Sunshine State to the Golden State 2018

The Nueces River near Uvalde, Texas We crossed the wild Pecos We forded the Nueces We swum the Guadalupe And we followed the Brazos Red River runs rusty The Wichita clear But down by the Brazos I courted my dear That's the only shot I got today.  It was another overcast, dreary, cold and, eventually, wet ride.  When I got to Bracketville I got pizza at a little hole in the wall place, and as I ate I started to shiver.  That, and the persistent ache in my right knee made the decision for me.  Tomorrow I will ride the 31 miles to Del Rio and end this tour.  I am a defeated man. I'm sorry I couldn't just "tough it out" but the last time I tried that with knee issues I paid for it by not being able to ride for 6 months.  And as I've already said, I hate riding in cold weather.  Why do something I hate?  There's no point to it, in my opinion. Tomorrow I'll post one last entry here. NEXT---)

It's Wednesday morning and I'm getting ready to ride to Brackettville.  But I'm weary. This tour has been a major challenge from day 1.  First the fires and detour to avoid the I-5 road closure, then the ridiculous heat and humidity over the entire first month of the trip. And now, relentless rain and/or cold, day after day after day.  Temperatures were running near 20 degrees above average until a few days ago, and now they're near 20 degrees below average, day after miserable day. And I just read the blog of another guy who is going west to east and recently crossed the Continental Divide with temperatures at the freezing mark and snow on the roadway. I mentioned earlier that I hate riding in the cold more than in heat, and at this point that's what I'm doing, and it only looks worse up ahead. I'm really asking myself, "What are you trying to prove?" So, I'm teetering on the edge here.  I am not having any fun, and that's really...

R.I.P. Paul Allen Cancer claims another victim.  This one, a man I've never met who had a profound impact on my life, died of Non Hodgkins Lymphoma at 65.  Along with Bill Gates, he created Microsoft, a company that was at the center of my entire professional life.  But beyond that, he was a philanthropist who used much of his vast wealth to better the world. When will we wipe cancer from the face of the earth? I decided to ride today because the weather looked about as good as it will get in the next week or so.    It rained in the morning but was mostly just overcast after that, with a light north wind and a high of 51. That does it.  Now I'm REALLY not picking any up. If a wild boar comes after me I think I'll skip the nice talk and coasting, and go straight to the mace option. The Sabinal River, which is much higher than usual. Texas has been pounded with rain lately.  Many rivers are surpassing flood stage, such as...

The rain and wind hit pretty hard last night, and the temperature plummeted.  The high was 88 yesterday, but today it's 49, last I looked. On the one hand, I feel very lucky to have dodged hurricanes Florence and Michael.  But on the other, what ever happened to fall? I don't think I've ever experienced a swing in the weather this extreme before.  I think I've had two riding days on this tour that could be called comfortable, weather-wise. But the rain stopped early today and didn't return for about six hours.  And the wind forecast seems to have been exaggerated.  It was probably blowing at about 15 mph, not the 25 that was predicted.  It would have been a crosswind for me.  I could have ridden today.  But still, I'm glad I didn't, because I've still got troubles with my right knee. This knee thing is starting to worry me.  Most of the climbing is in front of me.  If I can't get this knee under control I might have to quit. ...

It was a long, slow, wet and grueling ride to Hondo today.  It started out with a light rain and a persistent headwind.  The rain came and went throughout the day but the headwind persisted all day long.  Add several climbs to that and you end up with one of those, "why did I ever think this was a good idea?" days. The Guadalupe River at Kerrville. We crossed the wild Pecos We forded the Nueces We swum the Guadalupe And we followed the Brazos Red River runs rusty The Wichita clear But down by the Brazos I courted my dear This just screams, "Texas." So does this one. I don't remember why I took this one. When you're already fighting a headwind this isn't an encouraging sight. Hmmmm.  Should I be worried? I'm probably taking tomorrow off, and maybe Tuesday also.  The weather alarmists are seeming pretty adamant about the nasty storm moving in, and after today's ride I wouldn't mind another break a...

I got back on the road today but it wasn't an easy task.  There was a light rain and a strong wind this morning, and if I'd had my druthers Z and I would have taken another day to explore this side of Texas.  But she had a flight to catch, and I had a schedule to keep, so we parted ways and I started pedaling toward Kerrville. The first and only town of any size I passed was Fredericksburg.  It clearly has strong German roots, as is obvious by the Wilkommen sign at the edge of town.  There were quite a few tourists there, possibly for an Oktoberfest celebration.  And, there was the Whirlygig store. A Whirlygig store near Fredericksburg Enough Whirlygigs for the entire Lone Star State On the far side of Fredericksburg I stopped at a Subway for lunch and was shocked when Z walked through the door.  She had been, as she says, "stalking" me with her phone and came to spend a few more minutes with me before heading for the airport.  What a...

