river.Sunday, April 22, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
Trip Journal Post 5: Day 16-20
Day 16: Camp Wood to Comfort, TX. (89 miles) We're going to slip off course today as we strike for Bastrop, TX and continue through the hill country. At Leakey, TX we stopped for and early lunch. I went to the library and made the last entry. Curt left earlier for Medina. I couldn't catch him at Vanderpool, where I, hopefully, shot a picture of a white goat laying in a field of Blue Bonnets. That section had some of the steepest grades I've climbed so far, but it was also one of the prettiest. Dense vegetation, dark oaks, and plenty of creeks and rivers throughout the day. With tired legs and sore bottoms, we met in Medina and headed north on 480 to Center Point (of the Hill Country, I guess) where we had dinner and lost the last of the light. We pedaled the 9 miles into Comfort in the dark. At 9:30 PM we checked into the Executive Inn in Comfort, one of the places not listed on our official bike map. It was another tough day of strong headwinds. On some of the climbs, I was brought to a complete standstill as I was hit with yet another blast! When I researched this route it was recommended to travel West to East because of the Gulf Stream (aka prevailing winds), but I'm beginning to think it only applies to aviators!! The wind has been the single most important factor throughout this trip. It will either make us or break us! We turned over 1100 total miles today.
Day 17: Comfort to Blanco, TX. (52 miles) Curt's rear end is really bad today; mine, only slightly better. We decided to take it easier today and enjoyed the more arid part of Hill Country. We will soon be back on the flat...I'm not looking forward to that. We ate breakfast in Comfort before we headed out, and skidded into the DQ as soon as we crossed the pretty Guadalupe River in Blanco. We camped right on the river at the Blanco State Park, had a Margarita at the nearby Mexican restaurant, and I slept like a log.
Day 18: Blanco to San Marcos, TX (36 miles) It was chilly and damp as we broke camp this morning. We met a large group of bicyclist from Timberland Adventures at the Bowling Alley Cafe in Blanco. The food was terrible but the company was good. We decided to deviate from the route again as Curt might have a cold coming on as well as his backside troubles. We're heading for San Marcos for another "easy"day, but it's hilly and yet another 20 mph headwind! We had lunch just outside San Marcos and then rode on into town. I had to stop at a bike shop for some gloves..lost one of them yesterday. Curt had a pretty rough day and is looking forward to a break and to Debbie meeting him in Bastrop.
Day 19: San Marcos to Bastrop (41 miles) We headed out Hwy 21 after breakfast at IHOP. It started drizzling shortly thereafter. It turned into a steady rain which continued all day. I forged ahead most of the day. The headwind was only 5-8 mph today. Curt seemed to rally today. Drenched, we checked into the Comfort Inn, did some bike maintenance, and get Curt on the mend. I'm going to hang here an extra day since our visitation schedules with our ladies will both cause a slight delay in the progress. Curt will stay here until Saturday, April 21st; I will move on Thursday the 19th, giving me 10 days to St. Francesville, where Tracy will meet me on the 29th.
Day 20: Bastrop, TX (Day Off) I watched the news aftermath about the Virginia Tech shooting this morning. In typical fashion, the media is demanding stricter gun control and blaming the adminstrators and law enforcement for the tragedy. The media is far more deadly to our society than guns will ever be! Sorry, I'm glad my news comes in small doses.
Curt is feeling the cold moving into his lungs so he's staying close to the motel. I rode into Bastrop to copy the maps for our seperation period and to update the blog. I apologize to all of you that have left comments. Thanks to all my family members for taking the time to look and reconnect! I haven't intentionally ignored you. The libraries set a time limit on their computers and, since my typing is slow, I'm usually getting kicked off before I post the next entry.
Day 17: Comfort to Blanco, TX. (52 miles) Curt's rear end is really bad today; mine, only slightly better. We decided to take it easier today and enjoyed the more arid part of Hill Country. We will soon be back on the flat...I'm not looking forward to that. We ate breakfast in Comfort before we headed out, and skidded into the DQ as soon as we crossed the pretty Guadalupe River in Blanco. We camped right on the river at the Blanco State Park, had a Margarita at the nearby Mexican restaurant, and I slept like a log.
Day 18: Blanco to San Marcos, TX (36 miles) It was chilly and damp as we broke camp this morning. We met a large group of bicyclist from Timberland Adventures at the Bowling Alley Cafe in Blanco. The food was terrible but the company was good. We decided to deviate from the route again as Curt might have a cold coming on as well as his backside troubles. We're heading for San Marcos for another "easy"day, but it's hilly and yet another 20 mph headwind! We had lunch just outside San Marcos and then rode on into town. I had to stop at a bike shop for some gloves..lost one of them yesterday. Curt had a pretty rough day and is looking forward to a break and to Debbie meeting him in Bastrop.
Day 19: San Marcos to Bastrop (41 miles) We headed out Hwy 21 after breakfast at IHOP. It started drizzling shortly thereafter. It turned into a steady rain which continued all day. I forged ahead most of the day. The headwind was only 5-8 mph today. Curt seemed to rally today. Drenched, we checked into the Comfort Inn, did some bike maintenance, and get Curt on the mend. I'm going to hang here an extra day since our visitation schedules with our ladies will both cause a slight delay in the progress. Curt will stay here until Saturday, April 21st; I will move on Thursday the 19th, giving me 10 days to St. Francesville, where Tracy will meet me on the 29th.
Day 20: Bastrop, TX (Day Off) I watched the news aftermath about the Virginia Tech shooting this morning. In typical fashion, the media is demanding stricter gun control and blaming the adminstrators and law enforcement for the tragedy. The media is far more deadly to our society than guns will ever be! Sorry, I'm glad my news comes in small doses.
Curt is feeling the cold moving into his lungs so he's staying close to the motel. I rode into Bastrop to copy the maps for our seperation period and to update the blog. I apologize to all of you that have left comments. Thanks to all my family members for taking the time to look and reconnect! I haven't intentionally ignored you. The libraries set a time limit on their computers and, since my typing is slow, I'm usually getting kicked off before I post the next entry.
Friday, April 13, 2007
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!
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!
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