wow, I do believe it's been almost 2 weeks since I recaped! A lot has happened, I'm sure you can gather. I've been trying to sleep some more lately so I've been keeping away from the computer. Well today we went from Sanderson, Tx to Marathon, Tx. We started out a little late today. It was only 55 miles, so we took off around 7:30 and went straight to the Roundhouse Cafe. The lady said she would open up early just for us the night before, since there wasn't anything from there to here. So we all ordered breakfast the night before and rolled up there a mile after we left the motel. No cue sheet again today, if there was one it would say "turn right out of motel and ride 55 miles, turn right into motel." haha. Just another day of Hwy 90. We rode 80 miles on Hwy 90 yesterday. Marathon is a cute little town, we rolled right into the dessert mountain area in the last day or so, so it's gorgeous. 360 mountain views, beautiful sunrises/sunsets, canyons, and there's cougars!! but I haven't seen one yet. Which is ok. I'd like to see one from afar, not so much now, the horror stories I've heard are usually them attacking bikers. Anywho. So today was cool, it was a long, boring day though. The sun stayed away, it was cloudy all day, which was a blessing since we left so late. Not too much going on today, got in a little before 2, showered and went back a half mile with Allison for some lunch/dinner. She's napping away now..... Well I'll see if I can pick up from where I left off, I'll just start with Oklahoma City and work my way forward to today.
Oklahoma City to Sulphur:
The event in Oklahoma City was pretty cool. We met the 42 Below Rep, and he covers OK and TX so we'll be seeing him for 3-4 more events. He was super nice, gave us the star treatment, and of course: a round of shooters! so naturally, everyone loves him! Nora and Pam sent me a package to OK City, which there were pics of up on here, so I really looked forward to arriving there. It seems as if we only went into a very small corner of the city, we didn't see much, and we left the next morning the same way we came in. I arrived at the hotel after a pretty long day, and my package and Brooks saddle were waiting at the front desk! So Doug helped me carry Nora and Pam's big box up to the room, and I was excited like Christmas morning! My new Brooks saddle is working out pretty well. I'm not completely obsessed with it like everyone else always seems to be, but I've only really ridden it a couple weeks. It feels good, it felt good from the start, but so did my Specialized saddles on all my other bikes. I just think the geometry of my Tricross is a little different, and it puts my sit bones a little more forward. Anywho: it works. I rode with Roy all day, and we passed by a neat-o bike fence. We saw another one a couple days later, strrraaaange. I guess that's what crossing the country on your bike is all about: seeing things you don't expect, or wouldn't normally see.
Sulphur to TEXAS!!
We camped out in Sulphur, I can't remember too much because it seems Isabel didn't put up any particulars, and it's been too long to remember. Hmmm. We crossed a huge bridge to get into Texas and Lauren greeted everyone " WELCOME TO TEXAS!!" standing on the guard rail on the side of the highway. The way she said it was really funny. Hard to explain. Tehas had a sweet sign we all took pics by. It got pretty damn hot that day. The second sign in Tehas said "Drive Friendly, It's the Texas Way," as a driver in a red truck came by and hollered at each of us and flicked us off. Not very Texas like I guess.
Whitesboro to Dallas:
Entering into Dallas. That was a cool ride, the only break I took that day was an hour or so at Starbucks, about 15 miles or less, before the end. It was a pretty quick day, I think that's the day the guys decided to implement a "Tour de Texas" race, complete with a points system, overall standings, time trial (TT), and of course, the coveted Texas Star badge! It was Brian's 30th Birthday in Dallas, and we had an event. We had to ride up to the event, and then load all our bikes back onto the truck. That was pretty lame-o. We also got there entirely too early and ended up hanging out in a parking lot for a while. We got to the event and had pizzas waiting on us, can't complain there!, and Brian had a sweet Birthday cake. My sister's friend Shelby recently moved down to Dallas and she came and said hi for a little bit. She brought me a little present too, thank you Shelby! I'm still chewing on the Twislers :D A bunch of people went out after the event for a little after party action, for Brian's B-day of course, and Brian spent the next 2 days recovering.
