Day 28: Friday 04/01/16, Kerrville, TX to Blanco, TX

 

I meant to add this picture to yesterday's post, so will start today's blog with it. I know that there are ranches that cater to paid hunters, but in an area we rode through that is known for paid hunting, this is the only sign I observed that was openly advertising for hunters.

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Day 28 Blog: 

 

Day 28 distance: 61 miles

Total miles:  1552 miles

Elevation gain: 2430 feet

Map of today's ride:

 I will get the whining over immediately today. Today was a tough day of riding. I experienced driving rain, many rollers that were bigger than what I normally think of as rollers, and, once again, a very strong headwind, up to 25 mph at times. It was a cold day of riding, as when you ride with rain gear, the body sweats, and the sweat cannot escape. Then when there is a wind, the wind penetrates and chills your entire body. And the day never warmed up beyond the mid 50's. When we arrived at Blanco State Park for the night, it was still overcast and 57 degrees. I am going to be bundled up tonight as it poured during the night last night and everything in the tent is damp. I am glad I bought a blanket at the Del Rio Walmart to slip inside my sleeping bag!

With that said, it was a great day of riding! I think the scenery the past two days in Texas Hill Country has been the best of the trip so far.

Tomorrow is Day 29, the same day on the 2015 C2C ride where I laid my bicycle on its side, at 12 mph, to avoid colliding with another coaster. I ended up with a compound fracture of my right elbow that ended last year's ride. Tomorrow at mile 29 in the ride, I will finally be on roads I have never been on before and am eagerly awaiting that milestone! The blog will also be more fun to write as everything will be new.

Let's review today's photos:

It rained thru-out the night last night with a lot of thunder and lightening. The thunder and lightening was a new experience for many coasters who live in arid areas. It also poured for about an hour during breakfast, so we waited and left about 8:00 am, right after the rain stopped. The sun came out for about 15 minutes just as we were leaving Kerrville. As you can see, we had wet roads for riding. I am sure glad I left the fenders on my bicycle!

 

Right after I took the preceding picture of the road, I spotted this herd of very small deer. No one I asked knew what kind of deer they were. Can anyone identify them?

 

We traveled on many farm roads with basically no traffic during today's ride. It really is a great way to see rural Texas!

 

We rode along the Guadalupe River during the early part of today's ride. There are many low dams on the river, I assume for flood control.

 

Everywhere you look it is lush and green.

 

This is a typical road we rode when we weren't on a farm road. These roads also have very low traffic volume. Note the larger hills in the background.

 

Now that is a long driveway!

 

The buzzards were enjoying a feast on a road kill deer.

 

This picture is a good representation of the scenery and the road we traveled today.

 

I always thought "rollers" were hills that you could travel down with enough speed to carry you up the next hill. Not on the kind of hill you see ahead! In fact, today the headwind was strong enough that I could only get up to a speed of 4.5 miles on most hills like in the picture when pedaling up the hill!

 

I know it is a dead Armadillo, but at least it shows that they live in this area. I thought it interesting that the buzzards must have enough "soft shelled" victims (like deer), that they had not bothered this road-kill.

 

Across the water and up the hill is tonight's camping site at Blanco State Park. If you look closely, you can see that the water is almost coming over the bridge to the Park. Last year, after we had camped here, the rain was so heavy that the campground itself was flooded and under several feet of water.

 

Meet coaster  Jim Sporer, a retired landscape architect from Fenton, Michigan. Jim said he was conducting nightly business with the home-front.

 

Tonight's menu.

LINK to Day 28 of my 2015 C2C blog.