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Luckenbach, Austin, chuck wagons, thunderstorms, lost phone: Day 31-37



Day 31

(65 miles; 2275 ft gain, Strava map)

The sound of a construction crane in the adjacent parking lot woke us up in our cozy Harbor Freight lot. I also discovered that an entire ant colony found a home in my food bag, having infiltrated all my ramen and bread. I spent a lot of time shaking out my panniers, saving my perforated tortillas, and tossing thousands of ant-covered carbohydrates into the trash. After relocating to the McDonald's across the street, Casey and I had a slow, coffee-filled morning before hitting the road.

The morning passed pretty quickly because I spent a lot of time being angry, mostly at Dave. His stubbornness, negativity, and inflexibility had started to grind my gears, which is only an issue when our biking plans sync up. He's been bothering me for 2 reasons: 1) he makes situations seem worse than they actually are, and 2) he wants to strictly get from point A to point B, without leaving the route to see anything cool. He likes to pull out all his paper maps and warn us of elevation gain, headwinds, and the number of hills we will face, and this only puts negativity into our heads. The situation is never as bad as Dave makes it, and Casey and I don't want to bike with the goal of counting down miles and hills until we get to the end. I've expressed this before, but I don't think he can help it. Casey, Marshall, and I wanted to take Route 16 to Fredericksburg since it was about 15 miles shorter, and we wouldn't have to backtrack. Dave, who didn't have the paper maps for Route 16, came up with hypotheticals that we might experience, like potentially unknown big hills, no shoulder, and traffic. When plans start to deviate from his plans, he catastrophizes. There weren't hills, the shoulder was pretty great, and the cars weren't bothersome; we even saved 15 miles of biking. Sure, it's okay to consider the options, but the resistance, inflexibility, and lack of openness irked me.

Luckenbach was not far out of the way from Fredericksburg, and it is a popular small town which the famous Waylon Jennings song is written about. The locals all heavily advised us to go and said that we couldn't miss it! Even though we cut out 15 miles taking Route 16, Dave refused to go the couple extra miles to Luckenbach because it was unknown and off route. I think it's important to travel the way one wants to, but I cannot understand why someone would want to refuse to have experiences just to stick to the route and get to the final destination. I will say, Dave has a lot of admirable qualities, and I am quite fond of the guy and his humor; I'm just currently clashing with his travel style.

Rant over: Fredericksburg is very touristy and fun. Main Street has dozens of bars, restaurants, boutiques, art galleries and stores for window shopping. It's very active and lively, so it's easy to get caught up in the hype. Casey and I went to Fredericksburg Brewing Company, the "oldest operating brewpub in Texas", to get a beer, even though it was 11 AM. We sat by the window and watched people walk by, point at, and make comments about our bikes. Some people knew we were on the Southern Tier and that it was a common route, others were surprised and impressed.

Marshall had continued on to Luckenbach before we arrived in Fredericksburg while Dave stayed on route to Johnson City. Casey and I took the detour as well; the shoulder wasn't great, drivers were impatient assholes, but we made it to Luckenbach! And it was a very tiny, charming, and magical place. There were a couple wooden buildings: the general store, post office, and beer joint which was first opened in 1886. There was a dance hall and stages for performances. The atmosphere was cozy with stringed lights and nifty license plate decor from across the country. When we arrived, the band "Three Old Guys" was playing, though there were only two old guys there. They picked away on their guitars and played some old country favorites as well as some new tunes they wrote. Marshall, Casey, and I drank beer and enjoyed the band and atmosphere for a few hours before we continued to Johnson City, albeit a little tipsy. I am so happy we made this pit stop.

Johnson City was also cute, as I was coming to realize that nearly all the small towns in Texas were. We just passed through, though I wish we stayed longer. Our WarmShowers host, Julia, was 5 miles out of town, and it was starting to get late. Marshall continued three miles further to meet up with Dave at the state park, and Casey and I dove into the woods along a 1.5 mile back road to get to our host's house. Julia was a middle-aged woman who was no-frills and to-the-point. She didn't sugar coat anything and spoke very bluntly; at first, we thought she was annoyed at our last minute arrival, but we realized that's just how she was. She lived alone on a 5 acre property with a super cool house that had a composting toilet, guest house, and separate bathhouse. There were a lot of knickknacks and artsy trinkets around that gave the place a quirky vibe, and after showing us to the guest house, she left us alone for the rest of the night. She made sure to warn us about the rattlesnakes, though we never ended up seeing one.


