5:29 ST
14.2 avg
Never, never, never, NEVER trust an old man who gets out of a big pick-up when he says the road ahead has hills that "aren't too bad". Never.
Don't worry, we didn't. We went out there totally expecting the opposite.
Let me back up. Did I mention that we entered the hill country yesterday? After two days of almost totally flat roads, we started into some gentle ups and downs. Today they turned a little more than gentle.
We got a good early start out of Lufkin, hitting some road construction fairly soon. Some of that was not real fun as we were riding in a two lane with no shoulder, right next to the concrete barriers.
At Nacogdoches it was 73 degrees and 93% humidity It wasn't too long before we saw clouds ahead that didn't look too promising. And lighting to the east.
Yup, rode the next 10-ish miles soaking wet. But...when we took a break it was at this little taco stand.
It's hard to believe, but I actually ate a taco in the morning! And it was good!
We were pretty glad we had this little break and snack because shortly after is when the bigger hills started. We should have known that heading to Mount Enterprise meant that we were going...up ("Mount"...get it?) There was one hill that about ate my lunch. Let's just say that I was feeling my age.
It was at Mount Enterprise that we met the old man in the pick up. Sigh.
Up and down, up and down, up and down. Up and down. We needed a break. Clayton has a church and a gas station/"convenience" store....with ice cream.
Only twelve more miles to Carthage where we planned to spend the night. Just as we got to the edge of town, another downpour. And we had just dried out (except for the shoes.) So the bike got another cleaning and lube.
I have a rule at home: no pizza unless we ride 50 miles or more. Today we met the criteria, so... barbecue chicken! Mmmmmmm.
Presto, chango!!!
I have to tell you that my Gerry is the best tandem captain! The stuff he had to steer us through today....rumble strips, shredded tires, branches...amazing!
Some miscellaneous:
Name of the day: "Beer Belly Road" (Totally serious. Outside of Mount Enterprise)
Church names of the day: Mount Pleasant Baptist, Pleasant Grove Baptist
Additional observations on east Texas:
4. They like their antiquing and flea markets.
5. They don't keep their roadsides very clean; LOTS of litter. (And not very many Adopt-a-highway signs.)
6. There are quite a few drive-thru tobacco stores.
Rick, yes, that was Hwy 59 we rode. Many big rigs so it was quite noisy. Decent shoulder, though.
This is for my daughter-in-law, Melissa..
Tomorrow will most likely be a shorter day. It's our grandson's (Jase) first birthday and we're going to celebrate by resting a little. ;o)
Thank you for praying for us today. All those miles in the rain with traffic whizzing by us...
1 comment:
Like you I got to ride in the rain today.
You are going through beautiful East Texas. Rolling hills and lots of trees.
I hope you enjoy the day on Sunday. My prayers are with you both.
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