Camping behind a saloon on a Friday night can result in a night with little sleep. I heard 2 sets of music by the rock band before drifting to sleep only to be awakened by the saloon patrons as they left the bar, talked, argued and then got in their trucks to drive home.
We got on the road just after 07:30 this morning knowing that we had a long day, headwinds and rain to deal with. I set out with two of the other riders. The shoulder of the US 90 was smoother than the road for the first 13 miles so we made pretty good progress against the 10mph headwind. After 13 miles, the chip seal surface shoulder became rough and it started to rain lightly. The traffic volume picked up as well. We continued to ride in the rain until we reached Bracketville at the 31 mile mark. As we approached Bracketville the rain died off. We stopped at a cafe and ordered a breakfast and coffee. I ordered pancakes, eggs and bacon.
After the second breakfast I felt ready to carry on. We turned on to Rd. 334 and headed north. The traffic volume was very light and the road surface was incredibly rough for the first 20 miles or so.
A rough road surface.
As we rode today, we transitioned from a landscape with cactus to one with grass, wildflowers and trees.
Trees
After crossing a county line, the road surface became a little smoother. We continued on for another 10 miles before turning north on SR 55. After another 14 miles we arrived at the Big Oak River Campground. Today’s ride was 79 miles.