Also, happy earth day! It's been incredible to bike so far without the use of a single drop of gas. However, it has been challenging to produce little trash since the best foods for endurance sports come in plastic.

Thanks to Marshall and Casey for sending me their pictures (since I lost my phone).

Day 32

(53 miles; 3504 ft gain, Strava map) It was a hilly day to Austin and a bad terrain to lose a phone. Somewhere along the Pedernales State Park road, my cell phone jostled out of my mesh bag, and I didn't realize it until I had climbed a few hills. Backtracking downhill to look for it was unsuccessful, and when I reclimbed the hill to meet back up with Casey, she suggested we go look for it one more time. Back down the hills we went, and our efforts were fruitless. There were potholes which were likely the culprit of the jostling, but there was water on either side of the road. I envisioned my phone bumping out of my bag and taking a topple into the scummy stream in the layer of mud and silt. Of course, it was too hilly to physically check if my phone was on the roadside a few miles back, and we still had 40 miles to go to Austin. Defeated, we moved on, and I angrily began to do financial calculations in my head to figure out what I could afford at the next AT&T store.

Entering Austin was very pretty even though it took a lot of leg work; we even had to dismount and walk up a hill for the first and only time this whole trip. It's very forested for a city, and the Colorado river runs through it, but "it's not the Colorado River, it's a faux Colorado." A wide bike trail runs along the river, and it gave us the chance to weave through the trees and enjoy the Saturday activities, including passing an afternoon Reggae festival. People were kayaking, swimming, and paddle boarding in masses, but, even for it being heavily populated, the city felt very clean and refreshing. My brother's two friends, Reuben and Amie, allowed us to stay with them at their home on Holly Street, not far from all the city activities. A few blocks down, there were numerous vegan restaurants, to Casey's delight, and Counter Culture was an absolutely delicious choice. We filled up on a lot of mac and cheese.

Day 33

(0 miles; 0 ft gain)

We took a rest day in Austin. My brother's other friend, Matthew, lives in College Station, and he offered to drive to Austin to pick me up and take me to the 1836 Chuck Wagon race in Neches, TX, about 3 hours away from Austin; this is just one example of how awesome he is! I couldn't say no because it seemed like a very Texan experience, and I would get to see more of the countryside. Casey opted to stay back for her massage appointment and to meet up with friends in town.

The Chuck Wagon race was exactly how I imagined. There was an open field with some food trucks, vendors selling their homemade jewelry and knives, and cowboys, horses, and wagons gearing up for the events. While it is a week-long festival, we were there on the last day. They played country music over the loudspeakers as the announcer called out the events and commentated on what was happening. The events were as follows from the schedule: Grand Entry | Land Rush Wagons | Alamo Race | Buckboard Wagons | Pasture Barrel Race | Mule Wagons | Bronc Fannin | Classic Wagons | Pasture Ropin. For the grand entry, they had a number of flags presented on horseback as they pertained to Texas and Texas independence. We sang the National Anthem, there were cannons that fired, they said a prayer, and the events began. I found all the events enjoyable to watch, but I particularly enjoyed the Bronc Fannin (rodeo style). One guy was bucked off and had to be taken to the hospital, but, otherwise, there weren't any accidents (and the guy was OK). I had also never seen livestock being roped before, so it was fascinating to watch the technique and teamwork of lassoing a running cow while riding horseback.

On the drive home, Matthew graciously took me to the AT&T store where I cringed at the price they were going to have me pay for a new phone and plan. Matthew asked where I lost my phone (40 some miles before Austin), and he started to do the calculations: It was after 3 PM, the sun set at 7:59 PM, and we had a 3.5 hour drive to get there. Let's do it. He put on some groovy country songs that I hadn't heard before. "When people say they hate country music, it's because they're listening to the crap on the radio." And, quite frankly, I think he is right. Country music can be really good, and I hated country music for the longest time because it was turning into pop trash when I appreciated more of the Alan Jackson, Clint Black, and Randy Travis vibe. It was a good distraction from feeling the anxiety of searching for (and potentially not finding) my phone for the third time, and Jason Eady hit the spot.


