park was just a few more miles but there were so many rolling hills in those few miles it was breaking my determination. I had to stop and walk my bike up the last few hills. At the turn off for the Park I hesitated. The campsite was 2 miles down the side road and the City of Comstock was “only” 10 more miles. I opted for Comstock. When I crested the first hill and saw the waves of hills ahead of me I almost turned around and went back to the Park. I pulled over and sat down for almost a half hour to see if resting would get me some leg strength back. When I took off again I felt better but the hill after hill after hill quickly drained me again. Finally it was down to only one more mile to get to the RV Park where I wanted to camp. It must have taken me thirty minutes to do that last mile. I made it finally. I was kind of happy that I was able to overcome the mental and physical problems getting here today. I checked into the camp site and immediately rested for a few hours. Then I got up and showered which felt great. I ended the shower with cold water and started to shiver. I was not shivering because I was cold but because I was totally exhausted I think. Then I ate a ton of food and drank more water and gatorade. Now I am writing this and next will be straight to sleep.

Ride Day 32

I stayed at the hostel last night in Marathon TX. I enjoyed my stay in Marathon both the city and the hostel were interesting and different. I met another biker going West that found a live deer stuck in a barbed wire fence while he was riding yesterday. He cut it free but it could not walk away so he just left it where it was resting with the hope that it would recover and live another day. I am glad that did not happen to me. It would be tough dealing with it. He was upset by it. Today I left a bit later than I normally do. I ate another great meal at the same café as yesterday before I left town. I stocked up on water in the café because she offered me iced water. I know it warms up fast in this heat but while riding I got a couple of cooler hits before it got too warm. The ride today was 54 miles of mostly downhill or flat. I started out from Marathon at 17 mph. By the time I was two miles out of town the wind was again blowing hard in my face. I took a different approach to it today. Yesterday I was trying to muscle past the wind and it killed me. So today I geared down to mountain climbing levels and just started spinning my legs. It worked better than yesterday’s method. I got less tired and I still went about the same 7-9 mph as I did yesterday with a lot less effort. The fifty miles went from high arid desert to a greener desert as I went down the hills. I enjoyed the return of wild flowers and green trees. The Texas drought has seriously impacted the desert plants. The fires that burned because of the hot dry conditions can still be seen but the recent rains are returning some life to the landscape. I saw lots of wild turkeys today as I rode along. They were in the scrub near the road and sometimes even running around on the road. There must be a lot of them around for me to have seen so many. I also saw some deer in the washes that had a bit of water in them and some fresh new green growth for them to eat. If I stopped my bike they would race off so I was not able to get pics of the deer. I arrived in Sanderson feeling pretty good despite the fact that my 54 mile ride took me about seven hours because of the strong headwinds. A county worker stopped his truck and we talked for a few minutes while I guzzled some of his ice water he offered to me. He was a nice friendly considerate guy and I enjoyed talking with him. I really like these people that stop to offer water like this.  It helps restore my faith in humanity.   Once in Sanderson, I ate a lunch and checked into a cheap hotel to get caught up on my rest for tomorrow’s tough ride with lots more hills of at least 70 miles or 95 if the wind lets up on me a bit. More later…