leaving the blog zone until New Hampshire

The RV attached to the computer we use for blogging is heading north to Atlanta for quick repairs, then on to Charlotte, North Carolina for some real NASCAR action. Six boxes of stuff went out UPS today, so everything we need from here until St. Augustine rides with us on the bikes.

The blog is a bit behind due to losing the computer to a side trip to Houston, riding all day, and TV remote controlitis.

We'll get more pics and get things finished when we again have the chance.

over and out

Jasper the cat

The early years

Young and in trouble

"as soon as that door opens, I am outta here!"

"So, where are you humans taking me today?"

"OK, how many times do I have to tell you, the can opener
is in the drawer, cat food under my front paw. I can't do this without you."

"This loft is a bit small, but I'll take it!"

Goodbye Yellin' Brick Road

The typical Texas Ranch Road is not made of brick, cobbles or rocky road ice cream. They're worse:

This gravel, added to:

some good Texas Crude,

combined with some continuous pressure from several years of pick ups and semi tractor trailers running back and forth; Like magic, a Texas Ranch Road is born.

They call this "chip seal" down here in Texas. That's slang for "I'm gonna grind you into dust." The problem is, the newer the road, the rougher it is. Once a ranch road gets some use, shiny smooth ruts form. We'd float back and forth, looking for the smooth spots. Enough about roads, enough about the bikes. Jasper update next.

over and out

Roadkill Etiquette

• if you see a group of buzzards hanging around a fence line chatting, this is where the buffet line starts.




• The bigger the animal, the more care you'll need getting around it safely, without throwing up, or worse, running over it.




• The hotter the temperature, the more involved your senses get when nearing roadkill.




• Exhale through the nose within about 10 feet from the animal. Do not inhale until you are at least 15 yards beyond the unfortunate beast.




• If you choose to look at the road kill, always remember the view you take with you will stay with you, in full color. You will see that animal in your mind's eye for some time.




• The flatter the roadkill, the less precautions needed to pass safely.




• Roadkill becomes increasingly flatter and flatter, to the point where you are convinced it is just a cartoon version of a real animal. This makes the horrible fact that roads routinely eat animals 24/7 a little less horrible.




• The most common roadkill seen to date is by far, the Armadillo. We still hope to see a live one, but not yet. Almost all of them end up on their backs, tiny feet pointing skyward, spear-like tail jutting straight out onto the road.




• The largest animal seen was a wild boar, as big as a small cow. Scary.




• There were more snakes (several rattlers) seen in east Texas and west Louisiana than any other area.




• Most unusual potential roadkill were three javalina seen on the way to Sanderson, Texas. They trot with a cocky, short stride. The trio we saw exhibited no apparent fear of the highway, trotting right up to the edge and then back to the fence line. Very strange:

• Luckiest soon-to-be roadkill: Three box turtle in varied conditions stranded in the road. Chris found one upside down, untouched on the centerline. She's started the East Texas Box Turtle Rescue Mission. She's the only volunteer. I'm the traffic lookout.

over and out

What I remember

Ash has been asking me to contribute to our blog. His written words are so beautiful and my writer's anxiety has prevented me from contributing thus far. Then he asked me to write a few words about my Mother, but again, I did not feel I would be able to convey my thoughts and feelings appropriately. I decided to keep it simple and relate some of the more memorable moments with my Mom, talk about who she was and the impact she had on my life.