The sun was setting, and we got back to the spot. I crouched on the bed of his trailer, and we scanned the grassy edge for miles, stopping at the location with the potholes to do a deep search. When the sun did set, he brought out his spotlight. No luck. It was gone, officially, forever. It would have been nice to have seen it run over by a car or at the bottom of the water, just to have some closure and know that some random person didn't pick it up and pawn it off. We drove back to Amie and Reuben's empty-handed, and I was crushed again. I'm not usually attached to objects, but being on a cross-country bike trip, it was disappointing to be losing my camera, all of the route maps, a way of contacting everyone, and ability to check my bank/credit card purchases.

It was around 10 PM when we got back, and there were some people over visiting. Amie had made a delicious dinner, and Matthew and I dug in (having skipped lunch and dinner). My *amazing* boyfriend, Uri, had sent me multiple links with phone options, detailing the pros and cons of them. I could buy one and have it shipped to Matthew's house where we would be arriving in a few days! I'm so grateful for everyone, especially Matthew who drove me hundreds of miles to experience Texas and search for my phone, Uri who supports my decision to go on this trip and who is always there for me, Reuben and Amie who offered us their place for three nights (!) because a thunderstorm would delay us another day, and Casey for being with me through thick and thin on this journey.



Day 34

(6 miles; 93 ft gain, Strava map)

Rainy day! We slept in, ate amazing breakfast burritos, and vegetated all day. It was glorious. Perhaps we could have biked, but the thunderstorms were not ideal, and I'd have to wait until Thursday to get my phone in College Station anyway. I used the time to catch up on this blog using a computer and check all my accounts that didn't require a 2-step verification from my phone. Casey read Reuben's book Freezing Order by Bill Browder, the same author of Red Notice. Uri also surprised me with a massage gift for the rest day (excuse me while I cry). I wasn't able to use it this day, but I'm going to have it for when I need it in the future.


Casey and I are working through our pains, her jaw and my elbow/hands. I'm pretty sure I have [undiagnosed] cyclist's palsy, based on the activity, cause, and symptoms, but it has improved since I 1) had my handlebars raised, 2) starting using padded gloves, 3) starting stretching and strengthening my hands and arms, and 4) changed my hand positions frequently on my handlebars. There is still some tingling in my fingers and a little weakness, but it's trending better. Unfortunately, Casey can only manage her jaw symptoms, so some days are better than others. Both of us still feel well to ride, though!


Reuben took us for a 4-5 mile bike ride roundtrip to see the Austin bats. At dusk, thousands of bats swarm out from under a particular bridge along the bike trail, and we were able to see the swooping fluid movement like it was black water. It was super neat and definitely a known spectacle. We took the long way back home through the city, and it was surprising that downtown Austin was pretty sleepy and quiet. Verdict: We really like Austin.


Amie showed me an incredible, crowd-pleasing, eggplant recipe that we had for dinner:


Pesto Ingredients

  • 2 cups walnuts

  • A bunch of cilantro

  • A bunch of parsley

  • Handful of basil

  • Handful of mint

  • Walnut oil

  • Sherry vinegar

  • Garlic cloves

  • Salt

  • Pepper


1) Blend pesto, make it kind of chunky rather than creamy

2) Add a lot of fresh pomegranate seeds

3) Slice eggplant lengthwise and bake

4) Spread pesto over eggplant strips and roll up

5) Drizzle with balsamic vinegar



Day 35

(64 miles; 2475 ft gain, Strava map)

We didn’t want to. It was so hard to find the motivation to leave the comfy beds in Austin and get back on the bike to pedal again, in the misty rain. But, we found a way.

Shortly into the ride, we saw a large group of cyclists across the way followed by a few motorcyclists. They waved so we followed after them to chat. However, Casey and I hit the brakes when they took a turn through a line of people cheering for them: they were wounded veterans and were being celebrated. We clapped and cheered with them and were able to exchange a few hellos, but they were on a mission, and our paths separated.


This was also our first day facing the issue of dogs. On a particular street outside Austin, about 3-4 large dogs appeared on either side of us, running and barking. Casey had an airhorn that she bought for this occasion.

“Oh my god, Casey!” I yelled in horror.

