We woke up to a partly cloudy day with brisk winds from an easterly direction that would make for some tough riding against a headwind. The weather forecast indicated that the winds would change to a more favourable direction as the morning wore on. Since today’s ride to Del Rio was going to be a short one of just 40 miles (69 km), we didn’t get going until after 8am.
The chip seal road surface was very rough and the headwind made the first 10 or 15 miles harder than it needed to be. At the 18 mile mark we stopped to talk to a couple of westbound cycle tourers from Austin who were starting a 4 month ride stretching from Mexico to Canada.
The border patrol has a strong presence in Texas
The headwind diminished and by 30 miles or so, we had crossed the Amistad Resevoir and stopped at the visitor centre to replenish our water.
Bridge over Amistad Resevoir. Not a comfortable feeling when trucks zoom by at 70 mph..
We passed the Buzzard Roost RV Park (home for the night) and continued in to Del Rio a few miles to get something to eat at Rudy’s Barbeque. After eating a sausage sandwhich and potato salad, I was ready to ride back to camp and set up my tent. Total miles on the road today was 41.
We are camped behind the Buzzard Roost Saloon. Good news. This is Friday and rumour has it they have a band that plays to 2am.
My campsite.