First, forgive the delay in posting. Found out after leaving Bourne that once one actually enters Hill Country, Verizon's much touted network disappears. I wondered why Google Maps stopped talking to me part way thru the trip. Being directionally challenged, Susan is quite lucky that I showed up tonight. At least that’s what I keep telling myself. Her mileage may vary...
Speaking of Susan - she had a much better day today. Yes, the poor soul was a bit off her feed when she made it to Boerne yesterday. Turns out that the ninety minute trip from Kyle to Bourne was made without any breaks. Breaks are apparently a big deal to Teamsters. And when her truck stop buddies let her know that management (me) was taking advantage of her, she bought in. So today I made sure she got plenty of breaks. I managed this by feigning exhaustion at the top of hills when she passed me, thus encouraging her to stop and wait for me to give me a break. This worked wonders. Her demeanor has improved considerably and talk of a collective bargaining vote has gone by the wayside.
Fun fact of the day: top speed = 41 mph. The fun fact of the day was immediately preceded by the Not-So-Fun fact of the day. The steepest grade encountered: 16%. This is bad enough in its own right, but it was only part of what was about one mile stretch which varied between 10% on the low end and 16% on the upper end. Cycling is like life - sometimes its painful and ya just grind it out. And the SB’s were at their finest again today. What looked like a relatively short, albeit steep climb went on endlessly. This because the SBs had designed the highway to wrap around the hill thus obscuring the summit. This is both demoralizing and...well...sadistic. Hence the acronym.
Oh - and I curse Accu-Weather - see previous discussion concerning their misapplication of the term “Accu”. A pox on them unto the 10th generation. A little biblical vengeance terminology there... The anticipated SSE slight tail wind was SSW at prolly 15-20. Where I come from we call that a headwind. And at times it was pretty much a full bore headwind. Curse them all.
Took a TON of pics today and won’t bore the reader with them all. Suffice it to say that I saw a number of things uniquely “Texas” today. But the big thing was hills - lots of them. Big ones, little ones, series of them, stand alone ones, picturesque ones (I could notice these when I stopped at the top to take a break), boring ones (any uphill stretch constitutes a boring hill as I just keep my head down and grind), you get the picture. I came to several conclusions concerning hills. First, they look better from a distance. Second, when one is put upon by them, they all look the same - remarkably like the shoulder of a Texas highway - at least that’s all I see with my head down. Third, I wondered why when the good Lord suffered glaciers to scour the planet some, what 12,000 years a ago, he didn’t let them poke their noses into Hill Country and take the tops of some of these evil monsters. Fourth, in terms of the time it takes to move from one side of a hill to the other, 75% of said time sucks and only 25% is fun. I’m working on a mathematical formula for this...
So, anyway - on with the pics...
Delta has determined that a "fallen" rock sign means hills. I'm curious why Texas warns me about the ones that have already fallen. In Kansas we warn people about "falling" rocks. Seems to me that the active ones are much more dangerous.
Delta now thinks that they have a slower class of horse around here...
And lest we forget, this is what makes Texas great. Or at least what helps them pay for all the chip seal highways.
Or maybe it was this. Yes - you're seeing a cross covered with deer antlers. I don't even know what to make of the theological implications...
I KNEW IT! A Cadillac with horns. Fortunately, this one was behind a fence and even if it had seen my comments concerning Texans he couldn't get to me.
OK - this was just pretty. However, Texans are proud of their property. The sign over my left shoulder threatens trespassers with unspeakable atrocities should they deign to dip their toes in someone else's river.
Delta thought this one was appropriate. About a half mile down the road five of the sign's deer buddies came across the road in front of us. The last one stopped dead in the center of our lane looking at me. He ignored the car approaching from the other direction. Apparently Texas deer see cars constantly - bikers - not so much. I whooped a couple of times and the thing jumped from the center of my lane across the ditch and cleared the 5 strand barb wire fence on the far side of the ditch. Amazing.
Ah yes - proof that I've been to Utopia.
Till next time.
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