Day 19 - Kerrville, TX to Wimberly, TX 86.51 miles/14.5 mph average 5 hrs 57 min.

I met Bob Westman while working at the Bike Gallery in Portland, Oregon years ago. We stayed in touch, and planned for him to meet us a few days outside of Austin to ride in with us and then catch up with friends. He'd lived in Austin for around six years. He even had a new Co-Motion single bike built for the trip. He is one of the most genuine people I've ever met. He also knows everyone. If he does not know you or you him, give it five minutes, he'll change it.

Bob ponders a world without silicone.

The weather channel offered more bad news; rain, lightening, more rain with strong winds. Late last night in Kerville the rain came down so hard the parking lot had a few inches within 20 minutes. We stood on the balcony and hoped the cycle would continue; rain all night, clear up during the day.

We left Kerrville around 7 am, riding through a light fog. Last night's rain caused several stream and river crossings to overflow, and we crossed two or three. The route to Wimberly featured a few more rolling hills. We went up and down for roughly 80 miles.

A good ole Texas welcome, Y'all come back real soon

About 7 miles outside of Wimberly, I was cruising along, inside the fog line by a few feet but to the left flank of Bob, who was on the white line. Chris rode about 30 yards back. Suddenly a tan colored newer Lincoln Continental drifted by my left elbow, no more than a foot away. Once the adrenalin subsided, Chris told us the driver hit his brakes to take some speed off before drifting as close to me as he could, to give me a little scare. Granted, there are cyclists who act like idiots, earning a driver's wrath. We are very mindful of moving off the road as much as the shoulder will allow if there are any cars approaching from either the front or from behind. In this case, there was no oncoming traffic forcing the driver to get that close.

I thought about filing a police report, but writing about it is just as good. We're only visitors here, and I thought it best that we keep on moving out of the area and not stir up too much dust. We saw a bumper sticker that said "Texas is Bigger than France." Another one said "Drive Friendly." By all means, do drive friendly.

over and out