Day 32 [San Antonio + Austin, TX]

Here's the deal:  I am now halfway across America and have the weird suntan lines to prove it.  I've laid down 1450 miles since leaving San Diego in early March.  I've pedaled my ass off.  More miles in just over one month than I have ridden throughout my entire life, and I'm sure many times over.  I can safely say at this point that I've gotten more than I bargained for on this ride.  Don't get me wrong, I knew fairly well what I was getting into...but certain aspects have aligned with my expectations while others have strayed.  You tend to paint a beautiful picture in your head for an adventure like this...one that portrays the entire trip as one beautiful image.  I'm certain, at the end, that that's how I'll remember it.  But at this point in time I can tell you that it's hard god damn work. 

I knew full well that it'd be blood, sweat, and sometimes a pain in the ass (literally).  It was the overall commitment to receiving this day in and day out that I couldn't conceptualize until I was on the road.  It's hard to explain to anyone who hasn't experienced it, but I'll give it a go.  Imagine waking up every morning and knowing that you have to complete a work out, and you have to, or else you fall short of all goals for the day.  If you wake up and ditch the workout then you have done nothing at all with your day.  So, regardless of your sore butt, your tired legs, or your will to just freaking relax, you press on, knowing that your 40-70 miles you ride that day are a very small chunk of what is an extremely large country.  Eventually you begin to see the bigger picture and realize that your daily goal plays an incremental role in accomplishing the overarching one.  Looking at the map from time to time and visualizing your progress every day reaffirms this idea.  What it has all taught me is what I treasure above all else so far on this journey.  That'd be the fact that every day you press on makes you one day stronger and one piece closer to a richer puzzle.  Now, I hope this isn't just a worthless idea typed, but rather a mentality that sticks with me throughout life.  

As for the 40 mile ride today, I can say that the roads got better.  The winds died down a bit and I was able to ride into San Antonio in just under four hours.  I can also say that I didn't much like San Antonio, and decided to take a break in Austin.  I may have road through the ghetto area of San Antonio, but I could see the downtown part of the city and off the bat knew that it wasn't for me.  I've been riding for 12 days straight now without rest, and thus decided to board a bus to Austin.  This city is where it's at.  All of the cyclists I've past heading west told me that Austin is amazing.  While it's only my first night I can surely say that I've made the right decision.  This is a town worthy of celebrating my accomplishments at...and that I will do.  I may be here for a few days exploring before I resume the burden of busting my ass all day everyday.  One, two, three day break?  I'm not sure yet, but I'm here to have fun.  Talk to you when I'm back in saddle with some good stories to tell.  

Day 31 [Hondo, TX]

Today was just another hard fought day in my adventure.  The poor roads continued for me, although they did at least get a tad better.  Worse than the road surfaces were the constant 10 to 15 mph headwinds that were just punching me in the face all day long.  It took me five hours to go 42 miles, which is a pretty lazy pace compared to what I'm used to.  I actually found out from a man at the diner I ate breakfast at why these roads are so bad.  He told me that they choose to make them a little rough in this part of Texas because of all the lower-income families' cars leaking oil.  Oil all over the place would make a smooth asphalt road very slippery, but not so with a crappy bumpy road.  Its been quite a while now since I've had a nice easy day without hills/flat tires/crappy roads.  I hope I've been saving some up and get to enjoy them soon.  Tomorrow I'll arrive in San Antonio, and I'm not yet sure if I'll be staying there a night or just passing through.

Day 30 [Uvalde, TX]

The bumpy roads continued for most of my ride today.  To add to my frustration I encountered three flats during the ride.  The last flat came when I was really close to town, so I just got off and walked the last two miles to my motel.  I was beyond pissed off.  Probably the closest I've come to a bitchy breakdown thus far.  The hot sun was also cooking me while draining my water supply.  I was out of water with ten miles left to ride, but thankfully there was a border patrol station that I was able to tank up at.  I was in such a bad mood, however, that I kind of snapped at one of the border patrol guards when he asked me if I had any drugs on me.  My response was something along the lines of "if that canine sitting two feet away from me isn't retarded then I think he'd let you know".  I'm glad they still helped me out.  The roads though...I can't understand why they would use such a shitty surface for them.  I swear to god the Romans had better roads.  Hopefully they will change tomorrow for me.  Thank god I have air conditioning and baseball on TV tonight - makes it way easier to relax after the day I had.  Although the rooms not the cleanest...pretty sure I saw a cockroach raping a rat when I came in.  

Day 29 [Brackettville, TX]

Here's me midday smelling like crap.  You see the shower that I was so excited about being free yesterday was free for a reason:  it no worky.  I also have been wearing the same shirt for 3 days because all of my clothes are dirty.  Yea today was probably about the dirtiest I've ever felt in my life.  That's not gel holding my hair up, but rather the perfect combination of sweat and dirt.  The ride today was short but painful.  They were redoing the roads, which used to be made out of old tarred-down gravel.  Texas, in it's infinite wisdom, didn't update the roads to smooth asphalt.  Instead, they chose to lay down new tarred-down gravel.  The tar was still tar, and the gravel was loose.  The absolute worst surface for bicycles ever invented.  I wish Virginia would step in and show Texas how to make a sensible road.  Anyway, tonight I am in a campground with working showers and a laundry machine, so both of my problems will be solved soon.  As far as my route goes, I am once again deviating slightly from my ACA maps for a few days.  This will allow me to roll through San Antonio, which I'd like to see.  I also just received an e-mail from a couple I met on the road a couple weeks back offering to give me a ride in their rent-a-car to Austin from Bastrop if I can make it there the same time as them.  Only problem is I'd have to hurry and probably couldn't grab that rest day I've been craving.  We'll see how it goes, though.

