Day 2 - San Felipe to Fayetteville - The Bigs Start Retirement Right!

April 7, 2025

Day 2 - San Felipe to Fayetteville

It was another cold and windy morning for us. We woke up to 41 degrees and did the morning chores all bundled up. It was a beautiful sunny morning so by the time we rolled out of the campground at 9am it was up to 50, and by the time by the time we 4.5 miles to Sealy for breakfast it was 62.

But that blasted wind (another appropriate "B" word!) was still blowing out of the NNW. It didn't seem quite as strong as yesterday but it was easily 10+ mph. And guess which way we were headed all day? Yep - NNW!

We saw Indian Paintbrush throughout the day painting the roadside orange.

We had a great breakfast of kolaches and breakfast tacos at the Donut Palace. After Sealy we were finally out into the country and started seeing more wildflowers and ranches. There were a lot of cattle in the fields, and most herds seemed to have had a successful breeding year. I always enjoy seeing all the babies in the fields this time of year.

We saw this beautiful old house on our way out of Sealy.

Of course, as soon as we left Sealy we started to hit the rolling hills. We are flatlanders and we don't routinely have the opportunity to ride these types of hills, so that is always an extra challenge for us in the first few days of a tour. Combine the hills with that wind and today was a long, tough day. We are both really tired, but a good night sleep should help.

We saw many fields covered in these bright yellow wildflowers.

I think these are Engelmann's Daisy but not sure.

While taking a break at the top of a series of climbs, Dave told me he was having a problem with his cassette. Of course, when I asked him what was wrong he told me it didn't have enough gears - he kept running out! That's the kind of day it was!

It was sunny today without a cloud in the sky, but the wind was still cool. I spent the entire day in my bolero, vest, and leggings. And with the temperature dropping into the the low 40's again tonight, I'll be sleeping all bundled up as well!

We took a break at the Cat Spring Country Club. It's not what you are expecting by the name! They weren't open but there were benches outside to sit on, and we enjoy donuts bought at breakfast.

It is beautiful country and the rolling roads wouldn't be too bad without that dang headwind!

We took a break in New Ulm for a snack/lunch. There are two restaurants listed in town but neither were open. No gas station/convenience store either. But they have a nice Ace Hardware store and full-service bank. The Ace Hardware had a market inside with a grill but the grill wasn't open on Mondays (just our luck)!

The adventure finally hit us leaving New Ulm. The pavement ended a mile out of town and the road became very chunky, loose gravel. It was difficult riding as there was no good compacted area to ride. Fortunately it was only about a mile until the pavement resumed. The picture of the gravel road doesn't do it justice!

This is how it started - quiet, country road.

This field was covered in bluebonnets! Best batch of bluebonnets I've seen in a few years.

My favorite road sign - reduced speed for that town you've been waiting for!

I am the Cow Whisperer! I stopped at the top of a hill to catch my breath and all the cows ran to the gate to see me. 😊

We took a long break in Fayetteville to rest and eat dinner before heading to camp another 5 miles down the road. We are at Fayette Lake Oak Thicket Park. It's a small campground but quiet. Their gate automatically locks at 7pm, and we didn't quiet make it, but I had called ahead and got the code so we could get in.

There wasn't much "leisure" time in camp tonight but we did get the tent set up before dark so we're calling that a win! Hoping for warmer temperatures and calmer winds tomorrow.

Today's ride: 45 miles (72 km)
Total: 91 miles (146 km)

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