Day 3 - Fayetteville to Cistern - The Bigs Start Retirement Right!

April 8, 2025

Day 3 - Fayetteville to Cistern

It was 37 degrees this morning when I first woke up at 6:30am. I decided I didn't need to get up yet - I was too cozy in my sleeping bag and Dave was still sound asleep. I was tired this morning and wound up sleeping until 8am. Dave had already finished his morning coffee before I stirred. We finally got out of camp a little before 10am.

We ate 1st breakfast in camp knowing we only had 14 miles to La Grange where there were restaurants. The road had a good shoulder and not too much traffic, and most of the hills were not too steep.

Lake Fayette is part of the cooling system for this power plant.

We wandered around La Grange some looking for a non-chain restaurant and finally found Da Restaurant and Bar on the far west side of town. It wasn’t busy yet at 11:15am which was nice. I had 2nd breakfast and Dave had lunch. It had finally warmed up enough to get rid of all the warm clothes and put on the sunscreen. Yay!

This was the standard roadside scenery today.

Then we were headed west across the Colorado River. It was hilly again today but the wind was calm and it was another beautiful day. Blue skies without a cloud to be seen. Between La Grange there weren’t any services so we made sure we had what we needed for the 26-mile trek to Cistern.

The contrast in colors was pretty in this roadside patch.

The maroon flowers are wine cup, but I don't know what the small purple flowers are. They look like miniature daisies.

We saw some great patches of these bright red flowers. I don't know what they are called but Bill might be able to enlighten us.

Both of us had tired legs today after the last two days of headwind, and we both spent the majority of the day in our little rings (aka “Granny"). I love my granny gears because they are the only way I can still do this! It was lots of up and down – some were steeper than others - but we just took whatever time we needed. We both have the mindset of “it’s a marathon and not a sprint", so no one’s charging the hill to get to the top as fast as we can.

By day 3 and day 4 of a tour, my body is usually saying WTH are you doing to me! Today was like that – especially this morning. I was very tired and it was really hard to get the legs warmed up. At some point after 2nd breakfast/ lunch, my body finally got with the program and I felt better the rest of the afternoon.

On our way to Cistern I found my namesake ranch!

Our last stop before camp was in Cistern at the Cistern Country Store. It is a typical small country market, but also has a bar and restaurant on the other side. We had an early dinner, and a few drinks there before riding the last 1.5 miles to White Horse Ranch. I found them when looking at Google maps and figuring out the route. They have primitive camping available and also a small cabin for rent. The owners are a nice family. The horses roam free and spent some of the evening in front of the cabin with us. They include a jar of horse treats in the cabin so you can feed them, as well. I enjoyed feeding the treats – the donkey especially liked me. Not sure what that means – maybe we’re two of a kind!

I did not have enough cell service to update the journal tonight so it will be delayed. Hopefully, I will have service tomorrow night and can get caught up. It is a shorter day so hopefully the tired legs will feel better!

Today's ride: 41 miles (66 km)
Total: 132 miles (212 km)

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