Riding Day 24 – 70.09 miles
Sunrise in this area is around 7:15am, and we haven’t been setting an alarm, because there’s no point in stumbling around in the dark trying to make coffee and break camp. So, we didn’t climb out of the tent until nearly 7:30 this morning. No one else had shown up to camp, so it was extremely peaceful the entire night and I slept like a rock. The Bob, as usual, already had a pan full of water heating on the camp stove for our coffee when Odie and I got up, which is perhaps the main reason that we love him so much. Coffee is life after all, especially out here.
We had everything packed up by 9:00 and started riding shortly afterward. The forecast was calling for thunderstorms all day, and as we took off on Hank the wind was howling, and the sky was a turbulent, angry gray. Within the first mile the temperature plummeted, the wind strengthened, and it started to pour. I was fighting to keep Hank on the road as the wind gusted and threatened to push us into the weeds to our right, but every time a big truck passed us, it would block the wind and I’d have to quickly compensate so that we didn’t shoot the other direction into the road. And of course, once the truck was gone, I’d have to quickly reverse the compensation back the other way. It was maddening, but also a little exhilarating to be battling it out in such an intimate manner with Mother Nature. After climbing the day’s first hill we made a 90 degree right turn and things instantly changed for the better. I had decided not to put fenders on Hank, and spray from the tires painted stripes on our backs as we flew through the water pooling on the road. We were soaked to our core and cold, but at last we had a tailwind!
After an hour or so, the rain stopped for the rest of the day save for a few sprinkles here and there. We slowly dried out, but as we changed directions midday, that juicy tailwind morphed into a demon headwind, and would remain that way for the rest of the day. The hills were still there as well, but their length and gradient were easing as we moved east, and the torture of the last few days was greatly reduced.
We were chased again by a dog, but we didn’t deploy the airhorn this time because it was a Chihuahua, although it might have been the fastest tiny dog in the history of humankind. I heard his little-dog yapping as we passed his master’s home but didn’t worry about it as I could tell it was a tiny dog by the bark. But then suddenly, he/she was right behind us, barking and gnashing its teeth in a big dog way. I looked back, and at first I couldn’t find the dog, but then I saw that it was a light brown Chihuahua, and when I checked our speed, we we’re going 20mph! Weird, I thought, how is this little terror keeping up with us? And why does his owner allow him to run loose alongside a busy road? The dog gave up eventually, though just before it ended its pursuit, I think I might have heard “Yo quiero Taco Bell.”
We had wanted to make it all the way to Navasota, TX, but ended up 24 miles short of our goal due to the wind and ever-present hills. Tomorrow we’ll drive back to the point where we stopped, jump on Hank, and start again. The chances of rain for the next two days in south-central Texas are 100%, so it will be the kind of day that prunes the toes and makes noses run. To compensate for what will presumably be a semi-miserable few days, we decided to stay in a hotel tonight and tomorrow night. Tonight, we’re in a Comfort Inn in Navasota, dry, warm, and clean. Tomorrow we’ll be somewhere else, which is the only thing that’s guaranteed at this point, and so it goes…
Sounds a little ugly. ... but y'all are so far in to the adventure! The end is near with such a sense of accomplishment! Looking forward to the rest of the journey. Wishing you good weather and tail winds tomorrow.