(January 4th)

Day 10 - Shepherd to Richards TX

Is that you Mr. Twitty?

 

The "Conway Twitty Fan Club" riding crew in Fall 2016 during the MS 150 ride for charity. I'm including it here for reference to what I'm writing about in today's post.

The roadsign reads "No Parking Within 10 Feet of Pavement" Now, check out the massive guard rail. And the steep little slope down into the lake. Who could park within 10 feet of the pavement? The government can get some very strange ideas of what they need to prevent with dire warnings.

Check out who has adopted this 2 mile stretch of Texas roadway: the "North American Wood Ape Conservancy." Someone has my exact sense of humor, because if I'd thought of adopting a highway using a completely goofy organization I'd have done it before now.

The place I'm staying the night: The Checkpoint

 

Up before dawn, I breakfasted...where else!...at the the Subway conveniently located 50 feet from the door of my hotel room. Then, with the sun just beginning to turn the eastern sky a dim rose color, I was off and pedaling toward Richards, my planned stop. I began with one extra layer of clothes because it was in the low 40s. But then it got COLDER and I had to add, not take off, layers. I think my feet are just now thawing out.

 

The entire morning I was thinking how uneventful the day looks like it would be. Perhaps even my very first "ride happened" journal day when I found nothing at all interesting to remark upon. Same old same old. Sure, the road was no longer pancake-flat like it used to be, but I'd kind of expected that since Austin...which I'll reach in about 4 days...is in the heart of Texas Hill Country. Pretty much one short, steep hill followed by an equally short, steep descent for mile after mile after mile. But overall, I felt like I'd settled into a rhythm of ride, sleep, ride: rinse and repeat.

 

But then came lunch. This fall, several of my riding friends and I took part in the MS 150, a two day ride for charity. We (well, Kellye, Karen and I dubbed) our team the "Conway Twitty Fan Club" and had custom jersey's made as our team uniform. You may remember seeing me wear mine on the day I left Ridgeland to come on this trip. Anyway, so I'm wearing my Conway Twitty jersey again today when I walk into yet ANOTHER Subway..this time in New Waverly Texas....for lunch. There is a long line of patrons so I'm just standing there trying to thaw out when I begin to recognize the dulcet tones of one Conway Twitty coming over the store sound system. Turns out they were playing an endless loop of Conway Twitty hits the entire time I was in the Subway for lunch. Now if THAT isn't a sign that it's a good day to bicycle, I don't know what is.

 

Buoyed by such fan favorites as "I'm Lying Beside You Thinking of Linda" I hopped back on my bike full of channeled Conway energy and headed out for an afternoon of riding. More hills. Steeper hills. Longer hills. But nothing could spoil my Twitty-fueled good mood! Not even the roadrager in his jacked-up pickup who was unhappy I was going slow up a big hill.

 

And, sure enough, my Conway sighting (well, Conway "hearing" technically) DID prove prophetic of a good day as I was introduced for the first time to the North American Wood Ape Conservancy. Just EXACTLY the kind of organization I've sadly missed so far in life. Or being thoroughly amused by Texas parking warning signs.

 

But Mr. Twitty, the Twister, the Big Twit, etc.. saved the best for last: The Checkpoint. A working cattle ranch run by a retired Army veteran and his German wife that he met while serving in Germany, the "lodging" portion of the ranch consists of a scattering of small cabins that each have electricity, heat and water with access to common laundry, shower and kitchen facilities. And there is an actual outhouse for when nature calls.

 

Incredibly hospitable, the proprietors not only gave me the grand tour, they informed me they would also shuttle me to Roan's Prairie so that I could source dinner at the convenience store there since the diner in town always closes before 3pm and thus there was no food available to a weary traveler. And, as part of the shuttle service, I was able to learn quite a bit more about dairy and beef cattle ranching than I'd ever known. For instance, did you know that a calf must gets its first drink from it's mother's milk or it will die within 3 days because that first drink of milk from the udder contains all the anti-bodies and immune system needs it has for life in the world outside its mother's womb?

It only took me riding my bike to Richards Texas to learn some very interesting knowledge! I wonder what I'll learn when I get even further away from home?

 

P.S. - I think I only have one rule left unbroken, but I'm going to have to break it tomorrow. The weather is supposed to turn very cold over the next several days and I was planning on camping out all those days. But, now, to ensure I don't start hating life in a really serious way....which camping in the bitter cold day after day will cause...I'm going to NOT travel the Southern Tier route exactly as described. Instead, I'm going to detour down to Brenham TX tomorrow so that I can stay in a hotel there as the main route has no hotels for about 80 miles or so. And I KNOW there is no way I can get 80 miles in over these hills from dawn to sunset. So, Brenham here I come, and I now have no rules left to break :)