Day 16
Day 16 AM
Holy cow day 16 already! Flying by in my estimation. Another grinding day in the great state of Texas. Today we will cycle through to tonight’s lodging which is in Johnson City a bit west of Austin. We will actually bike past there and get some extra miles in (because why not?) That’s when we put our red cone on the ground and some spray paint in case the cone is stolen - it marks our spot and we drive back to it the next morning. Wouldn’t want to cheat and not bike the whole country.
Looks like we will miss the bad weather from the hurricane. Our thoughts are with the residents of Florida who are in the path of Ian.
Some remarks from the Alpha team:
Antonio- endurance is the norm and after all I have no choice.
Jane- Tom keeps saying how excited he is that we are past halfway and I respond “That’s all?”
Mike- Texas hill country. Beautiful landscape but terrible road conditions.
Tom- the rough road conditions give me two choices. One is to ride with my mouth open and swallow some butterflies or close it and rattle my teeth. I take the protein.
The bikes are beat up and we are all sore but the trip continues for the Alpha Team for MS.
Where is Waldo? Find a map of Texas and we will finish today a bit south of Austin, Texas. We will continue east over the rest of the week and be north of Houston in a town called Navasota, Texas by the end of day Friday. Jane and Antonio will break away Friday morning and head to Houston airport and say goodbye to Antonio and hello to Tommy. Tommy will peddle with us to New Orleans where we will spend a whole day resting.
By the way we tried a Texas shaped waffle this morning. Who would have guessed?
PM recap
Great day for the Alpha team. We got to Johnson City, Texas and found our hotel and then slipped out for 20 of tomorrow’s miles. Tomorrow is scheduled to still be 110 miles so nice not to do 130! Some of today’s highlights:
1. No flats, no falls and no navigation problems. A great day of cycling. Some huge hills still as we are about to leave the Texas hill country. Should be out sometime tomorrow morning. I am confident none of us will miss this hilly terrain. I have to admit my climbing is improving but I fear that by the time I become proficient at climbing I will be too old to ride.
2. The rollers in this area are incredible. Down you come and then you see the up and it is imposing. As soon as you see a sign that tells you road subject to flooding you know you are reaching a bottom and the next step is up. The repetition is never ending. Then at the bottom of a hill you see a flood gauge that measures as high as 5 feet. Would never want to be around when it reaches anywhere near that level.
3. Everywhere you turn down here there is talk of hurricane Ian. Texans have seen their share of hurricanes. The older gentleman at the hotel desk was telling me of the most significant hurricane that he remembers while growing up on the family farm. He and his mother were at the window and his Mom called out to his Dad to come look at all the odd papers that were blowing past the house. His Dad said that isn’t paper that is all our chickens.
4. As you pedal here in Texas the most common roadkill is armadillo. That would be quite a find back home. I recall a family trip to Kenya where one evening we spotted a several foot tall anteater. I think the kids may have been asleep but it was a sight. Not sure if the local anteaters get that big.
5. The ride this morning was on real country roads. Several signs stated unsecured livestock. It was still a shock to ride within a few feet of a huge cow standing in the road. Lots of cattle guards on the route so I guess they never get too far.
6. When we stopped for lunch a nice man stopped to ask us if we needed help. As it turns out he is working a local winery as Texas wine is becoming quite popular (this was news to me). Will have to try some out as we did pass several along our route today.
7. Mike is settling nicely on my road bike that I brought along. Just a special cyclist who can adapt to anything on a bike.
8. I expect we will surpass 60k in donations sometime tomorrow. Gaining on our goal of 100k for MS. Keep spreading the word. And thanks to all who have given already. Count on hearing from me after the ride to offer my appreciation.