DAY 6 - BROADDUS, TX TO BROOKELAND, TX

 Mileage - 32.8; Total Mileage - 225.3 miles

Margarita Count - 7 (Finally!)

We awoke to a nice morning and a wet tent fly from the heavy dew overnight. We knew we had another shorter day today and so were not in a rush to get out of camp for the last day of the tour. We hung the fly on the line to somewhat dry while we started packing up camp. The marina's grill opened at 6am for breakfast and so we took a little time to go get a hot breakfast before getting the rest of camp packed up. We finally rolled out about 10am - we are definitely not early birds!

Reba rode out with us again and then returned to the van to meet us at the end point back at Mill Creek Park in Brookeland. Reba rode 5 days in a row with us this week for a total of 171 miles. And those miles included plenty of hills that are something us flatlanders rarely have a chance to ride! What an amazing week for her - she's a beast!

We back-tracked to Broaddus this morning to connect with one of the few roads that would take us east far enough to skirt around the lake and get back to Brookeland. We made a quick stop at the convenience store in Broaddus and then were on our way. There was a convenience store on the map at about 13.5 miles into today's ride I had marked as a possible break stop and refueling point.

When we got there, we found a dilapidated store that was closed with a couple of chairs out front. At least the roof over the defunct gas pumps was still there to provide some shade for our break. We all had plenty of snacks and fluids with us so we took our break and enjoyed the shade. The sun was up and bright, and it was already starting to get warm.

The road was rolling again today with no steep sections. We were on FM 83 which was another quiet road that would connect to US 96 on the way back to our car. There wasn't too much traffic and the drivers were mostly patient if they had to wait to pass us. It was only another 9 miles down the road to our last town and break spot for the ride. The miles just kept rolling under our wheels until we were in Pineland. 

After another break and snack in the shade, it was time for the last leg of the tour. As we rolled the last 10 miles to camp the road continued being rolling to almost flat. We were both smelling the barn and the miles went by too fast for me. I wanted to enjoy the last of the tour before having to think about packing up to go home. 

It was a wonderful sight to see the park sign and know we had completed the trip and had no major issues - not even one flat tire! We rolled to our campsite and got out the bottle of margaritas left in the cooler to celebrate another successful tour.

The last 3 margaritas celebrating the end of the tour. With all the small towns and dry counties, opportunities were slim to get margaritas this tour. The next tour may be another story!

I have no idea where the next tour will take us, but know both of us haven't had our fill of touring yet! Hopefully Elie will be able to join the next tour with us. I think the touring bug has bit Reba again, so looking forward to another trip with her, as well. 

DAY 5 - SAN AUGUSTINE, TX TO BROADDUS, TX

Mileage - 29 5; Total Mileage - 192.5 miles

Margarita Count - 4 (Still!) 

I slept hard for about 10 hours last night and it was wonderful! I felt good getting up this morning and knew it would be a good ride day. 

it was warmer overnight because the wind is coming from the south and has brought us warmer weather. Like yesterday, we were mostly be headed south today and had a headwind the majority of the ride. 

We rolled out of camp at our standard time of 9:30. After not eating dinner last night I was finally hungry so I had my last two packets of oatmeal for breakfast. That's 6 oz. I won't have to carry the next two days..haha. We stopped at Valero on our way out of town because we wouldn't have any services until mile 26. Dave's supplies included 2 burritos - one for breakfast and one for the road!

We stayed last night at the Mission Dolores State Historical Park. Many of the RV spots are in use by guys working the fracking, or driving the trucks. That park is probably one of the best we have stayed at this tour. 

Most of our day was spent on quiet FM 1277. It was rolling terrain with a few longer climbs and the occasional steep section. We still had about 1,200 feet of climbing and that was enough.  Reba rode out with us again this morning for about 18 miles and then turned around to get her van. 

They have all the "dollars" locked up here!

Reba and Dave riding along. 

There is a lot of fracking going on around this area. We only saw a few sand trucks and water trucks for fracking operations today. Throughout the week we've seen a lot of them and tried to stay off the main roads they are using. 

You know you are moving slow on the bike when you get passed by a butterfly, and it leaves you in the dust! I've experienced that a couple of times this tour as I slowly climbed up some steeper hills. We had a couple of 8% and 9% sections today. With 45 pounds of gear on the bike and myself, that's a lot to carry up the hill.

