Days 172 & 173: Village Creek State Park, TX

We finally made it to Texas!  We could have been here a month or more ago, but it was important to wait for things to cool down, or we would have been crossing New Mexico and Arizona in some really hot, nasty weather.  Hopefully we are back on track to get through the Southwest at a good time of year.

We decided to skip a private campground that we had thought of staying at in Bon Weir, TX, opting instead to ride as far as Silsbee, TX.  That made it a 96 mile day for us, with highs that reached into the mid-90s, with enough humidity to make it somewhat unpleasant.

To deal with the heat, we split the ride into five shifts: two long shifts early, and three short shifts once things had heated up.  I rode a total of 55 miles, while the remaining 41 miles were Alea's. We stopped for each other about every seven miles, making it easy to stay adequately hydrated on a hot, sunny day.

After some medium rollers at the beginning of the day, the terrain transitioned to low rollers and then pretty much became as flat as a pancake.  We lucked out, catching a favorable tailwind for the last few hours of the day, as our route shifted southwesterly and westerly.  That made it possible for me to maintain about a 23 mph pace for quite a few miles, especially when the pavement was smooth (there is something about Texas asphalt - it seems to have less rolling resistance than most asphalt that we've encountered).  We were done riding by 1 pm, having expected to be on the road until around 3 pm.

We found a car wash once we got to Lumberton, TX, and pressure washed all the love bugs off our van and the radiator.  We imagined masses of love bugs clogging up the radiator and blocking air flow (which could cause the radiator to overheat), but we found they wasn't nearly as bad there as what was splattered across our windshield.

We got our $70 Texas Park Pass, which is good until the end of September next year.  That means we don't have to pay park entry fees (typically $5 per person, per day), and we get four coupons good for half off our second nights stay at the same park.  There are also a few other minor perks, but avoiding those daily entry fees is the main reason for getting the card.  We will have broken even on the card by the time we leave Austin in a week and a half.  So anything after that will be money saved.

We are camped at Village Creek State Park ($15, power, water, adjustable showers).  The shower house isn't air conditioned, but at least they have good air flow going through it.  It looks as though there should be free wi-fi, but it doesn't seem to be working.  We suspect that is because a big chunk of the park is closed due to flood damage.

We spent Thursday doing chores and getting our ducks in line for a planned weekend in Austin.  We are really looking forward to getting there, spending time with family and then riding off into the arid sunset.  We will be so glad to have some time to hang out with my nieces and their family, to finally leave the high humidity behind us and to be back in the mountains once again!  Life will be soooo good very soon!