Day 28 - Austin, Tx, 61 miles, 1,263 miles total

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 ensued.   I decided to take my time eating until it passed, which took about 45 minutes.

Is it just me, or does it seem like an alarming number of people can't spell these days?  I'm not really sure if it's happening all over or if it just seems really bad because I live in a small town with an elevated high school dropout rate.

Dose this look wierd too you to?

Downtown Bastrop

Bastrop is a nice little town, and I had no idea that the Colorado River runs through it.  This calls for more lyrics ftom Lyle Lovett's "Texas River Song."

Now the fair Angelina runs glossy and gliding
The crooked Colorado runs weaving and winding
The slow San Antonio courses and plains
But I never will walk by the Brazos again


The Colorado River at Bastrop


So, while on one of those deserted backroads I got chased by three dogs.  The first two were small and not very motivated, but the third one was a different story.  

He was a big, blond fella and started coming toward me from about 300 feet in front of me.  And he wasn't fooling around.  He charged and bared his teeth, so when he got close I stopped.  He wasn't having any of my "nice" talk either.  But stopping caused him to stop charging.  Then when I'd start moving forward again he'd resume advancing, charging and stopping, barking wildly the whole time.  This went on for awhile until I came to a downhill section so I started rolling faster, always keeping my eyes on the deranged beast.  I was afraid I was going to have to mace him, but finally he gave up.


Traffic hell in Austin

I'm not going to explore around Austin tonight since I'll be riding to Johnson City tomorrow.  Z will meet me there and we'll spend the next couple of days checking out Austin and taking it easy.  I'm really looking forward to that.



Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 9, 2018 at 5:19 PM

    I'm glad you carry Mace and that the blonde beast decided you wouldn't make a very tasty meal. Enjoy Austin and your visit with Z. Should be a nice break before you journey on.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Michael LewisOctober 10, 2018 at 2:18 PM

    My best to Z. You deserve a break. Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete

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