Day 14
Day 14 AM
Does the finish of today put us halfway? I hope so. Bit of a slow start this morning as we are having some weather. Waiting for the thunderstorms to blow through. Have pushed back our go time about an hour. Today is a lot of climbing. The hope is around 100 miles today. That will be plenty. We will stay tonight in Leakey, Texas. This is Antonio’s last week with us as he flies out of Houston this Friday. My son Tommy joins us then for a few days.
Styrofoam. That seems to be the go to here in southern Texas food and beverage. The Alpha team is not a big fan of using this product in this fashion but it is almost unavoidable. Too bad.
Leg cramps popped back up last night after a several day hiatus. I am a believer in the Hot Shot product. Looks like I will be digging back into that product this morning.
Today’s ride brings us through Uvalde today. What a sad memory for all but hard to imagine the pain that that community suffered. We are planning a short stop to show our respect.
Hoping for good road conditions today. The pavement yesterday was horrid for 75 of the 120 miles. Even the climbs are easier when the road is good.
Jane remains our bright star. Her warm smile and willingness to help out especially as the day gets longer is immeasurably important. Can’t imagine it is easy traveling with us guys. Shout out to her.
Think of someone you know affected by MS and forward them the link. Let’s keep pushing the fundraising. We are headed to the second and final lap. Just 5 more days in Texas.
PM recap
Day 14 was very interesting. We made it to Leakey, Texas. Got in around 93 miles. Not an easy day despite the lower mileage. Started out with a rain delay of two hours for us this morning in Del Rio. Jane made the announcement in her best teacher voice and no one thought to object. The ride out of town included a flat (of course) and little else. Once out of the big city we had our first navigation issue and the Alpha team got split up. Fortunately all this cost us was time and we continued the journey. We are clearly in the hill country with lots of climbs and of course terrible pavement.
The butterfly migration is in what seems to be in full force. We rode today through literally millions of them. See if you can see them in the video. They are headed north while we are traversing east so they crossed our line of travel all day. On some of the climbs I may have swallowed a handful so hopefully they are gluten free. When they get into your helmet it gives you the creeps.
We came across a lovely man Jim Baker from the UK now living in San Francisco who is doing the same trip across the country to benefit Lymphoma Research in memory of his departed wife Pia. His ride honors his wife and he is traveling with his 19 year old son. Shout out to Jim.
Riding across Texas and seeing Texas Ranger police cars reminds me of my favorite story involving Texas Rangers. Back at my horse shows in Indio, California, I had a client who was upset with a decision that I had made (probably many clients but I will stick with story). My dear father came in and in a stern voice told me that the client’s husband was a Texas Ranger and he was looking for me. Quite a bit of hysteria circulated the office that there was going to be a huge brouhaha once he encountered me. Turned out he was a Texas Ranger. But he was an infielder…
Lodging tonight is one of our more unique choices. Peace of Heaven Cabins, miles off the main road on a dirt stretch. Despite our apprehension on the approach we found a beautiful cabin with all the comforts one could ever want. Shout out to the cabin.
Tomorrow is day 15 and will be over 100 miles with many ups and downs. I’ll get some rest and hopefully you will send along this link to your friends for MS donations.