• I remember my Mom would pick me up from Kindergarten and we would go out for lunch at Theo's. I'd look forward to our lunch date every Wednesday.
• My Mom would always have breakfast on the table for us every morning before school. She would yell up the stairs for my brother and I to get out of our beds and face the cold NH mornings. She would then drive us 2 miles to our bus stop, where she would sit and wait with us in our warm car until the bus arrived. She would always be waiting for us in the afternoon when we got off the bus.
• My Mom made it to EVERY SINGLE soccer and softball game.
• My Mom traveled an hour to work each day to pay for my college education. This incredible selfless act still amazes me.
• My Mom loved nothing more than to go out to eat. Nobody did Chicken Parmesan like Angelo's did Chicken Parmesan. "It was the sauce" she would say. Mom, I hope you are surrounded in Angelo's Chicken Parmesan with extra sauce.
• Next to eating, shopping was my Mom's next love. She would shop for those she loved the most, her three Grandchildren. My Dad had to buy a truck to transport the masses of gifts she would spend 8 months shopping for, down to my brother's house in RI. She would stash the gifts in the trunk of her car and wait until my Dad wasn't around to sneak the bundles up into the spare bedroom, which was now storage space for my Moms shopping sprees. I used to tell my Mom she was out of control. I am so glad she was out of control.
• Mom liked to talk. One Martguerita and she was off........! This picture of my Mom is likely post -One Martguerita.
• Mom loved being a Grandmother the most (more than going out to eat or talking)
• I remember the incredible strength my Mom displayed when hearing of her diagnosis and prognosis. She told me she would miss not seeing Max and Sydney grow up. I promised her we would do our best to talk about her, relay stories and remind them that they were her favorite people.
• Before my Mom died she told me she wasn't worried about me, she knew I would be just fine. I told her this was because she was a great mom. I think it's important that Moms know this before this time in their life.
• I remember when I first told my Mom that I was going to move in with Ash. My Mom, who seldom left NH, had a flight and a purpose within three weeks. She immediately liked Ash. I will never forget the night Ash asked my Mom what she thought of him and about her daughter moving in with him. I thought she was going to choke on her chicken Parmesan (which was good but not as good as Angelo's Chicken Parmesan.)
• I think of my Mom every time I look at my hands reaching out to help a patient, reach for the steering wheel or each time I grab hold of the handlebars of my bike. We have our crooked middle fingers and our knotty knuckles in common. I love looking at my hands, thinking of my Mom, thanking my Mom. I love watching my hands grow old. My mom is always with me.

Day 20 - Wimberly, TX to Austin, TX 64.06 miles/13.7 mph average 4 hrs 18 min.

Team Geek: Invading Texas in Lycra and loud jerseys.

Without Lance paving the way, we'd have been drawn and quartered by now.

Charge!

Texas Hill Country will not die, nor will the rough roads. Texas Ranch Roads are fine in a vehicle with four fat, 35 psi tires smoothing it out. 90 to 100 psi bike tires are another story. Today's feature was never ending roller coasters. Fun for a while, but they ring you out, big time. Bob easily cruises at 20-22 mph on the flat for hours. We did that for a while, but day after day, not so fun. The road out of Wimberly was narrow and hilly. Things got better after about 20 miles; wider roads and better surfaces as we rode closer to Austin, Texas. We finally passed through Buda, Texas, on the outskirts of Austin proper, where Bob used to ride. Once we hit familiar turf for Bob, the ride got better and better. Some new construction threw us off route, but we took a detour, located the right turns, and cruised through downtown Austin, ate then went searching for the hotel.

It turns out the hotel was sketchy, even for $43 a night. We rolled up, and the desk clerk suggested we look at the room before checking in. One look was enough and we left, got on the phone at a corner gas station and found a better place not too far from where we stood. Dumping all our gear, we cruised to the biggest bike shop we've ever seen, Bicycle Sport Shop (http://bicyclesportshop.com/). Hugh-mung-gus. We drooled over the cool branded clothing and other great items. The shop features Co-Motion Cycles, the Eugene bike company where Bob welds for a living.

Rest day tomorrow.

Over and out

Our stay in Wimberly, Texas - worth a mention

Denise and Dan run the Wimberly Inn. We checked in, and as we proceeded to our rooms, Denise said we could keep the bikes outside our doors. The place was spotless, and she did not want them inside. We got to the room, and decided to take them inside anyway. Rebels.

I immediately took a shower and discovered that the shower head spewed nothing but a thin misty spray. I finished, called the front desk and told Denise the deal. She said she'd send Dan, her husband, to the room to investigate. The water is hard in the area, and the shower head gets clogged with deposits. Although I offered, she did not want me touching the shower, telling me only Dan could take care of it.

Once I hung up, Chris and I agreed calling was a mistake, since he'd see the bikes and probably take issue with them in the room. A few minutes later, a knock on the door. There was Dan, baggy shorts, long hair with receding hairline, and a t-shirt stuck with sweat over his shoulders, down to his mid back. He saw the bikes and told us that Denise preferred them outside, that we'd better not even think of using any of the towels to clean our bikes, as several other lawless cyclists had done in the past, and that he'd just painted the room so there better not be any residue or grease on the walls when we left.

don't tell Dan we ate in the room

He removed the shower head, rinsed it., tested it, and showed us how to take it off. He gave official permission to fix the issue if the issue arose again, left to finish mowing the lawn right outside our door. Later after dinner, we roamed around the grounds of the inn. It was once a bed and breakfast, opened by a Belgian couple. They knew what they were doing when planning the landscaping. We saw a trail leading down to a small creek and just as we stepped onto the trail, Dan, watching us from the yard, simply said, "snakes." We froze. I think he enjoyed the effect this powerful word had on us city slickers.

