Day 32...Sizzlin' Hot

Start of Day 32

I figured it was supposed to be a hot day. We are, after all, in Texas. Rummaging through my bike drawer I realized I was down to my last pairs of bike shorts and jersey. A pair of Garneau bib shorts (bike shorts held up by integral suspenders) and my black spokespeople jersey top was all I had left.  I have a few sleeveless white jerseys but they don't have pockets and I carry a LOT of things with me. Also, the spokespeople jersey is a full zip. This is a very important detail when wearing bib shorts. You see, when the time comes to use the rest room, it is IMPERATIVE that you can quickly UNZIP the top, rip it off and yank down the bib shorts. If you have a "half-zip" jersey you have to pull it over your head and, with that, valuable time is lost.

15 minutes into the ride I started to feel the heat. I unzipped my jersey. And that's the way I rode ALL day, 92 miles.

Texas Ranch

We passed some beautiful Texas countryside in the first part of our ride including a few magnificent Texas LongHorns.

Texas LongHorns 

En route to Austin we road through Bastrop County and were dumbfounded by the destruction of the recent wildfires. The wildfires that affected Bastrop County were the largest and most destructive of The 2011 Texas wildfires. The fires here started on September 4th and burned for 5 weeks burning down 1,645 homes and 34,356. For miles we saw burned down forest, chimneys where entire houses once stood and roads lined with disaster relief crews working on clearing trees, replacing power lines and road guard rails.  It was a saddening sight and a reminder of how powerful mother nature can be.

Bastrop, TX
A chimney stands alone

Bastrop, TX

The temperature rose to near 100 degrees. The sun bounced off the pavement, soaked into my black jersey and sent my internal temperature rising.  By mile 75 I resorted to pouring water on my head and down the back of my jersey. This definitely helped. The sun finally cast herself lower in the sky and gave us a small reprieve from the heat making the last 17 miles bearable.

We arrived at our campground in McKinney State Park around 6pm. Long day. Tomorrow is our first (and probably only) DAY OFF. I am meeting up with my girlfriends Mollie and Ali tomorrow. What a treat that will be!