Day 33: Camp Wood to Del Rio

March 19, 2025

This is what I get for stopping to see a historical marker. Or maybe its what I get for misjudging how deep the gravel was.

Started with 17 miles of this. Traffic was low so you could ride on the road, which was smoother than the shoulder.

Then about 30 miles of this. No shoulder, but very low traffic. It was not smooth, but there was a nice mostly-tailwind.

Long horns, but are they Texas Longhorns?

The shoulder was actually nice and smooth for quite a while.

Very large solar array. They also need wind turbines.

Mostly a tailwind for the first 45 miles.

25 miles of Route 90 with a crosswind followed by 5 miles with 22 mph headwind. Most of the shoulder was rough chip seal. There were lots of trucks and a rumble strip, so riding in the roadway or switching to the shoulder only when there was traffic was not a safe option.

I went to bed around 8:30 and woke up about 5:20 and had a good night sleep. the wind went calm at bedtime, but about 2 in the morning it was blowing from the North North West. It was warmer, so I didn't wear leg warmers. I wore a long sleeve jersey and my vest, but took the vest off after 5 miles. The first 20 miles were south and I was flying. I decided to pull of at a historical marker. Unfortunately, the pullout was deep gravel and I came in too hot. I crashed on my left side and got road rash on my elbow and hip. Ouch.

The next 29 miles were south west, so it was still bit of a tailwind. The hills were the kind of nice rollers that you can power over. It was fun riding. There were a lot of ranches and scrub vegetation. It is very dry.

Bracketville was a nice town. There were some old building and a few shops. I ate lunch at a cafe. There was not a lot of choices. I had a tuna sandwich on toasted sourdough with Mac and cheese as a side. The Mac and cheese was really good and the tuna was a nice change.

The wind was a little north north-north-west and we were mostly going west, so it was not a full headwind. It was 22 mph with gusts to 30 mph. I thought a lot about whether to take the ride or to ride it. I thought that if I started taking rides when would I stop. I was feeling pretty good after the first 45. So, everyone but 2 decided to ride it. The first 25 miles were hard: you could feel partial headwind, especially in gusts, and the road shoulder was very rough. There were some places where it was nice smooth pavement and I swear that the roughness cost more than 2 mph. I tried hard to keep it above 100 Watts.

As I arrived in Del Rio, there was a group text from JE saying that he and SR were at McD's having a milkshake. I stopped and ate a Sunday with carmel. We tried to find a bike shop to get a light, but one was closed (even though it said it was open) and one didn't have any good lights. The last 2 miles to the hotel were really hard because it was a direct headwind.

We are in a Motel 6. The smell of reefer is strong in the courtyard. The rooms are small, but it is nice not to be in a tent. I am rooming with SR.

Tomorrow is a short day (40 miles) and right now the forecast is for winds form the Southeast. That will be a tailwind :) The next day is > 80 miles, though now that too looks like it will have a tailwind.

That's all for now because it's dinner time.

Today's ride: 77 miles (124 km)
Total: 1,648 miles (2,652 km)

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