Day 31: Blanco to Bastrop, Texas

Day 31: Blanco to Bastrop, Texas
Miles: 90.19 ------------ Total Mileage 1,723.38
Theme: The Commish Listened!

Well another day in the saddle! Today was a long day, 90 + miles. But before I get into details about the day, let me say S.I.T. (Still in Texas) but no (or virtually no) C.S. (Chip Seal) today. I believe the Road Commissioner must have heard about our performance the other evening - and took our words to heart, and is working extremely hard to take care of some of the C.S. roads that we are riding on! I can tell you that it makes a world of difference to be riding on smoother surfaces. I would rather do a 90 mile day like today than the 60 odd miles we did yesterday on the C.S.

Todays ride was mostly rollers. It reminded me of riding in Wisconsin. You will go down a hill, simply to go up again (and often up just a little higher). Personally I don't mind rollers. I find them fun because Ms. B (my bike the BarcaLounger - dubbed Ms. B) is so fast on the downhills that I often get a good head start up the next side - so the hills don't seem so bad.

Unfortunately it was a hard day for Tex. She is having some trouble with her back. You know when she says she needs to stop, she is having some pain! Today was simply a day in which Tex was grinding it out. She did the entire thing (no surprise) but I knew it wasn't easy for her!

We had decided before we started today that we wouldn't spend a lot of time at the Sag stops, or at lunch due to the number of miles we had ahead of us. Lunch would be at Lockhart - mile 62.5. It was hard to know what the weather was going to do today. When we started out there were lots of clouds and the wind was pretty strong. After putting some rain gear in the Sag Wag, off we went. The wind certainly wasn't with us, but since we didn't have C.S., no one was too grumpy about the wind. The scenery was nice, lots of ranches with cattle, sheep and goats. At one point when I was riding along I saw something on the road - in the shoulder. It was a rattle snake. It was dead but the rattler was still on it. I didn't stop to get a souvenir!

We went through a cute town by the name of Kyle (mile 45.5). I loved the Pie Shop. On the top of the store front there is a huge piece of pie and then it says: "Texas Pie - Life is Short, Eat More Pie." We didn't stop - other than to take a photo. We had too many more miles to go to take any extra breaks today. On a normal day we would definitely have stopped. Oh well, next time.

We did stop for lunch in Lockhart though. Once again we simply got to town and asked a local where they would recommend we go for lunch. An older woman said there is a good BBQ place just a block up. Well - Texan love their BBQ! We went into this very dark hall. On the left was a room where the butchers worked. In the back the wood fires were going. It was very dark, very hot and very smokey. This is where you ordered your meat. On the right was the dining room (a large area full of tables where you sat wherever you could find a place). You could also got your sides (potato salad, slaw, beans...) and ice cream if you still had room for dessert.

Tex, Kathie and I walk in all our biking gear - including helmets and biking shoes! Needless to say we didn't fit in --- heads turned when we clicked in with our shoes! We stood in the back and ordered our meat. I had hot rings (sausage rings), Tex had prime rib and Kathie had a combo of the two. It is served on waxed paper (that is your plate) and you are given a knife (no fork - you eat with your hands). We all enjoyed and finished in no time. It was truly a Texas experience!

On we went - only about 30 miles left. We are going to make it! We continued to enjoy smooth surfaces - but the wind was pretty stiff. Still if I had to chose between smooth surfaces or no winds, I would always go with a smooth surface. As we started again, there were some more long horns. I had to stop and take a photo. And then, quickly back on the road again. When we went by ranches of goats or sheep, I would "baa, baa." It was funny, often the field of goats would look up and watch as I continued down the road. Ah - the things I do to keep myself entertained! The end of the ride was quite beautiful. The roads were smooth and the trees were lined with big oak trees.

We made it to Bastrop shortly before 4:00. It was definitely a grinding it out day for Tex, but we all made it! The rain held off and we actually had sunshine at the end of the day. We were all thankful for the cloud cover as it keeps things cooler. But mostly we are glad that the Commish has been working on the roads. It made our day much nicer and our seats a lot less sore!!!!!