“What?” She said, as she looked up to see what I was seeing: 5 other dogs had run into the street in perfect line formation, creating a barricade as they ran towards us. “Casey, do it now!” She started to fumble with the nozzle, partially pressing it as it let out a pitiful hehhhhhh that was barely audible. The dogs barked louder and continued towards us. I biked hard and broke through the barricade, only to look behind and see that Casey had dismounted and was standing there. Her bungee cord holding the air horn busted and wrapped around her wheel. Fortunately, when you stop biking, the dogs don’t care about you anymore and walk away. Life hack?


We met Doug along the way, another guy who was almost 70 on the Southern Tier who had also biked the west coast and the Northern Tier. We saw him periodically throughout the day, and he was super sweet! We hope we meet up with him again, but he’s an unstoppable tank.


We hit a lot of difficult hills that wove through a couple state parks. It was very beautiful and forested, so the ride was quite nice outside of the quick and fast elevation gains. We met a spunky woman from Vermont who is a farmer. She seemed really cool, and then she started talking about how she doesn’t trust doctors and scientists and that she did her own research to know that “what’s in the Covid vaccine isn’t actually a vaccine.” I wanted to ask her what was actually in it, but I didn’t.

Casey saved a turtle! We helped the little guy back into the creek a little ways back. Of course, he might have spent a lot of time leaving the creek to go elsewhere, but we will never know.


When we made it to La Grange, we met Chuck at the gas station. He had lost his wife and was trying to give back to people as much as he could. He offered to take us out to dinner, buy us a motel, or pick us up some food in the gas station. All we really needed was a patch of grass to sleep, so he directed us to a few churches in the area.


We landed at the back of a large parking lot at a church next to the train tracks. It seemed super perfect and quaint. You could hear the frogs, there were fireflies, and you could see the stars super clearly. It went downhill, however, after that.


Day 36

(59 miles; 2844 ft gain, Strava map)

Nighttime was terrible. I suspected the train would go by, and it did, twice. Casey woke in a panic thinking we were on the train tracks because of how loud it was. Meanwhile, my face was stinging painfully, as if I had rubbed it in nettles. I thought perhaps mosquitoes attacked my face, but then I saw the silhouette of a prickly caterpillar walking along my sleeping bag next to my face. Its hairs had gotten all over my face and had burned and stung me for the next 5 hours or so.


This was arguably one of our most mentally challenging days, which the lack of sleep likely contributes to. It was hard to keep going and find the motivation, and we were tired and weak. It was hot, humid, and the sun was exhausting. It felt like we had been biking for 3 hours when Casey told me it was only 30 minutes and we had gone only 6 miles. The whole day progressed like this.


Fortunately, we had entered a small town that had a gas station for a quick Gatorade stop. The middle-aged cashier woman, Joanne, promptly told me that if we waited 5 minutes, they were going to have free pizza and hotdogs for the store’s reopening/change of management. So we did, and we met a cool guy, Zach, who was excited to talk to us about our trip. He gave us a Modelo towel since he worked distributing a variety of beer around Texas.


We chugged along all day, and we struggled with it pretty intensely. Cars were backing up behind us, so we started singing “International Harvester” featuring the line:

“Hoggin' up the road on my p-p-p-p-plower; Chug a lug a luggin' 5 miles an hour!”

The music was a pick-me-up, and we finally made it to Navasota.


Navasota was one of the larger towns we passed through, and we sat in the shade outside the bookstore as we waited for Matthew to pick us up. He lives in College Station and was going to take us to his place for the night and following day as we waited for some packages to arrive.


We ended up going to Casa do Brasil for dinner, and it was very worth it. Casey had a huge selection of vegan food at the fancy salad bar, and Matthew and I helped ourselves to some of their meat options. The waiter was a little flirty and gave me some free dessert, so I won’t complain too much.

Matthew took us by his brother’s house for a quick drink and hangout. He’s a chiropractor and runs a food sensitivity testing business that is very successful. He kindly listened to all of our ailments, and there were many.


Day 37

(0 miles; 0 ft gain)

I couldn’t complain too much that we were waiting for some packages to arrive. I was still very tired and hungry, and we relaxed most of the day. I finally got my new phone set up, so I can get back to taking pictures and blogging more regularly! Matthew was awesome and drove me to AT&T, Best Buy, and Kroger, and I got to see some of his rental units that he was showing a few potential tenants. We enjoyed some time in the hot tub, and Casey made an incredible daal recipe for dinner.

I am really hoping that the next few days provide us with more energy and excitement. Fingers crossed!


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