Day 25: New Waverly to Sommerville

March 11, 2025

I hear that the chips are larger in West Texas

Glad we are going to San Diego not San Francisco

I went to bed at 9:30 and woke up at about 5:30. It was mostly a good night sleep. I did have a bad coughing spell when I first lay down so took a Mucinex DM. I only have one left.

I got up at 6 to get ready. I was done with everything in my tent and ready to take down the tent right after breakfast for a departure before 8:00. I wanted to do that because it was a long day (71 miles) with a headwind in the forecast. Unfortunately, when I went to pump up my tires, the front one was flat. I checked and there wasn't anything in it. I think that maybe since I ran it at 65 and it was cold over night the pressure got low enough that the bead unsealed. Another possibility is that the sealant needed to be refreshed. I add an ounce of sealant and was able to seat it with a shot from the chamber pumped to 140. My bowels also required a 2nd trip to the toilet after breakfast. With bib shorts on that becomes a bigger production. So, I didn't get left until 8:34. I wore leg warmers (it was 49°F at ride time), sun sleeves under a long sleeve jersey, and full-finger gloves.

The ride started with a road through the Sam Houston National Forest. It had a decent shoulder, but was chip sealed and rough. Also, there was lots of traffic. Particularly scary was a pair of trucks carrying trusses that protruded to the right. Fortunately, they gave us plenty of room when they passed. The best thing about the trees was that they cut down the wind.

At mile 20 I stopped at a general store and got a 16 oz milk and drank it. I also ate a kind bar. I took off my vest and put it in my bag, partly because I was warm enough and partly to cut down on wind.

We got on Texas 90 and it was really hard: the surface was rough, there was a wide shoulder but lots of truck, continuous hills that seemed steeper going down than up, probably because it was a direct and strong headwind.

At about mile 36 I stopped at a McDonalds in Navasota and used picnic table to eat lunch ( and cheese sandwich and a couple of white Reeses that I bought. At about mile 46 we left Texas 90. It was a brutal stretch. The next stretch was a little more northwest, so less into the wind, and was on country roads with less traffic and smoother roads (though still lots of chip seal). I stopped shortly after that and ate a clementine and rested. I stopped again at a general store in Independence and bought a 20 oz Gatorade and drank it. I think that was about mile 60. I stopped briefly one more time to drink some water. With about 6 miles left we turned again onto a highway that was very busy with a wide but rough shoulder. Fortunately, it was mostly north and thus I had a tailwind. That lasted for about 3 miles and was very welcome. The van passed me with about 3 miles left. The road into the park we are staying in, Yegua Creek Park, was nice and smooth and a good way to finish.

I changed the chain on my bike to a waxed one. I took of the rear wheel and wiped all the Synergetic lube I could from the chainrings and cassette. There isn't rain in the forecast, and I hope I can get a few extra watts of efficiency from it :) The other chain was starting to sound a little noisy again, perhaps because it has a lot of dirt on it. I pumped my tires up at the end of the day to hoping to avoid the problem I had this morning.

Tomorrow is about 66 miles and the headwinds are forecast to be as bad or worse than today. The temperature at ride time should be 60 with a hight of 85. It could make for another hard one.

Today's ride: 71 miles (114 km)
Total: 1,232 miles (1,983 km)

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