Awakened during the night by the pitter-patter of raindrops on our tent fly. The forecast moisture finally found us and stayed with us for most of the day. Although not a hard rain, it was a nuisance which kept us wet and cold all day.Hating to ride in the rain or while wet, this was the most difficult day so far. The route's 61 miles was not physically challenging, but the wet conditions in combination with nominal headwinds and never ending hills tested my mental preparedness. I wanted the day to be over as soon as possible, so I took off on my own at 7:30am and minimized the check-ins. Four hours later I was showered, wearing dry/warm clothes, and feeling relieved to be staying indoors again this evening.
Being one of the first riders to leave camp, I rode almost all the day alone. My sole companions were the plethora of cattle that I shared the landscape with. It was like riding in Wisconsin, surrounded by grasses, wild flowers, farms, and my friendly cows. Since, I was the first bike of the day, the cows seemed more interested in the two-wheeled stranger than the previous days.
Warm, sunny weather forecast for a long ride tomorrow.
Lisa's Ride
Gave Jeff a "bike like the wind" day where he could just go as fast as he wanted. We awoke to find filled eggs and stuffed bunnies by our tent--amazing Easter Bunny found us even in the middle of Texas! I rode with my buds Udi and Ken. We started getting rained on shortly out of camp and it did not stop all day. Luckily, it was a light rain and the weather was warm and not much wind, so it was fine except for the fact our clothes were soaked by the time we arrived.
The fields and fields of blue bonnet flowers and other wildflowers were amazing, unlike we had seen 2 years ago. Fields were just an explosion of blues, oranges and even some pinks.
We came upon many animals, but there was a pasture with 3 donkeys and a horse that seemed most friendly. They came right up to the fence to us, and I know a lot of other riders stopped here as well. At our lunch spot, we sat under a pavilion and a lovely female black lab was happy to see us and beg for bits of our lunch, which a few of us gladly shared with her. Hopefully, she is not sick tonight!
My bike started to act up shortly after these donkeys, about 6 miles out of camp. I could not move from the small ring to my large chain ring in front. I will have Chandler look it over tonight because we have an 80-mile day tomorrow before we get to rest at one of our favorite places, Mexican Hill Ranch in Richards, Texas. I really want my bike to be in good working order! Forecast is for a sunny and warm day. It felt so good to get in and get a warm shower and dry clothes. The staff is offering to wash our wet clothes. It will feel good to fall into our mattress tonight--we are in the LaGrange Community Center, inside.
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