Blanco - Ingram...Day 18

Overall day 18 was great, although it began with a bit of a snag. About 4 miles into the day's ride my back tire became squishy...my first flat of the trip. As most of you know, I'm about as mechanical as a monkey. However, I stayed calm, took my time and changed the flat with ease. Below, you will see the culprit of the flat tire. It appeared to be a rusty/corroded barb from a wire fence. I've completed over 7000 miles of long distance touring in my lifetime. This was my first flat tire while on tour. That's a bicycling miracle! I was due.

For the second day in a row Texas Hill Country was kind to me. Although the hills were steeper and longer BIG RED powered up them all with ease. The terrain became much more rocky and trees were less dense than the day before. The scenery change was a welcome gift as high desert is my favorite landscape. The next 2 weeks will give me plenty of this arid terrain to pedal up and over. I've got some huge climbs coming up.

Stopped at Sisterdale Winery in Sisterdale, TX. The winery was converted from an old cotton mill built in the late 1800's. When done, I made sure to pedal under the limit.

Crossed The Guadalupe River several times today. It is one of the more beautiful rivers I've ever seen. The water was clear and begged to be swam in.

Met these guys outside of Waring, TX. They live in Napa Valley and are in the wine business. They are pedaling East to St. Augustine. The gentleman on the right did a cross country tour in 2006. I told him that I completed my first tour that year also. He pedaled East, I pedaled West. Maybe we pedaled by each other? We exchanged notes on our current tours and parted ways.

Began the day at an elevation of 1250 feet and ended the day at 1700 feet above sea level...69.14 miles pedaled. In terms of miles...today was the half way point of the trip.

TRIP STATS

Total miles pedaled: 1540.44

Route miles pedaled: 1537

Average miles pedaled per day: 85.58

Days ahead of schedule: 1.9

Saddle time: 107:46'30

Dead porcupines seen along the road: 1

Live armadillos seen: zero