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| Hill country shade trees |
I’ve ridden longer days.
But this was one of the most challenging days of the tour, because all but the last 15 miles or so was into headwinds.
Before the winds picked up, I outran one pair of dogs. I also stymied two other groups of dogs with the boat horn.
At about mile 12 of today’s ride, a few miles past Laughlin Air Force Base on Hwy 90, a 20-something Hispanic man jumped up at me from the highway shoulder.
“Ayudame (help me),” he said. He was waving a cell phone, and motioning for me to stop and come down the shoulder to him.
My inner voice told me that something was wrong here, and that if I complied, something bad might happen.
So I gave him my biggest grin, waved and kept pedaling.
“Buenos dias,” I said.
Gil, a French cyclist who is westbound, told me the route is flat and easy after Baton Rouge.
He looked like he had been suffering enough already. So I tried hard not to exagerate the difficulties that lay ahead for him.
“There are some pretty good climbs in New Mexico, Arizona and California,” I said.
Glad I’ve been doing the harder stuff first.
By the way, the headwinds were noticeably easier to negotiate without the Da Brim (photo of new setup below).
It’s finally getting greener, now that I’m into Texas hill country.
The shade trees are particularly welcome.
DM: 77.5; TM: 1,521.9; 9.24 hrs rdg; 8.1 mph avg; 2,720 ft climbing
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| More hill country trees |
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| New brimless setup |
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| Gil |
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| Getting into the rolling hills |
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| Wes Cooksey RV park on Nueces River |
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