these are blooming everywhere think Gump is out there somewhere oh the aroma this plant puts off is wonderful stopped to work on the flat no patches left, put a velcro patch on, the backside is rubber with adhesive, got me to Sanderson do not know how much further lol find the hole, rough day for tubes Rough day, lasted until about 8:00 pm hour or so after dark... Has not been a hard day, one tirehas thorns in it, has done a job on my tubes, put the spare back on now i am trying to locate the holes in it... Used some of my water and a ziplock bag to find the tiny bubbles... Wish i had a bottle with tiny bubbles in it about now... Get to Alpine and get some tubes and tires... Would pump the tire up, go a mile and pump it up again, good for my arms, not much of a workout for them... sunscreen, plenty of it 13 of these gates, reminds me of three miles to nowhere at Fancy Creek in Kansas
0 Comments
$1400. $2300. headed toward Dryden today, 40 miles, Sanderson is 60... Open country, wind at my back for now... Had no signal at the tent site last night, good one here on the hill... Doubt it is going to be much better for most of the day $2500. damn Rocky you ain't got shit on me, climb these stairs!!! (After all these years that steps scene still motivates) is
pecos river Langtry, the town survived only because of the Judge Roy Bean museum... One of the locals told me 14 people live in town, 2 of those are moving soon... Population 12.... Store that charges an arm and a leg for everything... I paid $3.95 for a can of chili with no beans, wonder how much extra the beans would have been... $11.95 for a pack of Marlboro, i stopped thank goodness... Langtry has a post office, museum, few houses, RV park, 6 spots... A community center which is where i am pitching my tent for $2. a night, has water... Cactus maze to get to the tree to wee wee.... Ouch!!! What a painful thought...
1384 miles to go... Comstock to Marathon is considered a little rough compared to other parts of the trip... The distance between services being the main reason the humidity has dropped by 20% from Bracettville to Del Rio, I am often asked if i am satisfied with my pregress... Yes and no... Should have been in better shape but if i waited for that i would not be where i am today... It seems like days one thinks they will get 50 miles in they get 20 and the other way around... I allowed about 90 days for completion and had already decided if need be i would finish it next year... Completion this year is possible, may need to buy another bike but... Lol so when i look to the finish i can pysch myself out about going to slow, when i look at the next town or completion of a leg or getting to the next state it is easy to keep things in perspective... Like most things and situations in life... If you would ask me in the hill country of west Texas if it is harder than anticipated i would say h--- yes, ask me in Del Rio and i would say no... I am not a huge partipant in cycling so i have learned a lot there, my lack of knowledge in the sport did not deter me from attempting something i always wanted to do... I knew/know i can pretty much find a solution to an issue eventually... sometimes i get so confused when i see signs like this, i can be fined $3000. In some states for throwing trash out my car window, write my name on a cave wall for as little as $50. did about 42 today... Stopped at Seminole Canyon to camp for the night and take atour of some cave drawings... Very interesting day
Border Patrol... I take back every bad thought i had about those guys, i sure as h--- would not want to be chasing smugglers or anyone else down in this part of the country... Facing the possibility of doing so on a daily basis, not for me... Some might have it easy and sit in the shade but one would be lucky to find a tree big enough to provide shade here... getting bike checked out gentleman checked the bike out, with the exception of the two tires that have a slow leak in them i should make it out of Texas... He tightened the pedals, had play where they mount through the frame... Was my major concern... Staying in Del Rio tonight, then headed to Comstock...
Struggled with to upload or not to upload...this is a photo of 10-12 deer dumped in the ditches i traveled by today
I am speculating when i say these 10-12 deer dumped here are one of the results from so many hunting preserves in western Texas... These were dumped along the road in a drainage ditch, several wild boars were also in this area... Locals i talked to say that most of the ranches have gotten away from faising cattle and turning the rached into hunting areas... These areas require the 8-10 foot fence to keep the game in... Locals can get a few hundred dollars for these spotted does, hunters are charged thousands of dollars to come in and hunt them... I have not really given the business much thought and know very little about it... While riding in Texas i mentioned the fences, was not even sure why they were being installed... I did wonder how all the dead deer in the ditches got hit by cars when they could not get on the roads... Both sides of the roads had the mega fences installed... One place i passed today had danger signs and pictures of lions... Curious to state inspection and control of the animals because of spread of disease from one herd to another or one reserve to another if they are being disposed of on public land.. I also find it ironic that many of the changes that have taken place over the years, of course it is because of education but... Sheep were hated because they destroyed the grass land, now sheep and goats are more common than cattle... Open grazing land, barb wire would destroy the open range... Now ranches are putting up 10 feet fence and posting signs of all types warning people to keep out... I also wonder if any of these ranchers who are no longer raising cattle on their land, or greatly reducing the number of cattle on their land are taking advantage of grazing those cattle on public land at a reduced cost while getting top dollar out of using their land for other purposes... Locals also say that many of these ranches are no longer