We weren't sure what we were going to do today other than moving to the other motel in Blanco.  But while looking at a map of the area we realized we were only about 20 miles from Luckenbach, the tiny Texas town made famous by the likes of Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Jerry Jeff Walker back in the 1970s and '80s.  So that's where we went. Luckenbach, Texas We immediately loved it.  There's really nothing there but the vacant house formerly occupied by the Engle family, which consisted of several generations of postmasters dating back to the early 1900s, and several old wooden buildings associated with the music venue.  There's the "Feed Lot," which is a burger joint, the bar, the dance hall, an outdoor eating area and a place that sells apple fries, whatever that is.  But it's all very rustic, and the buildings are full of photos and artifacts from decades of musical acts which have performed there, old license plates, stuffed anima...

Z Me and Z It was great to have a day off today with Zahra.  After a leisurely morning we drove back to Austin and met Jeff, an old friend of Zahra's, for lunch at Terry Black's BBQ.  After that, we strolled through Austin's Butler Park for nice views of the skyline and Lady Bird Lake, actually a dammed up part of the Colorado River. Finally found a gator, at Terry Black's BBQ.  This one, apparenty, is Charlie, who hung out for decades at Holiday House Hamburgers, an old Austin institution that has since closed its doors. In front of Terry Black's BBQ. Jeff and Zahra. Me and Z at Austin's Butler Park A pool at Butler Park. Rule number 6 is my favorite. Someone should have drug tested this contractor. Austin's skyline. Out for a boat ride on a Thursday afternoon. This area was once a wasteland until Lady Bird Johnson had a vision for it. The garden area at our inn. Tomorrow we ...

I had a pretty slow start this morning.  Mr. Google had me riding a maze of streets in South Austin into a pretty strong headwind.  At one point it put me on the Sunflower Trail, a nice bike path through many trees and bushes. But soon the pavement turned to decomposed granite, and then mud.  I have never experienced Texas mud before, so I don't know how common this is.  But this mud almost turned to cement.  It caked on my tires in seconds and wedged between the tires and fenders to the point that my wheels stopped in their tracks.  I had to drag the bike back to a lawn area and lay it down.  I couldn't turn the wheels at all.  It took 45 minutes to dig all the mud out so I could continue on. The very inviting Sunflower Trail... ..lured me into the trap. Much of today's route was on shoulderless roads with more traffic than I would have preferred, even though this photo makes it appear to be deserted. I'm beginning to...

Today's ride to Austin included torrential downpours, several miles of riding on a dirt/gravel road and three dog chases. Getting to the motel was quite a challenge because of that lack of biking infrastructure thing.  Austin does appear to have several bike paths and bike lanes, just not many where I needed them today.   I resorted to Google Maps in bike mode, which is always a risky endeavor.   It put me on a gravel road for several miles, as well as some busy, fast highways with about a one foot shoulder. Beware of Google Maps bike mode. The skies opened up on me again as well.  The first time I was on one of those deserted back roads.  It rained hard, but only for about 10 minutes.  The second time I got lucky.  The skies were black as I was approaching Austin, and I was expecting a deluge.  But it was time for lunch and a Subway restaurant appeared.  I pulled in and no sooner got inside before a real downpour ensu...

The first half of the ride today was toward the southwest with a crosswind and nonstop rolling hills, but after reaching Brenham and turning west on Hwy 290, the road leveled out and a good tailwind developed. Highway 105 west of Navasota.  Rollin' rollin' rollin,' keep those doggies rollin'... The historic downtown area of Brenham, Texas. Brenham was nicer than I'd expected.  It is a sleepy little town, but has some old time charm to it.  There was a good bit of traffic as I approached it, but most of it turned off just before getting to town. Old buildings in Carmine, Texas. Carmine had a few shops right along Hwy 290 but there didn't seem to be much to it beyond that.   As I was riding through I heard something dragging on Wally so stopped to check it out.  Turns out one side of my rear brake wasn't fully releasing.  After getting to Giddings I took it apart, cleaned and lubed it, and put it back together.  It...