A zero (well only a handful of miles) day and boy were we ready for it. David treated us to a wonderful home cooked breakfast and then we all got on our bikes and followed him and Susan into the centre of Austin. There’s nothing like being shown around a city by people who actually…
Posts by: Paul and Terry
Thoughts of Austin Powers us on…. Bastrop to Austin
We woke up on our little patch of land to the roar of passing traffic (it seemed to be coming from all directions) while it was still dark – and bitterly cold, dipping to just 8 degrees. On mornings such as this you get as much as possible packed inside the warmth of the tent…
Czeching out the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas…. La Grange to Bastrop
“I guess you’ll want to know all about the history of this place then?” We were sitting in the Riverside Cafe in La Grange tucking into our normal breakfast – omelette for Terry and eggs easy over, hash browns and sausage for me, when the owner came over. Having read about the town’s Czech Heritage…
Texas empties its ten gallon hat – and then some… Navasota to La Grange
“Looks like you’ve got some rain coming in,” warned David Kearnley, one of the fire-fighters at the Navasota Fire Department, as he scanned the weather app on his phone. It was a warning repeated to us a few minutes later as we sat down in a coffee shop eating breakfast bagels. It was clear today…
Cock-eyed Penguins and Giant Chickens on the road to hell…. Coldspring to Navasota
Desperate for fresh air we left the Coldspring Inn as soon as it was light. For the first five miles we mostly free-wheeled downhill on a broad shoulder convinced we were rapidly losing all the height we’d gained over the past three weeks. Then things went even further downhill. We arrived in Evergreen to find…
Armed and dangerous – and that’s just the locals…. Kountze to Coldspring
Today a chink appeared in Terry’s armour. I couldn’t believe it. In months spent riding with him and witnessing his super efficiency and meticulous preparations he astonished me by revealing he’d mislaid his Goretex jacket. We looked everywhere, but it was clear it was lost to the highway. Somewhere a rider would be following our…
Saddlin’ up in the Lone Star State…. Merryville to Kountze
After some initial confusion of what the time was (daylight saving had kicked in but we had no idea if that meant it was 6am or 7am) we awoke to find Merryville blanketed in thick fog which meant our arrival in Texas, just four miles down the road at the mist covered Sabine River, was…
Incoming! Who let the Dogs Out? Morganza to Bunkie
The owner of the Maxey Care RV camp had told us there were no diners in Morganza. He’d obviously never spoken to his next door neighbour, or in fact visited any of the eateries alongside the railway line that runs through town. Perhaps if he’d spent more time putting up posters of the nearby amenties…
From a Chevvy to a Levee…. St Gabriel to Morganza
It says something about the variety of long distance cycling that yesterday we were staying in the Marriott Hotel just a stone’s throw from Bourbon St and tonight we are in a rather low rent rv park eating our dinner of noodles and beans in the launderette and toilet block because it’s freezing outside. On…
Toughing it out on the road to the Big Easy – Pearlington to New Orleans
Since the first day of our ride we’d been struggling to get to New Orleans in time for Mardi Gras. So I don’t know why we were surprised when the last 40 miles did everything it could to stop us, including a energy-sapping headwind, terrifying traffic and a falling out over Jayne Mansfield. Yes, you…