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Published: February 6th 2007
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Time to relax
Kickin' it behind the EMS Station. Jo and Shawne say...
Day: 44
Mileage Today: 37.0
Total Mileage: 1791.55
Flats Today: 0
Total Flats: 44
When we woke up, it was mostly dark. The sun was just starting to warm the horizon as we rolled up the tent. We ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for breakfast and got our gear in order. We'd ridden our bikes up the dirt hill and to the gate when we found that it was closed. It wasn't locked, though, so we quickly opened it and snuck out, closing it behind us.
We rode over a few more steep hills and past a Wildlife Rehabilitation and Rescue Sanctuary. We figured these folks were probably friends of Steve Irwin.
The road was getting better; the hills weren't as steep. We rode into Blanco and stopped at a diner for some food. We each had an omelette and iced tea. The service was terrible, we didn't get a single refill of tea even though Jo kept catching the waitress's eye and trying to flag her over. The bill was $18.00. We didn't leave a tip. It was our last traveler's check.
We continued on this rollercoaster road to Wimberley. Truck traffic was getting
Setting up on the court
We were warned of Fire Ants in the grass. heavy as we neared town. A few more steep climbs, and we were there. We stopped at a pizza Hut for their buffet, and while we ate, we watched the History channel about the Nazi's and wished out loud that we had another couple to ride with.
A man in the next booth ranted, "This place must be owned by a conservative a**hole. Every time we eat here, they've got Fox News on that TV, but since the Republicans got their a**es kicked in yesterday's election, now they've got the History Channel on!" We laughed to ourselves and moved closer to the TV.
A day rider stopped in to say hello. His limbs were long and lean, and he was nicely groomed. His graying hair gave him a sophisticated look, while his enthusiastic nature belied his years. His name was Denny, and he said he'd done a ride recently to raise money for 9/11 firefighters. He and a group rode from San Francisco to Washington D.C. in forty days-ending there on 9/11. It was a supported ride, and though they had many long days, it was a great experience. They stayed at fire stations all across America.
We ate so
much, we decided to use the library while we digested, so we waved goodbye to Denny. While we were still parking our bikes, the librarian came outside and told us we had a phone call! Jo went inside and took the call. It was Denny. He said he called the EMS station and they agreed to let us pitch a tent tonight and they'd let us take showers! We decided to take the offer.
We worked on the blog for an hour, and just when we were ready to save our work and publish the entry, the server crashed and lost everything we'd done. It was a dial-up connection, so it would've taken forever to re-do the entry. We left to check out camp instead. It was only a few blocks, but a man in a jeep stopped us on the way and asked if we were friends with Denny. We looked at one another and answered, "Yes". The man Denny was a great guy, and he told us we were expected at the EMS station. We told him we were riding there right then, so he smiled and waved us on.
A woman met us outside the EMS and
told us to pitch a tent anywhere in back and let them know when we wanted showers. We were setting up the tent when the neighbor leaned over the fence.
"Watch out for fire ants when you're pitching your tent," he said, then went back to work. "Fire ants?", we wondered. We looked around, but since we didn't know how to look for fire ants, we decided to pitch the tent in the middle of the volleyball court. The sand there, surprisingly, was undisturbed by anything save an occasional thorny plant. We found ant lions, and Jo was really excited to show them to Shawne. She told him how the little insects have pinchers and hide at the bottom of an inverted cone in the sane. They pull ants underground to eat them. Shawne was fascinated.
There were tons of bullheads throughout the yard, and we were delighted that we didn't get any flats. Perhaps these tires were worth the money after all. We sat on a picnic table and were writing in our journals when Denny pulled up on his motorcycle.
Denny said he wished he could have us over at his house, but his two daughters were getting
married three weeks apart from one another, and he had tons of relatives over. We laughed when he said we would've had to take a number to use the restroom. Denny said he felt bad that he couldn't help us more, so he brought us a bottle of wine, a corkscrew, and two cups. He told us that Wimberley is a dry city, so we couldn't buy beer anywhere. Denny told us he knew when he was riding, he liked to have a drink in the evening. Gratefully, we accepted. Denny walked us around the yard to help us look for fire ants while he told stories of his ride.
Denny said that on his ride, a woman in the passenger side of a van started screaming obscenities at him as she passed. He gave her the finger. The driver, believed to be the woman's husband, swerved in from of Denny and slammed on his brakes. Denny was going downhill on his bicycle at about 35 mph and had only two options. He could run into the van, or run into a ditch. He chose the ditch. His leg went through his bike when he crashed, and he was hurt
pretty badly. The van never stopped.
After sharing stories, Denny had to leave to hang out with his relatives. We wished him well and waved as he left on his motorcycle. We wrote in our journals, drinking wine, until it was too dark to see. We took showers, and heard the new boss on shift getting very upset that people were in the restrooms. From inside the shower, Jo could hear him yelling in the hallway. When she came out, she decided to try to smooth things over, so she hung out with the on-duty crew for about half an hour, showing them maps and telling cycling stories.
Satisfied that the late night crew knew what was going on, she came outside and joined Shawne in the volleyball court.
We turned off the flood lights on our private campground and crawled into our tent to go to sleep, square in the middle of the volleyball court.
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kent
non-member comment
Flats
Hey guys, I stumbled onto your journal and noticed the high number of flats you're having. I had a similar problem and what I discovered was that the rim tape on my wheel was not covering well. Put on new quality rim tape and not a flat since. Hope this helps. Good luck on your journey.