Shady rest break beside a church. 

I have spent lots of time with "granny" this tour - like I do anytime there are hills. My granny gear is very low and I never think that I'd be better off without that super low gear!

Since today was a short day, we made it to the one town we would see today in time for a late lunch at the Dairy Mart. The food was good and it was nice to sit and eat in the AC. It was in the mid-80's today, which is quite a change from just a few days ago in the mid-60's. 

We rolled into camp a little before 4pm and were able to relax a little. The marina has a grill that closes at 5:30pm and we almost didn't get back over there in time to get dinner. We were able to get burgers and a grilled cheese which made a perfect dinner. 

We only saw one town today, Broaddus, TX, population 184. They didn't have a liquor store or any alcohol because it is a dry county here, so no luck with any margaritas tonight. I did give fair warning at the beginning that I wasn't sure I'd find many margarita opportunities.

Reba with Reggie and Ross in camp tonight. 

We are camped right by the lake and enjoyed the site of the sunset behind our tent. Tomorrow is our last day of riding, which is always bittersweet. We spend lots of time planning, dreaming and riding our bikes to be ready, and in a flash it is over. Now we'll have to start the process all over again for the next tour. 

DAY 4 - LOGANSPORT,LA TO SAN AUGUSTINE, TX

Mileage - 40.9; Total Mileage - 163.0 miles

Margarita Count - 4 (Still!)

Today the adventure officially began. Last night got down to 48 degrees and it was very humid making it feel colder than that. My sleeping bag did good and I slept good - just had to keep my head buried in the bag to keep my nose from getting cold. The dew was so heavy that when I went to bed about 9pm the tent fly was already totally wet. 

This morning was still damp and cold, with a wet tent fly. We hung the fly up to dry some and wait for the sun to come up to warm us up before leaving. We didn't get out of camp until 10am. 

The original plan was a 37-mile day. You can see that's not exactly what happened. We crossed back into Texas a mile into today's ride. There was a nice stone sign right after we crossed the Sabine River, along with the more traditional Texas highway welcome sign. 

We had a beautiful rolling country road when we left Longasport for the first 6 miles. We were chatting and enjoying the sunny and almost watm morning. It was picture perfect!

Until we saw the sign that said State Road Maintenance Ends. Yep - the road turned to dirt/gravel. We had a series of county roads that would keep us off the main road and those were the only two options. We wound up riding 11 miles of dirt/gravel. They were so narrow that when a semi-tractor came down the road we all had to move into the ditch to let him by. The county roads were quiet and beautiful, but so much slower especially when full loaded. 

Reba was riding out and back with us again today and had her fill of the gravel at 4 miles. She turned around and had a shorter riding day back to the van. She has skinny 23mm tires on her road bike so she did good to ride those 8 miles without a problem. Reba definitely mad the right decision! 

The weather warmed up pretty quickly this morning when the wind changed directions and started blowing out of the south-southwest. Of course that is the general direction we are taking for the rest of the tour. Each day will be a little warmer so I expect a headwind the rest of the tour. 

When I got on the bike and started pedaling this morning, my body said, "What the hell are you doing?!?!" Everything was a little sore and tired. Day 3 of a tour I am tired by the end of the day. Day 4 is always the hardest day for me. And that was no different this tour than any other. 

We made it all the way to Day 4 before changing our route from the original plan. Usually that happens on Day 1! I'd like to think it was because I did such a great job with routing, but the reality is there weren't a lot of other good options this time. 

We saw a lot of chicken barns today but none of them seemd to ne operational. Not sure why that was but maybe there was some type of disease that went through here and they all had to be culled. 

The miles passed slowly today because I was tired. The scenery was still beautiful pine trees and the roads were mostly quiet. Our last 10 miles to camp were on US96. While it is a major highway, it had a great shoulder. The good thing as a US highway is that the grades are usually smoothed out some.

We were slow today and already looking at a later arrival to camp until I managed to drop my chain down between my cassette and spokes. It took Dave about 30 minutes to get it worked out of there and then I had to reload my bags. We didn't roll into camp until about 6pm. 

I sure was happy to see this sign! I knew it meant we were finally coming in to San Augustine and calp wasn't far. 

