Day 1 – Stampede!
Tuesday, October 21st
Helotes, TX to Flatonia, TX
We planned to start around 6am this morning but left about 15 min late which put us right in the first waves of rush hour traffic on 1604. We made it about 5 mi from home when my left pannier popped off in the middle of the pre-dawn traffic. We think it was hit by a car after it fell, but it still held together almost entirely. The boxes are composed of coroplast, zip ties, hot glue and duct tape – a truly amazing combination – and held on by tactically placed Velcro and nylon tie straps. The adhesive on one of my dad’s boxes had failed, so we thought it best to go home and fix everything while we were still near.
We started out again just after 9 and enjoyed a much less crowded ride along 1604. Those of us who live in San Antonio and drive 1604 everyday tend to ignore the elevation changes along the road. Since the car deals with it, we remember the road as relatively flat – but it isn’t. After battling the rolling hills of 1604 and crossing down into Schertz, we stopped where 1518 runs near 78 trying to figure out where to pick up 78. We pulled into the parking lot of the Randolph Field Realty Inc to get our bearings and a lady came out enthused about our bikes. She and her coworker were so cheerful and kind; they let us use their restrooms and camp out in the parking lot for lunch.
After that we met up with 78 we rode through a small town and stopped for sodas then continued on the highway. Less than a mile out of town, I hit a bump and my right box popped off it’s mount, bounced on the asphalt and landed in the grass on the side of the road. We were afraid we didn’t fix the earlier problem entirely, but it turned out that we had a new problem – our rack mount, which the boxes attached to, had slipped. As we sat in a nice, wide, concreted drainage ditch and fixed the rack, an older man on a Specialized bike, stopped by to check on us. He said he was heading to Florida in his motor home, but was doing bike rides along the way, too. His goal was 70 miles for the 70 yrs of his life.
Later we eased onto 90, which was mostly road, wind, grass, and cows. The cows were the only interesting part. As we would pass, they’d look up to watch us. We came up on one field and all the cattle heads popped up, then a few of the cows on our end of the field got startled and started running “away” (which was really just a path parallel to ours) and soon the whole herd had taken off down the field. It’s definitely the first time I’ve helped cause a stampede. =)
We were getting a little worn out by mid afternoon so we stopped in Luling to refuel. We dragged our bikes into town, found a restaurant that sounded good, locked up the bikes and walked to the door just as an employee opened the door to lock up. “Sorry, we close early on Tuesdays” she said and shrugged. So we checked the Chinese place next door, which was closed on Tuesdays, the steakhouse which was under construction and the bbq place down the street which was also closed on Tuesdays. Some girls from the hair salon said there was a bbq place that stayed opend until 6. Yay!
City Market looked like a convenience store from the outside but has a huge dining area inside and the best smelling bbq in town – at least on Tuesdays. The brisket was so savory and potato salad was perfect – topped with a couple of root beers and a astonishingly fresh, thick and crisp onion – it was just what we needed.
Heading out of Luling, I had problems with my rack falling again so we pulled off at a Chevron station that was under construction to fix it again. The construction workers were awesome; they gave us some rubber for repairs and let us use their pliers (which made the repair much easier).
We eventually met up with 90 again as it parallels I-10. The stretch along 90 for the last few hours of the day was horrendous. It’s the worst road I’ve ever ridden – which isn’t saying much – but it’s the 2nd or 3rd worst road my dad has ever ridden, which IS saying something. The road jarred us and stole all our momentum for the next few hours and, though we had hoped to make it to La Grange, we decided to stop in Flatonia since the sun was setting as we finally rolled into town.
The town was eerily empty and quiet in the dusk light. We were too exhausted to ride around town looking for a motel, so we got really lucky when we saw a couple closing up an antique store. We asked them about a place to stay and they mentioned a bed and breakfast about a block away and a motor inn about 5-6 blocks away. The proximity of the B&B sounded nice, but since we’re on a budget, we headed for the motor inn. And I’m so glad we did.
It turned out to be one of the coolest (and cleanest) small inns I’ve stayed in. The couple that runs the place – Tom and Joan – were very warm and welcoming and so many neat stories about the inn and the town and their own lives. The room we stayed in used to be a gas station, but you’d never know it. they remodeled it and it’s beautiful and comfortable.
Today’s Quick Stats:
Bike Distance (mi) Average Speed (mph)
MiniWini 108.15 17.2
Sti(ck/g) 107.76 17.2