Day 12 - Lexington to Somerville - The Bigs Start Retirement Right!

April 17, 2025

Day 12 - Lexington to Somerville

We were up a little earlier this morning and started packing up to have breakfast "in town". We went to Herk's Store and Grill. They have a full breakfast and lunch/dinner menu that they cook from a small convenience store. And the food is good! I just want you to see that Herk's has all the $hit. The lady said they only thing missing on the rack is the Hot $hit!

The Indian paintbrush were a vibrant orange in the fields outside the RV park we stayed at.

Field of Indian Paintbrush at Sonny's RV Park.

Even stopping for breakfast "in town", we were still on the road by 9:40am. It had been windy all night and I was hoping the wind would die down overnight. No such luck!

The wind blew about 10-15 mph steady throughout the day, with gusts high enough to shove our bikes to the side riding down the road. We hoped some of the wind would be in our favor, and we we were lucky for some of the miles, but invariably the headwind/cross-headwind would hit us when we had hills to climb. At least that's what it felt like when riding!

Ranch gate with a bicycle on one side...

I saw a lot of these pretty purple flowers along the road today. Hard to get a good picture as the wind was blowing.

Nice quiet roads with partly cloudy skies - perfect riding!

I could smell the honeysuckle before I ever saw it.

We had 15 miles this morning before the only stop with services. The "grocery" store said it had Hunt Brothers Pizza and burgers, which would do just great for lunch. The information on Google might have been accurate at one point, but you never really know what you'll find when you get there!

Barefootz Grocery in Dime Box. All the junk along the front should have been our first clue.

We walked into the grocery and there was a lady sitting at a table by the drink coolers. We asked about getting some lunch. She said the "grill" was only open until noon. It was a little before noon. Big Dave asked if we could get burgers or pizza. She then said they don't cook on Thursday. But, she said she could put together some brisket sandwiches for us. We accepted, grabbed some drinks and she told us we could go through to the "dining room" in the back.

This was the dining room - so much stuff was packed into the area - a recliner, a couch, some sewing machines, and much more that we couldn't even see!

This was the Coca-Cola wall. The man said his wife was a collector...

Even the grocery store portion of the building had very few actual grocery items or drinks, but mostly filled with more random "collectibles".

I managed to route us on a short potion of gravel again today, but most of it was good, hardpacked dirt with a few rocks. But there was a section in the middle of fresh gravel that wasn't compacted. It was only a mile, but it was a hard mile that felt like 5!

This was the nice part of the road before the ugly gravel.

A couple miles before camp was our only other stop for services at Wild Bill's. We knew they had a bar and grill there and so planned to eat an early dinner. The sign outside said the grill wouldn't open until 5pm, and it was a little before 4pm. We figured we could sit at the bar and have an adult beverage and then get our burgers.

The young man in the store said he could do burgers a little early for us and so we got our beverages and sat down to relax. We were talking to him, and his older brother had just bought the store/bar/grill a week prior and so they were just starting to make it their own. After our early dinner, we headed the last couple miles to camp. We are camped by the lake at Yegua Creek Park on Lake Somerville.

View from our campsite - the fishermen are out!

Baby birds in a nest in the corner of our pavilion. They are crying for momma to come feed them.

We've been watching the weather and there is a large storm system of thunderstorms headed in this weekend. Tomorrow was planned to be a rest day before the last 3 riding days to get home. We might have made it without much rain to our next stop, but then looked like we may have been stuck in a hotel for a couple days.

Since most of the roads from here on out are regular riding areas for us, we figured we wouldn't be missing too much by calling in the cavalry. We were looking forward to finishing it up, but I don't like riding in thunderstorms and lots of rain if I don't have to!

Big Dave's son isn't working tomorrow and said he could easily run out and get us in the morning since it is only a little more than an hour drive from his house.

One more cozy night in the tent before we get home to our bed.

Today's ride: 41 miles (66 km)
Total: 360 miles (579 km)

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Comment on this entry	Comment	12

Steve Miller/GrampiesYou had a good run, and getting a ride in instead of risking a ride in a thunderstorm sounds like a very sensible plan. No need to take needless risks, especially at the end.
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1 day ago

Laura SeiditaTo Steve Miller/GrampiesI already hit the pavement once - no need to press my luck with lightning or slick roads! 😊
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1 day ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Laura SeiditaRight you are! Better to live to ride another day!
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1 day ago

Pat PerrySmart move to call in a ride and avoid the thunderstorms!
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1 day ago

Laura SeiditaTo Pat PerryI was caught in thunderstorms and hail storms in Colorado going cross-country. They scare me!
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1 day ago

Mike AylingGreat journal Laura.
Re saddles, try and find a bike shop with an Ass-O-Meter which can establish the correct saddle with for your posterior.
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1 day ago

Laura SeiditaI've had my sit bones measured before. Many of the "women's" saddles are just not quite wide enough. Rode Terry saddles for years and never 100% comfortable but the Brooks short version is wider. Probably why they have been so comfortable all these years!
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1 day ago

Laura SeiditaTo Mike AylingGlad you enjoyed the journal and appreciate your help and input.
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1 day ago

Karen PoretNo more rock stories? Aw, shucks.. But, glad to be along for the ride with you during this journey because 1) I know I will never go to Texas and 2) your writing and photos are great entertainment! Thank you, Laura!
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1 day ago

Laura SeiditaTo Karen PoretNo more rock mishaps, but that doesn't mean my sweet hubby didn't warn me (sarcastically) of every rock anywhere near the road/path for the rest of the ride!

I'm glad we could provide you some entertainment along the way!
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19 hours ago

Karen PoretTo Laura SeiditaUntil the next time! Enjoy! Now you can find Easter “ rocks” ( 🥚) tomorrow 😬😂
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17 hours ago

Laura SeiditaTo Karen PoretWe had no Easter plans since we didn't plan to be home. So no one is expecting us for anything - we can do absolutely nothing! Bonus! 🍾
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16 hours ago