Day 26: Wednesday 03/30/16, Rest Day in Bracketville, TX

Day 26 distance: 0 miles

Total miles:  1419 mile

 

It rained during the night at River Bend and drizzled off and on all morning during our day off. It was a good day to get all the missing blogs and pictures prepared to post as soon as it is technically possible.

This was our view on the morning of our day off. It had rained during the night and there was a light drizzle in the morning. A great day to be in a cabin!

Today a lot of people are getting extra sleep as the normal ride day schedule of being in bed by 8:00 -9:00 pm every evening and up again at 6:00 am, just doesn't seem like quite enough rest time when riding a bicycle long distances every day. The coasters who are up and around are just relaxing, cleaning and oiling bicycles, or sitting around telling stories to each other. There is a lot of laughter in the air.

 

A pretty pond down the hill from our cabin.

 

About ten coasters chose to stay in their tents rather than in a cabin during their two nights at River Bend. Everyone said they were happy with their choice, even with the rain.

 

Robyn Saur and Mark Copher from Florida enjoying the Frio River by the tent site. Robyn was one of the coasters who chose to stay in her tent. Mark was one of the three people in the same cabin I stayed in. BTW, the river was cloudy due to some road construction upstream. It was clear in the morning and soon after this picture was taken.

 After dinner, we had an excellent music program by a champion fiddler, Mr. Dick Walker, and a 22 year old professional musician, Camille Sanders. Camille travels and performs internationally, singing with her guitar, and also playing the fiddle. She has performed with entertainers like George Strait and Dolly Pardon, and recently had a #3 nationally rated hit on the adult contemporary billboard. Dolly Pardon recently wrote a song for Camille to sing. Camille's father owns River Bend. Her fiddle instructor was Mr. Walker. He played his fiddle for us last year and they both put on an excellent extemporaneously musical performance this year. BTW, we also learned that the only difference between a fiddle and a violin is attitude!

Champion fiddler and fiddler instructor Dick Wallace and Professional fiddler, guitar player and singer, Camille Sanders.

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Today's  Extra - Fred Lipton:

Fred Lipton, 82 years young, from Toronto, Canada. Bubba's oldest rider ever in a C2C!

Fred Lipton is Bubba's oldest coaster ever at the age of 82. If you did not know Fred's age, after meeting and talking to him, you would think he was at least 20 years younger. Fred was born in London, but immigrated to Toronto, Canada when he was 18. Fred lost the love of his life, his wife, after 62 years of marriage last fall. He has two living children who also
reside in Canada.

Fred worked in distribution for a large part of his working life, first for a steel company and then for a farm cooperative. He finished his career as a consultant for dangerous materials, helping companies set up their safety procedures and ensuring that these companies were in compliance with government regulations. Fred did a lot of traveling throughout the world in that capacity.

Fred first started riding in London when he was 16. After purchasing and accumulating used bicycle parts, he built a fixed gear bicycle. On that bicycle, when still 16, he took a job on a freighter to Naples, Italy, and then rode his bicycle back to London. After returning to London, he joined a bicycling club, and again, through purchasing and accumulating used bicycle parts, he built what he called a "nice 4 speed road bike." With that bicycle, he joined an English racing group that went to France and raced competitively. He said that no one on his team understood French, and one time when racing, they saw a big banner over the road. He and his team thought it was for a race Premium and they "went for it." They lost the race and later found out the banner was actually an advertising banner for a furniture store sale.

After Fred moved to Toronto, he got married and started working so he quit bicycling  until shortly before he retired. He joined a cycling club and started going on tours. He usually now rides between 4,500 to 5,000 miles per year. This Coast 2 Coast ride is the longest ride he has ever done. When I asked him if he is enjoying it, he said: "I'm loving every second of the ride. But what makes a ride is the people!"

Fred is a great addition to this year's 36 other coasters!

LINK to Day 26 of my 2015 C2C blog.