Thursday October 20, 2011, 40 miles (64 km) – Total so far: 1,456 miles (2,343 km)
We started our day at Mr. Taco in Luling for breakfast. We have noticed that a lot of Mexican restaurants are open for breakfast. We each had the huevos rancheros to fuel our days ride. Excellent! As we rode out of town we noticed that Jocelyn had another front flat. So we pulled over and saw that she had picked up another wire from a shredded roadside tire. Lots and lots of shredded tires litter the shoulders and with it are lots of steel wires. She is running Continental Tires that aren’t as thick as my Schwalbes. So this was our second flat. When we returned to our bikes at a Port St. Joe Florida storage facility her rear tire was flat so I changed out the tube. We had filled that tire with CO2 much earlier. We later learned from a bike shop in Panama City that if you fill a tire with CO2 it eventually permeates out of the tube so it must be refilled with air. I never knew that. So it wasn’t really a flat.
Today the winds clocked around from the south which gave us headwinds again. Fortunately they were not as strong as the previous two days. So again we worked through the old H & H. At least I can battle the hills with speed and shifting but headwinds just plain shuts down any speed. We stopped for lunch at a cool little taco bar in Seguin. What a great place for a quick bite! We sat outside and enjoyed the sun along with our unique tacos and lemonade. Once again we had a 40 mile ride facing us to San Antonio. West of town Hwy 90 is incorporated onto I-10. So we wound up on the I-10 ramp and said something’s wrong here. I climbed a hillside and found a business where I was able to ask directions. The old Hwy 90 runs parallel right next to I-10 all the way to the city. Hardly anyone was on it except for us so we pretty much had it to ourselves. It was exciting riding west and seeing San Antonio rise from the land. Once near the city, however, we had to get on I-10 for two miles. It was harrowing but we made it and rode into downtown. I have always wanted to see the Alamo and the River Walk area of downtown so we decided to spend two nights here. Last night we ate at another excellent Mexican restaurant so we had it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! It is 8:30 am and Jocelyn is still sleeping as I update my journal. And a washing machine is doing my laundry right now. The comforts of the city! We don’t really need a break but it is time to play tourists after almost half way across the country.
