1,528.7 total trip miles
12.8 mph average
2,824’ climbing
FF - 7
MP - sister-in-law Cathy Majkowski & family. She connects with people so well that everywhere she goes, there seems to be someone she knows. I’m expecting to run into someone on this journey that knows her. She also believes in the importance of family & works hard to stay connected with everyone. Hi Cathy!
Today was a hard day. Lots of climbing & a couple of steep inclines that tested me, but I made it. Not as much mileage, but more work. Really into ranch country & saw my 1st Texas Longhorn. May see better specimens along the way, but here is the first.
I’ve also been noticing a wide variety of wooden fence styles along the road.
Most every ranch also has a big entrance gate. Sometimes with stone pillars and large swinging gates. Sometimes more simple, but every place seems to be saying “You Are Here”. I liked this one the best today.
Part of what is causing all the up & down of the terrain are creek beds that apparently flood regularly. The road is built right down to within a foot or two of the creek, which are almost always dry. They probably don’t flood long enough to make it worth building bridges. That would level out the road for us bicyclists, but probably isn't enough motivation for taxpayers. I don't blame them. It is interesting that almost every creek bed has a flood gauge that looks like this.
My guess is that the locals use this to decide whether to drive through during flood season & that probably depends on how tall your vehicle is. Not sure why they need to have the gauge read up as high as 5’. Don’t know what vehicle could go through that!
WDYLT - ILT in Comfort, TX there is a farm that was settled by a German immigrant in the early 1900’s. He found the armadillo, which is unique to this area & tried to figure out what to do with them. Came up with an “armadillo basket”, which became a big business. Google it for more information.