Day 37...Vibrations

Lake View at RV Park this morning

Brrrr another cold morning. 39 degrees! What???? At least it was meant to be sunny today and likely warm up to above 70. I layered up but this time with arm and leg warmers so I could take them off if need be.

Remember the song "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys? I thought a lot about vibrations today and tried desperately to think of GOOD vibrations. The ground beneath us was uneven and scattered with poorly packed stones that sent constant, almost debilitating, vibrations through my wrists, arms, shoulders, neck...oh, and the lower half of me too.

A Close-up View of The Road
Texas

To take my mind off the pain, I tried to think of a few potentially good vibrations as I rode today. This is what I came up with:

1. The soft hum of a car's engine as it runs. That kind of vibration can put me right to sleep.
2. The vibration felt in a room when a good base line plays preferably this music is played LOUDLY!
3. The soft + soothing vibration heard when an ear is placed on the chest of someone as they speak.

The Paved Road (left) or the Dirt Road (right)?
We choose the Dirt for a bit...

About 60 miles into our ride we thought we would try to ride the dirt path that paralleled the bumpy road. That's how bad the paved road was. Believe it or not, the dirt road turned out to be a smoother ride!

Day 37...Texas

Apart from the rough roads, today's ride was lovely. The winds were light and variable and there were very few (small) climbs. We rode into then out of the city of Del Rio, TX before seeing Jim +  Jeff on the side of the road watching a monster truck mud bog race. Hilarious.

85 miles of riding today landed us just outside of Del Rio, TX. We have another long day in store for us tomorrow. Phew, this BIG state of TEXAS (go big or go home) is going to take a while to get through....

Day 36...Wild Pigs and Steep Hills

Layered up for the start of Day 36

The Northern winds certainly cooled things down in Texas. We woke to a chilly 44 degree and an overcast sky. The sun was due to come out but winds were still blowing out of the North and it was not going to get warmer than 63 degrees. We layered up and got ready for some major hill work.

On our second morning ride in Texas we saw a man dressed in camouflage standing next to his truck which was pulled off to the side of the road. He was obviously getting set to go hunting. As we biked by, I yelled, “Good morning. What are you hunting for?” He replied, “Deer and pigs.” Deer OK, but PIGS? Yes, there are wild pigs here in Texas and I didn’t believe it until today. We were about 15 miles into our ride and in the middle of no where when I heard Kevin say, “what is that?” I looked up the road and saw some sort of creature on the side of the road rooting around. It wasn’t tall enough to be a deer and it’s head was larger than a dog. As we got closer, we must have startled it because, just as we realized it was indeed a pig, it (and 3 of it's friends) scurried across the street.  What a sight.

Boots, lots of boots

Soon after we left Hunt, TX we came across another an amazing sight.  On top of each fence post that lined the road was a cowboy boot. There were all different sizes, colors and styles and it went on for about ½ mile!

The Boots!

The roads were again rough and the vibrations even sent my bike computer into a tail spin. I think I'm going to give up on the bike computer and just use my Garmin watch from now on. Too much drama!

Approaching Hill #1

Cruising along a plateau  

The second half of today's ride was all about hills. And not some little ones. Beginning at mile 40 we began a series of what would be 4 steep and long climbs that led us, eventually, to our campground in Camp Wood, TX. The skies had cleared by the time our climbing started and the sun thawed my feet.  Needless-to-say, the climbing finished the job of warming the rest of me up. It was a day much like our day climbing the good ‘ol Blue Ridge Mountains. After the final ascent we enjoyed a nice 10 miles trip DOWN hill to the camp ground.

Downhill coming up....

Jeff found us a great spot right next the water in the campground. A beautiful place to relax and recoup from this tough day. 78.5 miles in the saddle with lots of hills. We are over 2,500 miles into this amazing journey. Tomorrow looks to be mainly down hill. What a nice reprieve that will be!

View From the RV
Camp Wood, TX

Day 35...Northern winds

I slept better last night and felt ready to take on the wind and hills today. Thunderstorms were expected in the afternoon coupled with 20-30 mph winds mostly from the north. This meant cooler weather for the next few days which, to me, is a blessing. Don't get me wrong, I like the warm fall weather but the sun and heat gets a bit unbearable for this Northeast girl.

Dy 35, leaving Blanco, TX

The morning was partly cloudy and we hit many hills. It seemed every sign we passed made some mention of hills or mountains (Mountain road, Hilltop Ranch). A majority of the river beds were dry on our route today making it very obvious how much this part of the country is in need of rain. Leaving Blanco, TX, in the distance, over what appeared to be a very bright skyline despite the blanket of clouds above us, we could see the "Twin Sisters" mountain peaks.

Twin Sisters

A Plead for Rain by a Local

We stopped in Sisterdale, TX for a drink, then rode through Comfort, Center Point, Kerriville and Ingram, TX. Jim met up with us about 60 miles into the ride and together we rode to our final stop for the day: Hunt, TX.

The winds didn't pick up until after 50 miles and thankfully they weren't directly in our face. We lucked out and beat the rain too. With the winds came cooler temperatures which I believe will stay with us through tomorrow. It definitely feels like Halloween....brrrr....

Day 34...So long to Austin, Ali and Mollie!

Wild flowers + a view
Lake Austin Spa

What a great day off! I met up with Mollie (her mom, her twins Mia + Rob and her dogs Jack + Maggie) in the morning in Austin.  We drove to the lake house and dropped everyone off then jetted off to Lake Austin Spa where we relaxed for the next 5 hours! It was a beautiful day and the place was spectacular.

Lake Austin Spa

Lake Austin Spa

I had a full body massage and then Mollie and I sat down to a healthy lunch. We spent a few more hours relaxing (manicure, hot tub, tea etc) then headed to the airport to pick up Ali. The three of us buzzed into Austin and had a delicious sushi dinner. We headed to the house afterwards, said good night to the twins then spent the rest of the night chatting and catching up until our eyes became heavy and sleep beckoned.

Mia + Rob

Aunty Emi

Even though I didn't sleep much last night, I still felt rejuvenated today. I found a simple recipe for healing: a massage to release the toxins + laughter to wash away all the aches and pains. Thank you my friends!

Austin, TX

Leaving Austin....

We had a very late start today (10:30 am!) and leaving Austin was no easy task. There were a lot of turns, stop lights and traffic. And then, the hills. Yes, I said hills.

When we were in Louisiana, a lady we met in a grocery store said we would love "Hill Country" (referring to Austin). We kinda shrugged the comment off but as we got closer to Austin two days ago and driving in and around the city yesterday, we soon realized what "hills" that lady was actually talking about. It was going to be challenging day.

Austin, TX
"Hill Country"

The best thing about hills...
what goes up...must come BOMBING down! 

Shortly into our ride, without fail, the "trifecta" was upon us: wind, hills and sun. We only took two short breaks today and, because we thought we were only riding about 55 miles, we skipped lunch (eek!) As it so happened, we ended up riding 70 miles, 70 miles through "hill country".

It was a lovely day despite the elements and we made it safely to Blanco, TX. We biked through some really cute towns (Buda + Wimberly). Tonight we went to a local Italian restaurant for dinner. The RV is parked safely behind the town's bowling ally!  Now, that's a new one. ;-)

DAY 33...DAY OFF!! WOO HOO!!

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!

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 !