Off the Beaten Path, and Off Route

Monday, March 6

I had an excellent start to my morning by staying at the Peachtree Inn and Suites in Fredericksburg.  Their idea of a Continental breakfast is one every hotel should adopt!  Besides the usual coffee and instant oatmeal, they had hard-boiled eggs and real, hand-made, pastries.  I loaded up and had oatmeal, a hard-boiled egg, a slice of peach coffee cake, and a piece of sticky bun.  Yum!

Breakfast, though, turned out to be the highlight of the day...

Once again, the weather was iffy and would sprinkle now and then.  It was supposed to be a clear day. Sigh.

I had met a family from Iceland biking eastward the previous day.  The father mentioned that he deviated from the cycle association route by taking Highway 16.  I decided to do the same as it would save me about 10 miles to my destination of Vanderpool.

When I rolled through Kerrville I decided to stop for a snack and enjoyed a kolache and an apple fritter.  Plus I got another kolache and a ham-and-cheese croissant for the road.

Once again, the roads were fairly hilly and rolling.  Google showed about 3000 feet climb and 3000 feet descent in elevation change for the route.

After I stopped for lunch I started to get a bit worried about my accommodation for the night.  I called an RV place, but no one answered.  I left a message--as prompted by their voicemail--but didn't hear anything back.  As the afternoon got later and later, I expanded my options, but none of the B&Bs were answering either.

Then, as luck would have it, I got another flat.  (That picture above is starting to look all too familiar!) Yes, once again the rear tire.  As near as I can tell, this was a manufacturing defect as the hole appeared to be on the inside and not the outside of the tube.  I checked the tire and rim thoroughly, but I couldn't find anything that would have caused the problem.  I then tried to patch the tube, but the patch wouldn't hold.  Maybe slime tubes cannot be patched?  Of course, the failure wasn't apparent until I put everything back together and was about to take off.  Grumble...  Take everything apart again and just put a new tube in.

It was now past 3:30, I had 16 miles to go (I was averaging way under 10 mph because of the hills) and I had no place to stay yet.  Oh, and I had spotty cell phone coverage.

The area I was biking around was very picturesque at times, but I was getting a bit concerned about where I was going to lay down and rest tonight.

I settled on giving the RV place (A Peace of Heaven) a go as the only other choice was to push on for another 15 miles to Leakey, and I really didn't relish the idea of tackling additional hills that late in the day.  Stealth camping was an option, but I was low on water and all the land in this part of Texas is fenced with "No Trespassing" signs.  (Violators will be shot.  Survivors will be shot again.)

Finally, I arrived at A Peace of Heaven a little before 6pm.  No one was home but the dogs--luckily inside.  I went ahead and set up camp.  When the owners did arrive, they were gracious and let me stay for free.  Their property wasn't really set up for tent campers as they didn't have shower or restroom facilities...

After I ate, I washed myself off as best I could with the extra water I boiled for that purpose.  At that point, I was grateful to have a place to sleep, and relieved that it was a warm evening in which I could clean up au naturel!

Day: 19
Time: 10.5 hours
Distance: 69 miles (Fredericksburg-Vanderpool, TX)

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Tuesday, March 7

I got up in the dark, around 5:15am, as the owner was leaving for his 90 miles drive to work.  I decided to just have some power bars for breakfast and to get going as soon as possible.

After having consulted with Julie the night before, I found I had two choices for routes: association route or going rogue again.  I decided to deviate from the standard route as our good friend Loretta, who is from the area, didn't recommend the towns the route was going through.  Also, by deviating, I would be able to spend the night in her hometown of Uvalde.  Compared to nearby areas, Uvalde was a fairly sizable town with a population of 16k.  After scrambling for a place to stay yesterday, I wanted to make sure I had more choices.

I was glad I deviated as the road I took from Vanderpool (187) ended up being fairly level--at least compared to the roads the last couple of days.  I made excellent time and arrived in the tiny town of Utopia before 8am.  Since I hadn't had a real breakfast yet, I decided to stop at Lost Maple Cafe and get some bacon and eggs.  Then for good measure, I had a slice of buttermilk pie!

After about 36 miles on 187, I hit Highway 90 which would take me the rest of the way to Uvalde.  Again, the road was flat, and I had a good tailwind too, so I made it into town before 1pm.  I was tempted to keep going, but the next town was 40 miles further on, and after a series of long days that finished late, I needed a break.  It was also relaxing to stop and explore the town a bit, passing by the Uvalde City Hall and everything.

The extra time also allowed me to be a bit more leisurely as I stopped by Walmart to pick up some groceries.  (This store didn't have my tube either.  Was I lucky in Louisiana or what?)  I even stopped by a car wash and cleaned some of the gunk off my chain and derailleur.  Finally, I checked into the hotel where I aired everything out, did a load of laundry, and took a hot bath to wash off the last two days of filth.

After my laundry was finished, I took a longer walk than usual--it's great having some extra time--to get some TexMex at Julio's Grill, a restaurant recommended by Loretta's Facebook connections still familiar with the area.  I enjoyed some thick homemade tortillas, and I found the tri-tip in gravy particularly tasty.  Thanks Loretta!--and Loretta's friends!

Day: 20
Time: 6 hours
Distance: 57 miles (Vanderpool-Uvalde, TX)

(post by Will)