He told us snakes had been seen up by the rooms a few days ago, and to just be careful. We explored a bit further on the trail and decided a creek was maybe not as interesting as we thought. We then got talking to Dan, and realized he shared a lot of our views. Coming from California to West Texas, he kept his progressive outlook and even shared some stories of working in Social Services, convincing displaced and under-educated workers to buck up and get back in school. In a matter of 10 minutes we were liking this guy and wish we had more time to drink beer and talk politics with him.

Later that night the rain came and came, creating little rivers in the ground outside our rooms. We opened the door, stood on the walkway, mouths open. Just then Dan walked by, muttering to nobody in particular, "there goes another Texas turd floater."

over and out

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

Day 18 - Camp Wood, TX to Kerrville, TX 88.07 miles/14.2 mph average 5 hrs 43 min.

It rained again last night, but the ground was dry with overcast skies when we took off around 7 am. The day was a bit shorter, around 85 miles. We took more time in the morning. Once we got out on Ranch Road # 337, things got rough again but after about 10 miles, it smoothed out. The road then climbed up for about 9 miles or so with about the same length decent. You'd never think this was Texas; hilly, lush, green, looking a lot like the mountains of Chile or Venezuela. We saw more wildlife today than all the other days combined. Deer everywhere, wild turkey, buzzards staking out road kill. We may have seen a few elk, but hard to tell the difference when the only glimpse is a flash of fur and a rear end running away from you, all while rolling along at 15 miles an hour on a bike. Do white deer exist? If so, we saw one.

Epic Ride - One for the ages. We'd do it again, maybe.


The route went to Leakey, Texas. Ranch Road #337 bisects the town and we were suppose to stay on it out of Leakey:

Construction made it a no go, so we hung a left onto highway 83, wider shoulders, smoother, and more direct. No brainer. 83 follows the East Frio River, and climbs up at an acceptable grade, but for several miles. We topped out, sped along with a tail wind until we hit road #39. Dad and Phyllis met us at the intersection, and we fueled up with a sandwich while a rusty windmill outside the rig groaned like a long suffering cow.

Road # 39 offered up a series of rollers that went on and on and on, with hardly any traffic at all. It descends into a valley along the Guadalupe River with at least a half dozen or more river crossings along the way. Passing through Hunt and Ingram, Texas, we made one more stop. Chris's front tire was flat when we pulled out after the break (first FLAT!!!), so I changed it, and off we went, straight into Kerrville, TX. The hotel lay at the other end of town through some gnarly road improvements. Check in, meet Bob for dinner, call it a day.

another thin wire from a truck retread strikes again

Fixing flats: A real skill that belongs on my resume

over and out

What I remember

• I remember mom sleeping on a cot with me in the hospital when I was five. I had surgery to repair a bi-lateral hernia and she stayed with me. I woke up in pain, not knowing where I was, confused, having to pee. She calmed me and made sure I found my way to the bathroom and got back into bed.

• I remember mom hauling me to the drinking fountain under her arm at the school park. As a kid I liked the taste of sand, so I got a bit more sand in my mouth than I could handle and started choking. She got me to the fountain and washed the sand out of my mouth, wiping my tears away. Off I went looking for more trouble, or maybe just more sand.
  
  

• I remember mom calming me when I had to submit to a freakishly big scanning device at the orthodontist office. This machine scanned my jaws and teeth in preparation for braces. She convinced me everything would be OK, I just had to sit still. I felt like crying, but she told me everything would be over in a minute or two. She was right, as always.

• I remember mom chatting, laughing and listening to all the goofy things I had to ask her about. I remember her having a quick and ready answer for all my health questions. She was a nurse, she knew about this stuff and knew what to tell me.

• I remember mom so concerned that Deedra was in the hospital in Salem. I remember my mom so concerned that Deedra should not be there by herself.

• I remember mom playing with her grandchild Georgia, looking at her with so much love in her eyes. I could see in my mom's eyes that she knew these moments were fleeting.

• I remember my mom, Nina, giving of herself as best she knew how. I remember her lying in the hospital, sick with pancreatic cancer. Her kids were heading out to lunch. She tried to reach for her purse to make sure we had money, like she always did.

• I remember mom giving Monica a birthday card, signed in her weakened hand, wishing her a happy birthday, a little more than a week before she passed away. I can hardly look at this card, framed on the wall of Monica's studio. It makes me so sad.

• I remember mom never appearing scared throughout her time with pancreatic cancer. I asked her several times if she felt fear, and she would always look up at me and calmly smile and say no. I remember her dignity in life, and in death. I remember what she taught me about living. I remember what she taught me about dying.