Another day of changes, lots of changes. Also a beautiful day, and a beautiful day for riding. We woke up to FROST!! But a gorgeous morning regardless and our host Ernie pitched our bikes in the back of his retro Dodge truck and drove us back to the cafe that was closed last night but served us a dandy breakfast while Ernie regaled us with more stories. We hit the road a bit late and wearing nearly every stitch of bicycle clothing we have. Two hours later I was down to shorts and a jersey!
Before long we entered Sam Houston National Forest, where the terrain flattened some more and we rode thru deep forest then across big, beautiful Lake Conroe.
After coming out the other side at New Waverly we realized most of the wildflowers we've been awed by this past week had disappeared. No more bluebonnets or Indian paintbrushes. Not many more farms either, we were in the woods, and the map told us we were barely above sea level. The roads became almost pan-flat and logging trucks appeared in droves, though the drivers, were very polite. Along the way we crossed our first bayou, and we don't get to Louisiana until tomorrow!
I was again reduced to eating meat, a BLT, for lunch in Coldspring before we spent the afternoon in scrubby pine woods all the way to Kountze, where we ended up eating a pretty good convenience store pizza before plopping on the bed in the Super 8 motel--where I discovered I left a pair of my biking shorts at Ernies Check Point Harley B & B!!! One pair for the rest of the trip.
We rode 110 miles today, and made decent time. Flat ground makes a big difference, and plenty of trees help a lot with the wind too. We are close to 2000 miles now, and hope that flat ground will make the last 1000+ miles a bit easier. Tailwind would be nice, too, but I have come to believe that's too much to ask.
Doug and the Droid
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