Oct 27 Its over sixty miles to New Braunfels so I decide to break the journey with a stop in the town of Boerne, the beastly wind is back and its dead against me which helps with my decision to not set too hard a target today. Some days like the previous few are brilliant and others like today are not so good. The wind is constant and annoying , I have equipment problems , one pedal is busted , the trailer is mis-behaving and I have difficulty finding lodging in Boerne, when I do find somewhere the internet will not [View Full Entry]

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Oct 24 Big dilema this morning , I really want to see 'the alamo' but how? I am in no mood to cycle there since I have 50 miles in front of me and the additional 15 might make it a miserably long day , plus I did that journey last night. The solution is to phone the owners , now I have had no luck with making calls in the USA so far , problems with variable codes and stuff have made 9 out of 10 calls a failure. This pattern is followed in my attempts through reception and direct [View Full Entry]

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oct 25 I did not get to sleep till very late last night , like 3am , not that I was out, just sat in my room, coul'nt sleep ! Up at 9 and off at 11 but I set a low target of 21 miles to Leakey. I should say that from now in the heart of the 'hill contry' there are some three good climbs between here and Leakey. It could be the fact that there are few curved roads in america like those of the 'hill country' or just the character of the folks round this area but [View Full Entry]

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Oct 23 The new tube is installed, the bike is fixed, I am in great spirits as I set off from Del Rio toward Bracketville only 35 miles up the road. Its about 75 degrees, the wind is light and neutral. I am only a few miles along the road and admiring the acrobatics of the planes from Laughlin Air Force Base when I meet a fellow cyclist called John who is a pilot at the base , he gives me good advice about the roads and towns ahead , thanks again John. The road is good ,although a little lumpy [View Full Entry]

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Oct 22 My only target today is Del Rio , the centre and the much needed bike shop are only 13 miles away, my mosquito bites obtained in Langtry are now becoming a nuisance but other than that my health is fine. The bike is another matter, I patch up the tyre again and it lasts 4 miles from the hotel, roadside repairs and frequent inflating give me another 4 miles to get to a cheap motel on the outskirts. At the motel I meet a friendly German guy who has been hiking in the 'Big Bend' area and he gves [View Full Entry]

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Oct 21 A great start to the day with a hot breakfast is followed by a visit to 'The Judge Roy Bean Visitor Centre' I am the first visitor of what I fear will be few this Tuesday. The centre is well appointed and has many relics from the great man's time, just a shame that so few people will take such a detour to see it. So today the wind is against again , I am worried about the jury rigged repairs to the rear tyre so out of Comstock, 29 miles, a small town with some services, Amistad lake, [View Full Entry]

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Oct 20th Its a long stretch today , there are warnings on the aca maps about the lack of services, however I am bouyed up by the distance covered with ease yesterday and set off in fine spirits.The winds are light and I am soon in the abandoned town of Dryden 20 miles along the road which surprisingly has a small store and damn fine coffee. I am about 10 miles out of Dryden with 30 miles to go when I get a flat on the rear tyre. I am not too worried at first as I have a spare tube [View Full Entry]

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Oct 19 I'm up late today , have a nice brekkie at the Marathon Motel cafe where the staff have become good friends, scrambled egg burrito and gallons of coffee. I was going to change the rear tyre but its only loosing 10% of pressure per day so I inflate and leave it, waiting for the dew to disperse from the tent and fiddling about I'm not away till mid-day, really late. For once the wind is nuetral, side on, its a great day for cycling and I whizz along at about 15 mile an hour through the Woods Hollow Mountains [View Full Entry]

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Oct 18 The day of the big race is upon us and with low overnight tempratures its a brisk sunny day, ideal conditions for the runners I imagine. I make a trip into town to see the runners arrive, the PA man injects a 'never say die' level of enthusiasm into proceedings , but many of the 'marathonistas' are from out of town and quite insular. What should I have expected, a marathon is not much of a spectator sport, like football or hockey, a wee bit of an anti-climax. On the other side of the road 'town' I'm drawn toward [View Full Entry]

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Oct 17th Taking stock in Alpine I have covered just over 1200 miles of the route , 100 more than that on the odometer as I sometimes cycle off route. At this rate I will be on the shores of the Atlantic 11 days before my flight back. Today I can only do 31 miles as there is a long couple of streches without services ahead so off on a pleasant little jaunt to Marathon, pop 500. The route is uphill a little and then a gentle descent through some steppe like plains between the Glass Mountains and the Del Norte [View Full Entry]

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