 By the time we got to camp, Reba lnew all the neighbors and we settled in. I was more tired than hungry tonight so I decided I didn't want any dinner. Reba took Dave into town for a burger while I went to bed early at 8pm. I was gone by the time they got back!

I'm looking forward to a shorter day tomorrow.

DAY 3 - ZWOLLE, LA TO LOGANSPORT, LA

Mileage - 42.1; Total Mileage - 122.1 miles

Margarita Count - 4 (Still!)

It was cold overnight and we woke up to 43 degrees. We were warm in our bags so it didn't bother us until we got up. There were still a few embers from last night's fire that Dave got going that helped warm us up some while we ate breakfast and started packing up. None of us were moving real fast this morning but I was the slowpoke. We didn't roll oit of camp until 9:45am. 

Of course, with the cold Reba and I had on jackets, leggings and gloves. Dave was just in his jersey and shorts 😳.  It was a beautiful sunny morning and the headwind from yesterday was gone - yay!

As we were rolling through a small town this morning, there were two guys at a lumber store that were standing near the road. Reba hollered to them and asked if we were the first people they'd ever seen using the bike route, and they promptly said "Yep!" None of us were surprised based on the condition of some of it. 

Our first stop was at 19 miles at the Lost Cajuun convenience store. When we got there, we were seriously wondering if it had gone out of business 20 years ago. The gas pumps still standing didn't even look functional and I don't think it had seen a paintbrush in 20 years either. But we walked in and they were open and we could smell grease from cooking. Turns out they have a little grill and made boudin for Dave and sandwiches with fries for Reba and me. It made a great lunch, especially since there wasn't anything else for the next 20 miles!

We were on the same road with the bike route this morning for the first 19 miles. Reba rode out with us and had lunch, then rode a few extra miles with us before heading back to get her van. The quality of the bike route varied from good to almost non-existent when it was taken over by grass, or crumbling asphalt. Oh well, 19 miles was better than nothing!

The morning miles were flatter rolling hills and the miles just flew by. After Reba turned around the hills got a little steeper and longer. Reba missed the best part of the route!

As we topped a hill and slowed down to catch our breath and had a chance to meet this nice fellow at the side of the road. After a short chat we went our separate way. 

We took a couple of short breaks on the side of the road, and before we knew it the last 23 miles of the day were done. It also warmed up this afternoon to 72 degrees so I was able to shed the vest, bolero, and leggings. I'm hoping it will be a little warmer tonight and tomorrow morning. 

We came across another giant painted fish today. I'm not sure what that is about but they are pretty. 

About the margarita count...i did my best today.  We had dinner at the local Mexican restaurant and the food was good. The only gripe is they didn't even have margaritas! Wish me better luck tomorrow night. 

There weren't any camping options in Logansport except for an RV park that is mostly for project workers that move at the end of a project, so it is more a residential type  of place. The bathrooms got an F but at least it was quiet at night. Tomorrow we head south back into Texas. 

DAY 2 - SOUTH TOLEDO BEND STATE PARK, LA TO ZWOLLE, LA

Mileage - 40.2; Total Mileage - 80.0 miles

Margarita Count - 4

It was cool over night again and we woke up to 46 degrees. I was really wishing that the wind would die down overnight and not make an appearance today. That wish didn't come true! It did settle down some during the night but came right back as soon as the sun came up. It was still out of the north-northwest but only blowing at about 10 mph, and sometimes 15 mph. Guess what direction we were headed today? If you guessed north-northwest you are right!

Reba was ready to go and ride this morning! We rolled out of camp at about 9:30am - right on time for us 😁. As soon as we left the park gate we were greeted with a steep hill to get to the main road. Dave and I didnt even bother to ride far on cold legs. We walked up. Reba road a good portion of it before walking with us. She registered 13% grade.

Once on the road we had a repeat of the terrain from yesterday for the first 5 miles. Lots of up and down on mostly short hills. It felt like we did a lot of climbing in those first 5 miles. As we closed in on the first stop to get some snacks, the hills got a little longer but were not as steep.  The miles seemed to just roll under our wheels and the annoying headwind just added a little challenge.  

We hadn't gone far when we came across the Dive Toledo Scuba shop. Yep - Dave can find a scuba shop anywhere!

