So I was pedaling east on Texas Hwy 20 this afternoon, lost in my usual fog but minding my own business, when an SUV with a bike on back pulled over onto the road shoulder ahead of me.
The driver got out and looked like he was waiting for me.
What could be afoot? Maybe a good samaritan stopping to offer me a bottle of water?
Surprise, surprise. It’s Mark, one of the Minnesotans I met riding through Phoenix a week and a half ago.
Mark was taking a turn driving the Minnesota group’s support vehicle, and turns out we’re all staying at the same inexpensive motel (actually the only motel) in Ft. Hancock tonight.
Kevin, the other Minnesotan who was riding with Mark in Phoenix, fell and injured himself shortly after we parted ways in Tempe. After the fall, Kevin flew home.
But I met the other four members of Mark’s group at the motel that afternoon, and then got to know them better at a dinner that evening at a nearby restaurant.
Turns out that we are essentially on the same schedule for the next couple of days, until they veer south for Big Bend National Park and I continue east toward Austin.
I’ll try to keep up with them if I can. But that will be a challenge, because their unloaded bikes are so much lighter than mine.
Today’s ride was through virtually flat farm land. Pecans are a major crop in the area. For reasons unbeknownst to this correspondent, many of the Texans irrigate their pecan orchards by flooding.
DM: 55.4; TM: 1,051.2; 5.46 riding time; 9.5 mph avg.
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| Pecan trees |
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| Mark |
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| Plenty of ghost towns on the back roads |
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| Super rack |
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| Motel pool |
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| L-r: Mark, Brian, Joe, Jane, Mary |
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| What you get for $60 |
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