Blowin' in the Wind to Bastrop

We awoke to a wind which, as usual, strengthened as the day progressed. A cold front moved in, so was a northerly blast which kept us nice and cool.

Today we traveled from Blanco through Wimberley (which did not welcome bicyclists according to one local speaking to one of our riders), through Kyle, through Lockhart (really neat homes there and a great Dairy Queen) and on into Bastrop. We started in hill country, but entered onto pretty flat terrain or rolling hills about halfway into the ride. Had the usual cattle, goat, and sheep farms in the hill country, but that turned to cropland as the terrain flattened. Since it was a long day we had both the van and Bo Peep patrolling the route. Our group is pretty strong, though, and there were few who opted to ride in comfort! The sag stops were great.

For the first two-thirds of the ride the 20-30 mph wind was either a side wind or a tail wind. The last third of the ride it was primarily a head-on or quartering headwind. We traveled on a few quiet side roads, but most of the time we had lots of traffic. The friendly West Texans have no counterparts in this part of Texas. The cars and trucks only reluctantly yielded just enough of the edge of the road for us to ride (much of the time there was no shoulder). Thank you Mary Jo for being my ride buddy today. I had to make sure she was looked after because Donna had to ride the van for most of the day. Mary Jo is the nicest, most positive, most cheerful person on the trip. I don't know what she takes, but I want some too!

Peggy is the best dressed rider of the day!

Bike stats: 91.28 miles (no - I didn't take any shortcuts); 7 hrs. 24 minutes ride time, 1,126 total trip miles.

Food stats: Puffins cereal and a banana for breakfast. Some oreos, a banana, and some licorice at the sag stops and a pineapple milkshake at Dairy Queen for lunch. Don't know what Linda is cooking up for tonight.

I'm surprised to see Marlo Thomas following my blog disguised as Aunty Nancy.