Day 19

Maybe our best day of the trip so far. We rode 110 miles right into downtown Austin. We started before sunrise, Brad in front of me, getting the benefit of my headlight since his mysteriously disappeared two days ago. We rode the first 45 miles hard and fast. No wind, no traffic and very scenic. We stopped in Blanco for a quick lunch and kept making tracks. My back started to tighten and I didn't think I would be able to last for 110 miles. But a quick stop to stretch, re hydrate and some motrin did the job and we were quickly back at a brisk pace again. It was another day of up and down.We climbed 4,200 feet in elevation over those 110 miles. We pushed ourselves and each other and made it to Austin. It was a great feeling crossing the CO river into downtown, the first big city we have seen since Phoenix. Since Sunday was an off day, that gave us the chance to have a night out. We found a little bar, not too crowded, and a fun blues band. A great day of riding, topped off with a great night on 6th street.

Brad left today but I am pretty sure I have convinced him, again, to come back out and ride some more. We're working through the logistics so we'll see how it all turns out.

Tomorrow, I am going to fly up to Dallas for a funeral. Graham Holloway, one of the long term American Fund associates (and arguably the person who had the most impact on the organization) recently passed away. There was a private funeral service last week and a memorial/celebration of his life service tomorrow. He was a world class individual and will be deeply missed.

I fly back to Austin (and my bike) on Tuesday and will be back at it. I am hoping to benefit from few days off of riding. We rode hard for the last eight straight days and my legs feel it.

Day 18

First just a few comments on my flats, since Brad has been often and precise in pointing out this issue. The first series of flats were legit and seemingly unavoidable back luck. Most all of them were caused by very small pieces of steel wire from truck tires. The last six were not normal flats. Each of those resulted in a complete blowout, sounding like a shot gun blast. In every case, when the tube exploded ,it knocked the tire off the rim, usually on both sides of the rim too. There was never any evidence of something causing a puncture. I may have been a little guilty of over inflating the tube on one of those flats while using an unusually strong air hose at a gas station. But after the others ,we finally came to the conclusion, even Brad is in agreement, that we had faulty tubes. We bought 6 new Bontragger tubes in Silver City NM and each one of them resulted in a failed tube explosion. So, we now have yet another fresh supply of tubes and our/my flat tire luck has improved considerably. Hopefully that frustration is behind us now.

Today we rode from Vanderpool, TX to Comfort TX, which was 72 miles. On paper, the distance made this day look fairly easy. But, as we are regularly reminded, it is all about the wind. We had another day of strong head winds. 90% of the time that we have had wind it has gone against us. So far, I would have been better off going East to West but I am confident that luck will change too and we'll get some deserved tailwinds soon. Another day of great scenery. After a long day of battling against the wind (you basically feel like you are climbing constantly)we found a beat motel on the edge of town. Of course there wasn't any hot water so no shower today. We are hoping to make it to Austin tomorrow which will be a full day so we're starting early.