Nov 5 I'm on to map number 5 in the ACA series of 7 so I'm only 1300 miles from my destination St Agustine on Florida's atlantic Coast. The route is along small farm roads through the Sam Houston National forest. For those who don't already know Sam was among many other things the leader of the Texan revolution, gave his surname to the city and his statue is the largest of any american figure. The forest itself is a welcome change of scenery and I enjoy the silence broken by the occasional bird crying out, cycling is easy as there [View Full Entry]

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Nov 4 Election day. Still a cycling day for me. The route from LaGrange to Navasota is along farm roads and again through scenery bearing a striking resemblance to lowland Scotland. I have set a long journey today as there is no suitable place to stop along the way. There are plenty of service stops though in the little villages and todays cycling is very pleasant. In Navasota I opt for a motel in order to watch the election results come in. This is gripping stuff, but victory is declared early as the major networks 'call' the result at 10pm Texas [View Full Entry]

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Nov 3rd I decide that the time has come to do some serious cycling, so I set the target of LaGrange, it's 70 + miles along the ACA route but half way there I find a short-cut and shave 10 miles off the journey. On the first 30 miles I am on what they call 'farm roads' here, so there is little traffic and I pass though quaint little towns full of antique shops. The countryside reminds me of Ayrshire where I grew up, green fields trees, and a lot of cattle. In Bastrop I opt for the highway instead of [View Full Entry]

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Nov 2nd The journey ccontinues, after my excellent break in New Braunfels I am both sad to leave but eager to get back on the road. Its a late start after the 4th late night in a row, so I set a modest target heading east to Lockhart back on the ACA route. I have to plot the journey using google earth along farm roads and make my own map. The wind is light and the scenery is pleasant and green, twice on the way, when I am taking a break on these very quiet roads drivers pull over to ask [View Full Entry]

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Nov 1 The day after. As it happened Elvis did not leave the building last night since cycling in the dark after too much scotch could have resulted in a bizzare but tragic road accident and possibly a dead king! Thanks again Maureen for fixing me up a bed. Today Lance is in a time trial in Gruene but a mix up over times and locations mean that many people including myself miss the event, I am not too dismayed and pick up my new pedals from Sue's bike shop, which should make the rest of the journey more comfortable. Tonight [View Full Entry]

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Oct 28th The bad luck of Boerne continues as I have a flat on the outskirts of town and on replacing the tube with a new one it instantly deflates as well, forcing me to study the tyre, the rim and the beade to find the cause. The second repair is succesful and despite loosing an hour and a half I'm still in a good mood as I set off for New Braunfels. The road is kindly and wind is not a problem today so I have apleasant journey, though full of suspence , what will my hosts be like ? [View Full Entry]

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Oct 30 Day 42 has arrived and I am now half way through the time I have available for this wee trip, I'm having a ball. Today I opt for a bit of cycling along the Guadalupe River which is a popular place for kyaking and river tubing in the summer , I am richly rewarded with stunning autumn scenery, I'll let the pictures do the talking on that. We are joined for dinner by two of Gabe's colleagues/friends who have flown in from DC and Jersey and after some tasty ribs and a few beer I get trashed at darts. [View Full Entry]

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Oct 29th I'm taking the day off to explore the town and decide on a plan of action. Gabe and Maureen are having a big halloween party on Friday, on Saturday Lance Armstrong is competing in a cycle race from Gruene and the annual wurst/beer fest starts this weekend in New Braunfels so there are many motives to hang around here , but can I afford to take four days off. I study my maps and I am pleased to discover that I am about half way and decide to take a four day break here, but opt to book a [View Full Entry]

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Oct 31 Halloween is here and Gabe is Mr. Halloween, Maureen is making some fantastic themed food, Gabe and his colleagues are busy working and adding last minute touches to the decorations, and I retire to the motel to fix up my outfit. I briefly entertain the traffic and citizens of New Braunfels by cycling across town in full Elvis outfit. The party is the best Halloween bash I've ever been to, lots of trick or treaters have to walk through the scary haunted house path in order to get their candy. Some of the adults act as props and ghostly [View Full Entry]

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Oct 26 I have some decisions to make leaving Leakey, shouid I continue with the ACA route or leave the route and head for New Braunfels (some twenty five miles south of the route) where a complete stranger has, on reading my blog invited to visit him. I am reluctant to leave the well mapped aca path as the last time I did this I ended up in a dismal town and rather boring roads. I banish my fears and decide to go for it, and looking at my Texas map decide to leave the the route later today at Vanderpool [View Full Entry]

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