Follow my journey through the southern tier of America on my bicycle through my blog.

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Monday, January 30, 2012

Day 19 (17 riding): Total overall distance: 1303.58mi Total distance today: 101.96mi Total time: 7.31.29 Avg speed: 13.7mph Top speed: 26.5mph

Random thoughts of the day:
-Boom...2nd century ride today, but this one I earned...a lot of hills, into the wind for a while, and alone
-This is what life on the road on a bike is like: a bug flew in my mouth...and I was grateful for the free protein
-The things that are the most interested in me are easily the cows...at one point today, I passed a ranch and EVERY cow had its head turned and was staring at me...there were over 50 easy...creepy
-Now that is a strange place to see a zebra...2 zebras actually
-I hope Chuck Norris doesn't come out and roundhouse kick me in the face

Today was definitely a good day overall. I was bummed to have to leave John's apartment so soon with only 2 nights and a day to hang out, but it had to be done. Thanks again for everything Sal! The first 50 miles today flew by. I was riding fast and the roads were flat with very little traffic. I love riding on Sundays! I grabbed a longish lunch at Subway in Navasota, TX after briefly visiting and taking a picture of Chuck Norris' ranch. Pretty cool. I also had a nice chat with the guy who runs the "Checkpoint" hostel/bed and breakfast in Richards, TX. He told me I may catch 3 riders about a day ahead of me. Small world, I already knew he was talking about Ricky, Paul, and Nadine...who I presume are in Austin tonight. I'll be there tomorrow night and we may end up leaving at the same time on Tuesday...guys if you read this, give me a call!
The last 50 miles today was pretty tough because of a lot of hills...it's obvious I'm getting very close to Texas Hill Country. However, it was the most visually appealing ride so far. A lot of good scenery. The riding was tough and I only went up about 300 feet total...to a peak of 500 feet. The Hill Country goes to a fun 2,317 feet. Oh joy, can't wait! I actually am kind of excited for the challenge. Plus it will be a good warm up for the Emory Pass in New Mexico, where I go to over 8,000 feet.
Luckily I had a perfect weather day today. It was 60 degrees and cloudless all day. Beautiful blue skies. Chilly in the morning and evening but not bad at all. I stopped into a small General Store in Independence, TX to get a gatorade. I had read about the store on another blog and knew that the owner had a bikers' log so I was excited to sign it. But I forgot to put where I'm from :/ I did leave this blog address so if you are reading this store owner, add Tiverton, RI to my post. It was cool to see a store that is legitimately the only store in a town. Gas, groceries, lunch, conversations, and who knows what else goes on here. Otherwise, you have to drive quite a ways to get that stuff. It's so old school and southern, I love it.
The owner asked if I was going cross-country because I didnt look like I had been on the road for that long. I guess I hold up well, and I am moving quite quickly besides.
I made it to the home of my warmshowers host Carol in Carmine, TX around 5:30 or so. Carol is unbelievable. She owns a 62 acre ranch and has a beautiful house that she built herself with the help of some friends. The house is such a cool set-up too. Plus she is almost too nice if that's even possible. I was treated to a great dinner and dessert and then had some nice conversation while we played pool for a while before the repeat of the tennis match came on. She said I could watch it with her, but I don't have 5 sets in me...I'll be asleep before it's over! I'm staying in a really neat bunkhouse over the barn with a nice bed, bathtub, and eggs, sausage, and oj waiting for me to make in the morning. Thank you Carol!!
Tomorrow will be another long haul in order to get into Austin, TX. Probably around 100 miles again, maybe a little less. Will be tough but worth it when I hopefully get to walk around the city a little tomorrow night. That means another early departure, probably around 8...no later than that really. Once I'm done with this blog, I'll try to find a place to stay. If I can't get a warmshowers host, there is a hostel I can head to, which may be a better option anyway since I'll be in the city. I'll figure that out later.
I made two of the best food purchases of the trip today. First, I bought 12 cookies from Subway. Brilliant. Then at the store in Independence, I bought girl scout cookies. I decided on peanut butter delights. Also brilliant. You're welcome self.

I have very little 3G coverage out here so it would be a pain to update the animal count, with having to find it, copy and paste it. So hopefully tomorrow, but you know there will be zebras on there. I was riding up another hill and saw a bunch of deer to my left fenced in. I stopped and snapped a picture and then saw what looked to be some elk. Weird but okay, then I saw a zebra and had to do a double take because I thought I was going insane. But then I saw a second zebra. Unfortunately, right before I got off a picture of them, they ran off. Bummer. Turns out that the fenced in area holds exotic animals...in the middle of nowhere, texas. Who'd a thunk it?
I took a ton of pictures today, and I got a close up of a real Texas Longhorn. It had slipped through a hole in the wire fence about 5 feet from me so I took a couple pics and then watched as 3 ranchers came running over and herded it back in and fixed the fence. Pretty cool to see in person, I tried to get a video of it, but they were too quick.
I talked to Mason today, one of the two guys I rode with for a little while about 2 weeks ago or so. He had given me a call but I missed it so I called him back tonight. He was wondering where I was and wanted to check up on me since some guy told him a biker had been hit and hurt pretty bad in louisiana, he wanted to make sure it wasn't me. Really nice of him and it meant a lot or him to call and see if I was alright. They are back in the Baton Rouge area so I am now a week ahead of them...at my pace meaning I probably won't see them again, but ride safe!

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