Day 31...Where Did These Hills Come From?

Hanging Out in Texas
Day 31

The morning greeted us with a downpour and ominous skies. This was, however, a wonderful and welcomed surprise for the locals. As you know, Texas is in a longstanding drought and, as a result,  wildfires have been rampant. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Texas_wildfires  It was another wet start but we shifted our mindsets and we too welcomed the rain.

I was warned by a Team Odwalla teammate of mine, Bobby, that the roads in Texas could be rough. Today we had a fair share of bumpy, poorly paved and rutted roads. This reeks havoc on my joints and, as Kevin puts it, earns you a trip to the dentist (to put your teeth back in). And it doesn't much help appease the pain in the "nether regions" (as my friend Sinead calls the groin). The bumpy roads do make you really appreciate the smooth patches, as far and few between as they are.

The Whipping Winds
(in our face ;-)

The first 25 miles were indeed wet and also a bit hilly. Hmmm, that's strange. I though East Texas was flat? But at least it was calm. Spoke too soon. Within minutes after getting back on our bikes, the winds began whipping and the hills became more frequent and steeper. Oh, and the sun shined her powerful face on us (for the rest of the day).

Shift, shift, shift. Grunt, grunt, grunt.

Wild West Texas Town

It was a massive relief to get to Navasota, the town where we stopped for lunch. We didn't speak much at lunch, trying to focus and get ready for the next 40 miles of hills and wind.

The second half of our ride today wasn't that bad. We passed some small towns which felt like we were in the wild west. After a minor detour (oops, made a wrong turn) at mile 60 we stopped for a drink refill and then cruised home on some rollers. It was like being at Six Flags Great Adventure. Well, sort of. The farm land was quite beautiful and it kind of felt like we were back in Virginia. Ah, but we're not!! We're in Texas and getting closer to San Diego every day.

78 miles in the saddle today. Tomorrow we will be in (or near) Austin! I have a great treat waiting for me there. My dear friends Mollie and Ali will be there and we have a nice day planned !