Day 27 - Giddings, Tx, 59 miles, 1,202 miles total

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 seems to be alright now, but I'll need to keep my eye on it.  Something doesn't seem right with it.  The mount point might be slightly bent.


The first oil well I've seen in Texas.


Scattered thunderstorms were forecast today but I didn't see any.  I did hear some thunder about a half hour ago but I'm in my room now so let it rage!

I really can't believe my luck in missing Florence and, now, Michael.  Michael is in the Gulf and is a tropical storm at this point, but is predicted to be a category 3 hurricane when it makes landfall on the Florida panhandle, possibly as soon as tomorrow night.  It is then predicted to move to the northeast, possibly hitting Alabama, Florida, Georgia and the Carilinas.  Those poor folks in the Carolinas certainly don't need this.  They're still dealing with the fallout from Florence.

Tomorrow I ride into Austin.  Rain is predicted, but we'll see.  Most of these TV forecasters make it sound like the mother of all storms will hit every single day.  Apparently they never heard the story about the little boy who cried wolf.

Anyway, they say a cold front is going to move through that will lower the temperature down into the 70s for a high.  I wouldn't mind that one bit.

A surprising observation:  I have not seen any other touring cyclists on this entire trip yet.  My guess is that if there are any, they're moving in the same direction as me.  Anyone eastbound this time of year would have to go through Arizona when it is usually still blazing hot.   


Comments

  1. JulianOctober 8, 2018 at 11:05 PM

    There are three eastbound at least. One doing 100 miles a day and already in louisiana.. I will email you the other two

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Preparations

Image
Chromoly Wally, a Specialized Hard Rock mountain bike converted for road touring.  It was a gift from my brother for Christmas, 1997 I've been getting ready for this trip since the first of the year.  So, much of the planning was done earlier, but as the time draws near I keep finding more things to do. Wally was tuned up in January.  It got new shifters, cables, brake pads, chain, pedals and tires.  All adjustments have been made.  Wally is 20 years old now and has probably around 40,000 miles on it but is in great shape.  The only original parts left are the frame, stem, seat post and front derailleur. I seam sealed my tent, got a packing list together, ordered some new gear and generally have been poring over the route, studying the blogs of others who have done this and am trying not to forget any details. Wally will be shipped FedEx (via shipbikes.com, a low-cost way of shipping bikes).  I will drive to Sacramento and stay with ...
Read more

Day 0 - St. Augustine, 9 Miles, 9 Miles Total

Image
I caught a shuttle to St. Augustine this morning and was here by 11 am.  Luckily the motel proprietors were friendly and let me check in 4 hours early. First order of business was unloading my duffel bag and packing up the individual panniers.  Then I picked up Wally at the shipping business which is right across the street.  Before too long I had him all back together but discovered the front wheel had gotten bent during shipping.  But near the shipping place was a bike shop and they got the wheel trued up in just a few minutes. So with that done, I took the first pedal strokes of the journey and rode a few miles over to the Atlantic Ocean for the official wheel dipping ceremony to mark the start of the tour. As I rode back toward the motel I saw the sign for A1A and a flood of memories from my Parrot head days in the mid '1970s came flooding back.  Before I knew it I was singing Jimmy Buffet under my breath. Mother, mother ocean I have hear...
Read more

Day 1 - Palatka, FL, 34 miles, 43 miles total

Image
I got started by 8:30 this morning.  Opening the door of the motel to wheel Wally outside was a sobering experience as the heat and humidity slapped me in the face.  Then I was backhanded by the equally sobering thought that I will likely be dealing with these conditions all the way into Texas.  Might as well get used to it. I didn't pay any attention to the American Cycling Association route today, opting for a more direct route to Palatka on Hwy 207.  It had a nice bike lane for much of the way which was later replaced with an even nicer, and completely deserted, bike path.  The hills in Florida are man made.  This one spans the St. John's River A nuclear power plant and a lumber mill (?) across the St. John's  In the beginning I felt so good that I was regretting having scheduled such a short mileage day, but near the end I was very thankful that I had.  The fires and smoke at home had kept me off the bike most of the time since...
Read more