Day 28 [Del Rio, TX]

 Well one of the heavy duty tubes I bought in New Mexico finally failed me.  I hadn't had a flat since I bought them, but unfortunately I woke up this morning to find that the rear tube had failed.  There was a crack in the base of the valve-stem and so it was unrepairable.  I replaced it with a standard tube and was one the road.  Before I was three miles in the rear tire was flat again.  I patched it on the side of the road and  was back on my way to another hill happy day.  The first 30 miles today were the same as yesterday.  Violent ups and downs, slow climbs and ridiculous speed sprees.  The final 30 miles were relatively flat and I was able to blow through them pretty quickly.  I stopped and ate lunch with a real Texas rancher in Comstock about halfway into the day's ride.  This man was absolutely hilarious, granted a bit racist, but hey it's Western Texas.  He lives 15 miles down a dirt road and said he never runs from a conversation because of how infrequently he sees other humans.  I asked him how long it took him to get to his house down this dirt road and his answer was "about 50 minutes...or 15 if I'm drunk".  After lunch I started noticing that my surroundings were getting greener and greener by the mile.  Grass, trees, and water have been missing from my sight for the last 400 miles or so.  I can't tell you how happy I was to see vegetation - it gave me an incredible burst of energy that sling-shotted me into Del Rio.  Going over the bridge below I just wanted to dive in headfirst.  Tonight I am staying in a free campground that has a shower, so I'm pretty stoked on that. Tomorrow is up in the air.  I'm not sure exactly which route I'm going to be on, and I'm not sure when I want to take a rest day.  I do know that it will be soon, though.

HOLY SHIT, WATER!!!!!!

Day 27 [Langtry, TX]

 Above you'll see my view of Sanderson from the top of a mountain as the sun was setting.  This guy Craig that I met at the RV park yesterday was a cool dude from Oklahoma.  He instructed me on how to get up to the top of the mountain and then let me borrow his 4-wheeler!  I haven't used gasoline in over a month (or ridden a 4-wheeler in 10 years) so it was a blast for me.  I thought the view was pretty spectacular as well, but you be the judge.

 Today was a hell of a 60 mile ride.  I'd have to say it was certainly the most difficult terrain I've seen, but my first few days of riding were harder only because my legs weren't with the program yet.  Steep ups and downs all day long in hot, blaring sun.  I'd go from climbing at 5 mph for awhile to bombing down a hill at 30 mph over and over.  I sort of enjoy this type of riding now that my legs can handle it, however 60 miles of it still wears me down.  It is so exhilarating and rewarding to fly at 30+ miles per hour on a bicycle after you just worked your butt off to conquer a big hill.  About 45 miles into my ride at the hottest point in the day I hit an extremely steep climb that lasted about a mile and a half.  I somehow made it up but I was sweating buckets the whole way.

Laugh it up, because this last picture is of where I am sleeping tonight.  After the long haul today this town of Langtry is the first town I have seen since leaving Sanderson this morning.  The population of the town is an overwhelming 17 people.  This is actually the first place on the trip that I haven't had cell reception.  There obviously isn't much in town, but there is a tiny RV park, which is vacant other than this lone trailer.  A sign was posted on it that said "for rent" with a phone number.  It has a shower, A/C, electricity, a refrigerator, and is pretty clean.  I got it for $25 bucks and couldn't be happier with it.  I'll need a good nights rest after the day I had and the fact that I'll be pretty much repeating it tomorrow.  Dinner is a bag of Fritos and a gallon of water...not much to choose from in Langtry's general store either.

Day 26 [Sanderson, TX]

Marathon's nightlife wasn't exactly crowded considering the town only has a few hundred residents, but they did have one place open for me to watch the Final Four games at.  A Texas-style saloon with peanuts all over the floor.  I had a fun time there and a pretty good slumber in my adobe dwelling upon returning to the hostel. This morning I was still half asleep and in search of coffee when a pit bull ran out of someone's yard and started to chase me.  Usually I don't even bother to flinch when I see a dog chasing me, but a pit bull has a way of getting your attention.  The bastard put a nice big bite into one of my rear panniers before leaving me alone.  I repeatedly tried kicking it in it's over sized, fat skull thankfully missing because who knows how much that may have pissed it off.  I'm just grateful the pannier received the injury over my leg.  Then about about 20 miles into my ride today I saw the unthinkable:  a pretty girl doing a cross-country ride!  We stopped and chatted for a little while, but of course she was headed the opposite direction of me - name's Miranda just in case she happens to stumble upon this blog.  Tonight my accommodations are once again in my tent, in the lovely Canyon RV Park here in town.  According to the other cyclists I've spoken to, tomorrow and probably the next day are going to suck something awful so I'd better rest up.