Trip Journal Post 4: Day 12-15

Day 12: Alpine to Sanderson (86 miles) (Trip Total 724 m) The wind has finally turned in our favor as we left Alpine this morning. We literally set sail east to Marathon with a 25mph tailwind. I sprinted a couple times to prepare for the hill country ahead and reached a new personal record, on the flat, of 27.4mph! After guzzling a Gatorade, we caught the breeze again to Sanderson, arriving about noon. Curt and I were having lunch at the "No Name Cafe" and visiting with two Texas couple sitting next to us. Before they left they insisted on having prayer together and then we found out just after they left that they had bought our lunch. We set up camp in an nearby RV park. I tried to get Curt to push another 60 miles to Langtry, but in hind-sight, it would've been a big mistake. Just after we set up camp another cyclist, Mike Drackert, came pulling in and struck camp with us. He's traveling alone east to west with a Bob trailer and has a website (web.mac.com/mdrackert). We sat around visiting at dinner in the No Name again and had dinner with a BMW F650 motorcyclist. We ended the evening playing Yahtzee, which I've been keeping in my running shoes throughout the whole trip.
Day 13: Sanderson to Amistad National Recreation Area near Del Rio (111 miles) (Total 835m)
We said our goodbyes to Mike this morning and got off to a later start than usual. Nothing was open so it was an energy bar breakfast Today began the training for the Lance Armstrong Texas Hill Country! It was sunny, hot, and calm on the way to Dryden. We had a sad little lunch of BBQ goat sandwich in an extremely unfriendly little roadside grocery. Afterward we took a short diversion to the Judge Roy Bean Visitors Center and shot a few pics. They had a great display of old buildings and a grand cactus garden...but we were both hoping for a power nap location instead! 29 miles later we rolled into Comstock, where we were suppose to camp, but everything had dried up there. No motel, no camping, no restaurant! There was no choice but to push on to the outskirts of Del Rio to the Amistad Recreational Area or to "Gorilla camp". We agreed it was not a day to go without a shower. Once we reached the Amistad, we realized they didn't have a shower facility either so we stopped at the first RV park and begged a campsite. The managers wife took pity on us when we found out the nearest food was 5 miles away and went to Whataburger for us. A shower never felt so good! And, I'm reminded of Doc's De Lorean in the movie "Back to the Future 2" where he stops and stuffs garbage into the fuel tank...lately that's all I've been putting into my engine!
Day 14: Amistad to Del Rio, TX. (10 miles) We took out time getting repacked this morning and trekked into Del Rio, where we had previously planned to take an extra day off. It was just the right day too because the wind was blowing at 30+ right out of the east. We ate breakfast at IHOP, checked into a nearby Motel 6, walked to the Walmart where we downloaded the pictures onto CD's to send home. Curt got shone at the mall and we caught the movie "Shooter", which was based on some novels I have read about a character, Bob Lee Swagger. Everything was within walking distance, including the Pizza Hut buffet we ate for dinner.
Day 15: Del Rio to Camp Wood, TX. (82 miles) Well, we hit the beginning of the Hill Country today! It was really pretty riding, but got hot and muggy. We ate an early lunch in Brackenville, TX (after 34 miles) and headed for Camp Wood. At about the halfway point, we crossed the west fork of the Neuses River, which actually was running across the road. I rode through, parked my bike on the rocks, stripped out of my riding gear and into running shorts, and was sitting in the river when Curt arrived. We snapped some pics but Curt didn't want to swim. I jumped in again and reluctantly dried off and pedaled another 25 miles to dinner on Camp Wood. I tried to get the blog updated there, but the library closed 10 minutes later. We rolled down to the Rockin River campground on the nearby Neuses River. About 10 minutes after we set up camp the owner, Chuck, told us there was a tornado watch for the evening and that he would open a cabin for us if we wanted to break camp. Withing 30 minutes the wind was howling, and inch-sized hail started pelting everything. We were safely in the cabin by then, along with our bikes. The wind howled all night long. When we got up this morning it was still blowing as we headed out to Camp Wood for breakfast. Chuck was in the cafe so I bought him breakfast in appreciation for his generosity! I'm currently sitting in a public library in Leakey, TX. (In case you've been wondering why I haven't been complaining about my rearend, it's because I have been adjusting to the mileage, diligently washing my riding shorts, and contentiously keeping my sore butt clean and lubed with Lanaseptic! Thanks for the tips, Rob Herber...I read the email!)We aren't sure where we will end this day, as the strong headwind and the hill country slows our forward momentum. That's for Day 16's entry anyway!