March 24, 2018
Day 33
Austin to Smithville, Texas
Its all about nature today.
A bright but cloudy day for our ride today. We left Austin and with Maggie and Jeff's excellent navigation we got out of the city without difficulty. We rode a mixture of back country roads , Farm to Market roads and state highways today. The road surfaces are much better now and it was good to get away from the chip-seal rough roads. My first time in Texas to notice a Farm to Market road the road was listed as FM5528, I thought how peculiar that an FM station was advertising in the middle of no-where, how odd. Then I did some research and spoke with Tim about this. and from Wikipedia :
In the United States, a farm-to-market road or ranch-to-market road (sometimes farm road or ranch road for short) is a state road or county road that connects rural or agricultural areas to market towns. These are better quality roads, usually a highway, that farmers and ranchers use to transport products to market towns or distribution centers.This practice was begun in 1949. These roads are signed with route markers that contain the words FARM ROAD or RANCH ROAD, but the formal name is Farm to Market Road and Ranch to Market Road (hence the abbreviation "FM" and "RM" on signs). The only road that explicitly uses the name Ranch Road is Ranch Road 1, which runs near the former ranch home of former President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Riding the back roads afforded us the opportunity to see not only more Texas ranch animals but a beautiful collection of spring wildflowers. Wildflower season has arrived and we are seeing blanket of colorful blooms across fields, and along the roadways. The Texas Bluebonnet is the state flower and it is abundant everywhere. Equally as exciting is that we got to see and photograph a Texas longhorn. I've been waiting patiently to photograph one. I said only last night that I couldn't leave Texas without a picture of one, that an a real cowboy, no cowboy yet. Riding the back roads also allowed George to really challenge his SAG duties with respect to finding places to pull off safely for breaks. He did well, once at a Hindu Temple and the second time at a Mennonite Church, and now he's off to mass at the Catholic church in Smithville, I'm sure he is feeling very blessed tonight.
Smithville , Tx is considered a bedroom community of Austin. This week is Antique week and the villages all around here are swarming with buyers and sellers. Residents tell us that most hotels, motels and B&B's do better in this two weeks then at any other time of year. Smithville has easy access to the Colorado River and boasts a rich railroad history, and a very eclectic, charming Main Street . Then why are four , weary travelers going next door to Subway for dinner? Because at the end of 55 miles of riding, thats all the body has the energy for sometimes. :)
These roads are signed with route markers that contain the words FARM ROAD or RANCH ROAD, but the formal name is Farm to Market Road and Ranch to Market Road (hence the abbreviation "FM" and "RM" on signs). The only road that explicitly uses the name Ranch Road is Ranch Road 1, which runs near the former ranch home of former President Lyndon B. Johnson.
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Today's ride: 55 miles (89 km)
Total: 1,435 miles (2,309 km)
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6 years ago