God Bless Texas… (24 Miles Wintery, Wet, and Windy)

 

God Bless Texas… (24 Miles Wintery, Wet, and Windy)

 

“Oh, how I wish Dallas were in Tennessee…. If you could move Texas East, then she’d be here with me…”  It was that and “Goin' through the Big D and don't mean Dallas.  I can't believe what the judge had to tell us. I got the jeep and she got the palace.” Is what kept ringing in my ears during most of my time I was in the Lone Star State.  Well to be perfectly honest once in a blue moon I would break out with “If you’re gonna play in Texas, you gotta have fiddle in the band, that lead guitar is hot, but not for a Louisiana Man.” Then I kept wondering what the Louisiana man was doing in Texas.  However, that is a little off the point.  I guess when I was in Texas, I wanted to sing a little country music, and I most definitely was in Texas and I most definitely sang a little country music or what I could remember of the country I grew up listening to.

 

State number 3 has been marked off my list.  Texas, you, big bastard I still wish we would have never annexed you.    Mainly, because the weekend I go there to ride my bike it was very wintery, very wet, and very windy and yes Texas I blame you!

 

Look to say the entire trip sucked would be a lie.  The bike ride absolutely sucked! It was awful! I mean see title, see paragraph above, the 3 W’s aren’t good!  The trip itself was great.

 

Honestly, driving for four days and listening to some of History’s greatest revolutions without anyone around to talk to me, is right up my alley.    Did I, look into the back a few times on the drive to talk to Kona and was very sad when she wasn’t back there, yes, that happened.  Then again Kona isn’t people (even though she thinks she is, so don’t tell her that).  Plus, the way there and on the way home I got to stop in Rogers, AK and see my sister, brother-in-law, and niece, have good food with them and share some laughs, and that is always nice!  Enjoyed Arkansas, it was a good time!

 

Oh, Texas how I wanted our relationship to be different.  I wanted to report that riding in San Antonio was everything I had hoped it would be.  The truth, as I stated earlier, was that the ride itself was bad.  Not because of the ride, riders or the people who put it on but because of the weather.  40 degrees is bad.  That is some straight up wintery weather.  40 degrees with wind is also very bad.  Wintery weather and that doesn’t make for fun riding.  I was prepared for that.  However, you mix in the rain, and you have an absolute shit show, and again rain, cold, and wind, makes for some serious wintery weather and you aren’t going to have a good time. Was it the hardest 24 miles I have ever ridden.  No. Was it the wettest ride I have ever ridden, no.  Was it the windiest?  Maybe.  The mixture of the three made it not a good time.

 

I couldn’t feel my feet.  I really couldn’t, I was quite convinced when I stopped, I wouldn’t have toes.  My hands did ok, much better than in Wabash.  I had long fingered gloves on, and it helped.  They got soaked, but it was better than not having my fingers covered.  However, what was the worst, was it was zero v!  No visibility at all.  The combination of wind and rain and a man who must wear glasses to see, not a good thing.  Not being able to see is bad.  I am shitting here shivering just thinking about it.  Could be the Iced Tea, but my guess is it is the memories of the wintery day in San Antonio.

 

David and I were treated like Rock Stars at the finish.  When we told the guy one of us from Indiana and the other was from California, he was so excited.  He gave us each past year’s t-shirts.  Then he loaded us with Sausage Wraps from the food vendor.  I kid you not, we left with three sausage wraps a piece.  That was good eating too.  So, the people were great.  The other riders were swell.  It was just the weather that sucked.

 

Honestly, I liked San Antonio.  I thought it was a good place.  The food was excellent.  Saturday we enjoyed some great Mexican Food downtown. Then Sunday my buddy Mike drove over from Austin and he, David, and I went out for BBQ.  OMG was it good. I mean, OMG!  It was good.  Look at that spread!  I get the meat sweets just thinking about it. 

 

The really good news is Texas is off the list.  I have now ridden in three states:  California, Indiana, and Texas.  I am 99% sure the next state up on the list is North Carolina.  I tried to find some rides in new states in January – March but did not find any worth noting.  So, I found a couple in the Tar Heel state in early May and that looks promising.  Plus a 13 hour drive much better than a 20 hour drive, so that makes me happy!