Day 19
Day 19 AM
So today we start on day 19 and map 5. It will be our last full day in Texas. We have a long day mapped out and we will go as long as we can. Probably will not make it to our next hotel in Kountze, Texas. 129 miles may be a bit too ambitious. We do have Tommy Z joining us today so let’s see if that helps. Four days on this map and then an evening in New Orleans. Here we go!
If you are following us on a map we go to Kountze tonight then DeRidder, Louisiana Sunday night. Monday night we wind up in Eunice and we finish this map in New Roads, LA on Tuesday night. Just right with 400 miles for the 4 days. I believe that a quick review on Strava shows the elevations today being a bit crazy but much much milder after that. Hope I am right.
Having Tommy join adds a new dimension. Endurance sports has become his passion and his career. The Alpha team for MS is named after his company Alpha.win. He organizes triathlons around the country. He ran track and cross country at Syracuse University when he attended college.
Please consider passing this along to your friends and asking them to donate to our cause. Still striving to accomplish our goal of 100k by the end. Big push.
PM recap
Cycled 115 miles today. Placed our cone about 10 miles from the hotel. We will drive back to the cone and add that 10 miles to tomorrow’s ride. But that is not the best news. Tomorrow before lunch we leave the great state of Texas. Now don’t get me wrong. I have many friends in Texas and I like the Dallas Cowboys’ football helmets but I am plum done with biking in Texas. Louisiana here we come.
1. In Texas we went through an area known as the thicket. I guess it earned that name because the scrub is so thick you could hide out inside the brush. During the Civil War it seems it was a good place to hide out rather than fight. Periodically soldiers were sent in to uncover the hiders. These men were known as bushwackers. Seems this is where that term came from. Who would have thought?
2. We went through a town today called Anderson that had a great deal of charm and yet it seemed as if it was a ghost town. Not a soul around at all. Texas.
3. Got a chance for both Mike and I to don our MS biking shirts. Created a bit of chatter and interest wherever we stopped. Hope it turns into donations.
4. At one of our stops we were welcomed by a charming pig (boar?). Tommy fed him a banana and he was quite pleased. Interesting pet or breakfast? Hard to say.
5. Clearly the elevations of the ride have turned favorable. In fact the last 69 miles today were borderline flat. Hallelujah. Pretty dramatic change. So now the weather is a fraction cooler, the tough climbs are behind us and now all we need is some better pavement. Right- never satisfied.
6. Tommy was a huge help today as he did 75 miles of mostly leading (we call it pulling) which was right on time. Young fresh legs.
7. Tonight’s lodging is unique. But it is clean and the best part about these roadside motels is that all rooms are ground floor. Can’t beat that when you are carting as much as us. Also we all bring in our bikes into our room each night.
8. Sent out some more links to our fund raising page and to the daily blog. Got back some quick donations. Let’s all stay on point and help raise this money for MS.