Dallas to Whitney:
Dave left that day. He fell a couple days prior and had badly bruised ribs, no fun. So his wife was up in Dallas to meet him anyway, and he just went home with her. Hopefully our other Texan Geezers will make it without him :( That was the day that Texas tried and tried to break us all. It was an extremely grueling day with 30 mph headwinds, a CRAP bumpy road, and blazing heat. But the Fab 5 keep on: Matt, Dade, Blaise, Bennett, and yours truly. I ran out of water at about 50 miles in the heat of the day, but Judy came by and I chilled out for a while, cooled down, filled up with cold water, and made it the next 8 miles to Italy! where I ironically ate Mexican food? hmm. But I had a nice, big, cold Gatorade at the mexican place and a supreme beef burrito. Mmmmm. When I rode into the campgrounds, relieved to be off the 60 mile stretch of Paris Roubaix-like roads, I saw a deer right before our campsite area. I pulled in and joined a group going to swim in the lake. Swam in the lake for a little bit to cool off with some other riders. It was a clay bottom lake, kinda gross, kinda cool. Then we went on a grocery store run, Crihs and I split some burgers, I had mac and cheese also, and I slept in the RV with Bennett, I sure didn't feel like pitching a tent in the heat after the toughest day (by far) of the tour. But it was really hot in the RV, super comfy but HOT, so I still didn't sleep well. Ah well. Wake up, ride, eat, sleep, repeat.
Whitney to Belton:
This was another hot day. I don't think it was as long but more people rode that day. I stopped at a restaurant with Doug, Allison, and Lauren and the owner was pretty enthused with our trip. He has a son in Phoenix that is a professional skydiver! and he's gonna see about getting us the hook up with some skydiving action in Phoenix? I don't know about that one, but I'm sure some of the others will be adventurous! I remember another cold Gatorade being my saving grace that day as well. The roads were still pretty bad too. Ugh. Texas isn't exactly our favorite state.
Belton to Austin:
Super cool. Austin was a lot of fun. We rode through some beautiful Texas countryside in the morning, where I saw 6-8 deer. It was still super hot, and again, Texas wasn't seeming to be any fun at all. But we went to Mellow Johnny's in downtown Austin, I guess some famous bike rider owns it. Lance Armstrong? never heard of him. He wasn't even there at the shop, what a loser. We actually stayed at a hostel in Austin, which was quite interesting, and a first for me. It was pretty neat, but I didn't get any sleep in a room of 16 girls. Our event was at Six Lounge, we had more pizza (yessss!) gold sprints, and I met up with another friend of Isabel's: Anna, who was super nice, and my Pop's cousin: Bill. I just want to make it clear that I beat Allison in gold sprints that night. Ahthankyou.
Austin to San Antonio/The Alamo:
This day was BF day. That's right Bayla/Fran day. A full day of adventures with Bayla and Fran. Bed buddies. Ok you get the point. It was super fun. Bayla felt hardcore, there were many riding due to hangover syndrome, so she said she'd ride with me for the day, we were the only lady riders. It was a fun day, we went by Texas State University and there were some cool coffee shops in the downtown/main street area. We totally picked the coolest one: Coffee Pot Espresso Bar. I got the Ying Yang, white chocolate/dark chocolate coffee blender. Nomygosh it was soooo good. I long for one this very moment. We hung out there for a little bit, there's a picture of it on that day's post, and just before we were about to leave the chick that made our drinks totally rode off on a Surly cross check. That was pretty cool. That was another long day, but it wasn't as hot as before, and we rolled into downtown San Antonio with Brian, and it was a neat, old, Spanish style downtown. The hotel we switched to was right across from the Alamo. Thank goodness we didn't have to camp out that night. Judy winged rooms for us. We took a group picture in front of the Alamo.
San Antonio to Uvalde:
Not too much of an exciting day. We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in Uvalde (which seemed to be the middle of no where) and it was surprisingly nice. I got to do some much overdue laundry, and I rode my bike to the store to buy fresh groceries. Uvalde was highly populated compared to where we are now!