owned by locals... I have seen a 5000 acre ranch for sale several with a couple thousand acre ranches for sale.... Not a whole lot of locals can come up with the millions it takes to purchase these places... Interesting where the thought process takes you when you see 10-12 deer dumped at one time in one place.... my favorite road sign at least for now!!! Headed to Brackettville Texas, about 50 miles.. Signal is hendering my updates (my excuse for breaks) imagine the updates will decrease but no worry will find ample excuses for breaks Brackettville Texas... Nice little town... Stopped at a Burger and Shake place, great shakes!!! Border Patrol everywhere, you can see them miles away... Parked under a shade tree, sun glaring off of their windshields... Oh well... Will not go there... Hail storm here yesterday, or the night before, you can see damaged cars sll over, broken windshields Good ride today, over 50 miles... Crazy walking around town and people driving with shattered windshields, not cracked, shattered The museum at Fort Clark is only open Friday and Saturday... Still nice place to visit, community done a great job getting maximum use out of the place without destroying anything... commissary hard to tell from the photo but This community has a huge solar farm 150,000 solar panels on 600 acres... officers row, formerly officer quarters, now condos
thanks Lee for the info A: Rural Texans are known to put all sorts of mementos out on the fence for the pleasure of gandering passersby. Huge catfish heads, large rattlesnakes, and trophy coyote carcasses are fairly common sights on the fences of our hinterlands. The boot fence outside Hunt is a fine example of just this sort of display. The Texanist is familiar with the landmark, as it serves as a signal to him that the good times about to be had at Crider’s Rodeo and Dancehall are imminent—and about three miles back the other way on 39. The fence’s origins date to the early seventies, when a Kerr County family began putting the worn-out boots of the half dozen young buckaroos with whom they had been blessed up on the fence posts of their friend and neighbor, John Jobes. Soon the old boots of Jobes’s two young daughters went up. Then Jobes’s ranch hands put their boots up on the fence. In time, the posts became the final resting spot for most anybody’s old boots. Nowadays, this stretch of fence adorned with old boots is quite lengthy and has even jumped to the other side of the road. But contrary to your belief that this display is solely a Texas thing, the Texanist knows of at least two non-Texan footwear-adorned fences, one on a country road between Placerville and Coloma, out in California, and another in Glenwood, Minnesota. And then, of course, there’s the Cardrona Bra Fence, in Otago, New Zealand, another example of an eye-catching non-Texan roadside attraction. - See more at: http://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/the-texanist-on-the-pronunciation-of-pecan/#sthash.N6WaGfbv.dpuf
it is great when you can see where the road traveled is taking you and all you can think of is a four letter word... Time to pay for the ride down the hill yesterday.. wow!!! Even my bike wanted a break after that and i pushed it up the hill.... one mile up the hill time to take a maintenance break
Half way to Campwood, had some pretty good hills in the last 20 or so miles, see what the next 20 has??? Started using my sunscreen for a hair gell blends in with the grey, keeps the top of my head from burning :-) a Texas State Park... Fairly nice camp ground, more expensive than a KOA lol what i get for complaining... The park has a maple tree growing here that is not that common... just think these look pretty on barns big old bull fenced in section of a retreat hard to make out but one of many dams onthis section of the river just climbing in elevation section of the river that is damed one of many hunting preserves in this part of Texas raising the game do not know what this is all about but for a quarter mile or so boots were placed on the fence post on both sides of the road the cliff in the background, the river is slowly carving it out this section of the river long agohad native americans who lived in caves along side the river the stretch of highway along the river is some of the prettiest country i have seen, it is a big tourist attraction, spas, resorts hotels everywhere, access to the river is very limited, signs posted private property, or no parking here... Then you climb in elevation to about 2,000 feet and game resorts are the big business, hunters trying for that trophy... I never realized how big of a business it is and it takes a huge investment, 10 fencies for miles, trucks, feeders, guides, lodging... Which reminds me one place had a 5000 acre ranch for sale, approved landing strip, hangars fueling equipment comes with the place, several homes on the land, parts of the property has been fenced, gates in and out of the property are all numbered to aid in exiting the right place or to let guest know where you are...
The ranches in this part of Texas are huge, i would see the same name on gates for miles... Very enjoyable ride, it did rain early on, more of a drizzle but that stopped prior to noon. Made excellent time, the elevation did not change as shown on the map, most climbs were gradual, i would get to a certain elevation and stay at that elevation for several miles... I did spend hours riding south, southwest rather than west... Stopped at a place and had two of the best sausage, egg and cheese burritos that i have ever eaten... Delicious... Workampers, a magazine i subscribe too has a lot of job listings for seasonal help in this area, i never thought i would want to spend much time in this part of the country but after seeing it no longer sure that is still true... Still, all that would depend on the summers... Located so that one could spend a summer visiting local sites... Sleeping under a picnic table shelter tonight, it is raining, 20% chance tonight, i think that is for rain rather than this sprinkle... |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
July 2016
Categories |