Coast 2 Coast - Day 27 - La Grange to Richards

Hills and Winds - 3 (and cold)

We slept in the gymnasium of a recreation center in La Grange so, it being indoors, we were warm through the night. But outside, it was cold. Probably around 38F when we awoke. And this is in Texas on April 1.

Nevertheless, it was time to suit up for biking. When it's this cold (as it has been for too much of this trip) that means 3 layers on our body core - a bike jersey, covered by a bike jacket, covered by our special down jackets.

And so, after breakfast, we were off again.

Today was promised to bring two things - an exit to the Texas Hill Country and a mild wind.

As often happens in life, both were not exactly as were promised.

We exited 'Hill Country' and then saw a series of hills:

We asked, "Isn't this still Hill Country?" The answer was, "No, these are just more hills."

Ah, well.

And as for the wind, it hid behind the rain, sleet and even hail that we had, until coming out as a 10 mph headwind for the second half of the ride.

But there was much to see.

More flowers:

A fanciful water fountain at a park in Carmine TX, at our first SAG stop:

The original columns of the original site of the first college in Texas - Baylor - at our lunch stop:

And then, after a SAG ride into our campground, we arrived at the Mexican Hill Ranch at Richards TX:

including the owner's 'man cave', with his beer bottles and stuffed animals:

and his pet name for his estate - "Check Point Harley":

Overall we did 49.8 miles at an average speed of 10.8 mph and a maximum of 24 mph. We had no flats and no Texas dogs.

We're sleeping in our tents this evening, and they tell us that it'll be down to 35F tonight.