Uvalde to Brackettville:
We did a little competitive TT for the ride to Brackettville. It was only 40 something miles, and everyone got to sleep in a little and leave at their own pace. I didn't stop at all that day, I wanted to get a good time, I don't think anyone really stopped that day. I was the 5th to arrive at the campsite, super early in the morning, before noon even. I pulled an 18 mph average, 2:19:19 which is my best overall average so far. I had a 19 mph avg but we started hitting some hills towards the end and my legs ran out of fuel. Still a good average though. The boys all pretty much made it in under 2 hours, anywhere from 20-23 mph. Damn those boys! and their fast riding capabilities. Eh. We got bumped up to a motel again, at the campground, for $10 extra between 20 something people, sounds like a deal to me. Thank you 42 Below Vodka. Some of us also went to MEXICO that night!!! My first trip out of the country! Mexico is everything I thought it would be. I have 20 pecos left even. We walked up and down a couple main streets, little girls followed us begging for money or to buy bracelets, and a bearded man yelled and waved his stick at Brian, or his beard? It was pretty intense. I'm not a fan of tacquitos. I think I like American-Mexican food better than the real deal! It turned into a late night, but it was fun. Can you believe they charged me to get back into my own country?!!??? They must not know who I am.
Brackettville to Comstock:
Our cue sheet consisted of 3 cues that day. Turn left out of hotel, turn right to stay on 90, arrive at hotel. We rode the first 30 miles without stops, in the dark, before the sun even came up. At the second cue, the turn to stay on 90, we had the opportunity to grocery shop if need be, because it was the closest one for 50 more miles. I moved ahead and went to IHOP. I stopped at IHOP about 5 miles after the grocery store with Alexander, Lauren, and Fredrick. We chowed down our first meal of the day after 35 miles and filled up with coffee. I took off after that and played a little bit of leap frog with Doug. I rode over a beautiful water reservoir. Pictures can't capture a beautiful 360 view. We went by a border checkpoint, and soon after that the majority of us found our home away from home: Holley's Diner. I walked in, being dfl, and I see Callie and Dan drinking beers and shooting pool! whaaat? Everyone was just kicking back, we hung out there for probably 5 hours! There was no rush to get to a hot campground. We didn't have any shade at the campground and it was in the middle of NO WHERE. So we hung out at our new home, under the shade and comfort of the mister, watching 4 little baby birds fight for the prime feeding position in the nest. Baby bird number 2 was one chubby boy. He got the food 80% of the time, we were all routing for #3, and he started to make a little bit of a comeback before we left. That was a really cool day. I camped out right next to the 42 Below Truck, which provided shade! for it being as hot as it was, I didn't sleep all that bad that night. I ate mac and cheese, green beans, and Doug gave me some cherries and cantaloupe. Yum.
Comstock to Sanderson:
Yesterday was the first day without a cue sheet, just a mass text from Nick saying "Dudes! ride 79.8 miles" or something of the sorts. Sanderson was the first real town the whole day that day! We woke up early in the morning, packed up the tents, and left before 6 am. It was still dark which was cool but a little creepy. It's neat to ride with lights, but I can just picture a cougar waiting for some easy targets in the dead of darkness. or the boogieman. you never know. So we rode in the darkness, I got a good 25 miles in before the sun even came up. I saw 4 shooting stars that morning. Haven't seen one in a while. But I saw 4 that day, I think that's a good sign of things to come :D There was a small convience/horse tack/thrift store a little over halfway. I bought some crackers and a yoohoo, that was all to tide me over until Sanderson. Sanderson, TX a sight for sore eyes after 80 miles!!! I rode up soon after Lauren and we just rode another mile to the Roundhouse Cafe for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! I guess it was more like lunch. We ate there and the lady told us she'd open early for us for breakfast this morning. How sweet. I went back to the motel and took a good 3 hour nap. I cleaned up Belle, my trusty Tricross really well last night and went over everything, making sure she's running smooth. Then I ate some pasta, drank my muscle milk, chatted on the phone and snoozed the night away. That brings us to today Ladies and Gentlemen!
I just got a text from Nick: breakfast in Marathon tomorrow morning 7-8, tomorrow's destination: Riata Inn in Marfa, TX. It's the first building on the left. how do you like those directions? Marfa must be HUGE! haha. LOVE it! I'm chilling in my motel/cabin/modular room, typing on a computer smaller than a book, in the middle of Tehas dessert, got here by BIKE!! I just rolled 3,000 miles today..... Wouldn't have it any other way. Good bye for now peeps.
Ride on,
Francesca/Chesca/Fran/Franimal
No comments:
Post a Comment