Day 27: Kerrville, Texas - Halfway Day!

It was a milestone day today, halfway across the Southern Tier.  It seems unbelievable that we are this far.  Now, I guess we start to count down the days to the end of the trip--bittersweet.

We traveled 72 miles today from Concan to Kerrville, Texas.  There is a very long, very steep climb about 17 miles in, but luckily the wind was not bad and we were still in a cloudy, cool part of the day with even a bit of a mist falling, which made it much more enjoyable to continue the many rolling hills that followed.  We spent the next two hours before the lunch stop in Hunt, Texas, either descending or ascending - the road was never flat.

I planned to start a new healthy diet this morning.  Breakfast was two bagels with Nutella, a banana, and milk.  The first SAG stop was water and a tangerine.  So far, so good.  The second stop was two packages of shortbread cookies, one bag of Doritos, and a soda. Our snack for the day was popcorn and chips/salsa which could not be resisted.  Now we are looking forward to a special halfway dinner of ribeye steaks with baked potatoes and all the fixings tonight for all of us, made by our talented chefs Anne and Serge.  Better luck tomorrow.

Right before lunch as the sun was making its first appearance for the day, we accomplished our milestone for the day.  The halfway point of our trek to Florida, 1455 miles, was marked by the infamous pink and green arrows on the road and the famous boot fence.  At least one hundred boots of various sizes and conditions sit atop every fence post for about a half mile.  Not sure how that tradition got started, but it makes for a great place to mark our halfway point.



There were no incidents today for any of our group.  The only miscue was an optional route to the Hill Counry Bike Shop in Kerrville.  I had told the guys I wanted to stop there to buy some replacement Clif Blocks for Mickey, which she had so generously given to me on a day I was feeling really lacking energy. 

Unfortunately, I was at the back of the pack when the turn came up, and I turned, but none of the guys in my group did, so I just followed the route sheet instructions and got myself there, found what I needed and retraced my steps to get back on the route.  I met Jeff about halfway from there to camp; at least he had come back to locate me!


Tomorrow, we will finally have a sub-60 mile day for the first time in four riding days, which now seems like a cake walk (knocking on wood and crossing fingers as I write that, so I do not jinx anything!). Rain is forecast at 50% for the next two days.