Day 11: Wimberley to Bastrop
To mark our halfway point yesterday, we started our day with another group mug-shot.
Halfway Across America:
Kneeling: Jerry, Steve, Claire (with Alan behind), Ruth, Allen, Polly (with Mark behind), Katrina, Marcella, Patty (with Kathleen behind), and Matt; second row: Pat, Deb, Charlotte, Jane, Stu, Ron, Bill, David, Geni, Rachel, Terry, Norman, Andy, and Emily; last row: Chris, Mark, Nate, Rich, Rob, Julia, and Carol.
After posing for the picture, we spun 67 miles, a net downhill that included 1,500 vertical feet of climbing over rolling terrain.
WeÕve come down out of the Hill Country into fertile green fields and the occasional oil derrick in peopleÕs backyards. The desert-sturdy Brahma cattle of west Texas have given way to Angus cattle, with a transition between the two of, IÕm not kidding, Brangus cattle (a hybrid of Brahma and Angus). You could almost map the rainfall across Texas just by mapping the breeds of cattle as you ride across.
Kathleen befriends a young steer at lunch (he played hard to get)
The group has settled into so much of a groove that it is somewhat hard to find pictures of riders each day. People took a lot of pictures of each other last year, while this year they seem to be mostly taking pictures of the scenery.
Today I found one rider picture and it was of our second tandem team: Ruth and David. Since the tandem zooms along in flattish terrain, theyÕve been passing me alot this year. With every pass-by Ruth waves her white hanky at me with the proper British lift of the nose in her very funny way of announcing that she has the perfect place to store her hanky on DavidÕs back while they ride. Such is the life of a tandem team. Next year I expect sheÕll have him carrying a cup of tea as well.
Ruth and David pull in the Super 8 in Bastrop