Reba rode with us for 20 miles this morning before turning around and heading back to the van. That was her first 40 mile ride since getting back on the bike 7 weeks ago after a 9.5 uear hiatus. And, she did it with 1,600 feet of climbing! For flatlanders like us from Houston, hills are always a challenge because there aren't any real hills to ride without driving a long way. She is killing it!

It was a beautiful sunny morning but it stayed cool so I wore my leggings, bolero and vest almost all day. It warmed up to about 66 by 3pm and that was it. It's supposed to start warming up over the next few days so I'm looking forward to that. Tonight is supposed to be cool/cold again. 

About 13 miles from camp, in rural western Louisiana, we found an official Bike Route. I was very surprised! We had a wide shoulder on the highway and it was officially signed and painted. It was very nice, but like all bike lanes there was debris we had to watch for and dodge. But it was nice to have a shoulder!

All in all, the drivers in Louisiana have been very considerate of us and given us room. 

Camp tonight is at a Sabine River Authority campground. It was very nice - clean grounds, nice sites, and nice clean bathrooms. There were no lights in our camping loop at all and so it was very dark which made for good sleeping. There was even a pile of wood for a fire and we had a nnice fire before going to bed. 

There weren't good food options near camp so we elected to eat our freeze-dried meals for dinner instead of carrying something in from our last stop. They are surprisingly good and are quick and easy. 

Dave and I are always happy to see any towers - cell tower, radio antenna, fire watch towers - when riding in hilly terrain. They mean you are at the high point, at least for that climb!

Tomorrow is the longest day of the ride at 42 miles, and the third day of a tour is always hard for me. My body hasn't got on board with touring yet. Either way, I'm just happy to be riding my bike. 

DAY 1 - BROOKELAND, TX TO SOUTH TOLEDO BEND STATE PARK, LA

Mileage - 39.8; Total Mileage - 39.8 miles

Margarita Count - 2

Today started out cold at about 48 degrees. By the time we ate some breakfast and packed up camp we rolled out about 9:30am. It was cool enough that I wore my leggings, bolero, gloves, and rain jacket. I was plenty warm and wound up shedding the extra layers as the sun warmed up the day. We had a mix of blue sunny skies, partly cloudy, and very cloudy. It was cool on and off all day, and there were a couple of times I almost pulled out another layer!

The wind was blowing out of the north-northwest today - sometimes pretty strong. It didn't bother us much because we were mostly traveling east to Toledo Bend Reservoir and had piney woods along the road that helped shield us from the worst of it. 

We got about 6 miles of warm-up in this morning before we got the first real hill. It wasn't too bad because it had a stair step about halfway up that let us catch a quick breath before continuing on. I think we climbed the same 50 - 70 feet all day. It was just up and down all day. 

We were on Recreational Road 255 for most of the day (about 30 miles). If you live in Texas and don't know about Recreational Roads it is interesting. Wikipedia has a good write up on it. it was a pretty good road and traffic was fairly light most of the day. There are very few homes or businesses along the road. The road going up most of the hills widened to two lanes and then  merged back to one lane on the down-hill side. It sure helped the cars since we were slow climbing the hills. We could see the road widening ahead and knew we were going to climb again!

We knew we wouldn't have any services today for the first 34 miles and packed extra snacks to get us to a restaurant or store. I had found the Buzzard's Roost on Google when planning this trip and knew it was the only restaurant we would see today. We rolled in at 1:45pm and saw the sign that said they were only open until 2pm on Sunday. I quickly went inside to find out if they were still serving and they graciously said yes. They had a sign inside that said, "Many have eaten here - few have died!" We had a very good, quick lunch and got out of their way so they could close. Boy did that food taste good!

Today's ride had the most climbing for the tour and so we are feeling good tonight having that out of the way. I'm sure there will be a few muscles that take a little to get moving in the morning, but that will work itself out as we get going. 

Right before we got to camp today, we crossed over into Louisiana. The only store we passed this afternoon was in another Texas dry county so there was no addition to the margarita count today. Maybe I'll have more luck tomorrow in Louisiana. 

Just as we were pulling into South Toledo Bend State Park, we hear a car honking and it is Reba in her van. It was so good to see her! She plans to ride out for a little while with us in the morning and then come back to the park and get her van. She'll meet us again tomorrow afternoon at camp and we can continue reminiscing about bygone days 😚.

Reba's van she's using to visit us and ride part of each day with us. 

The wind continues to blow tonight and we are hoping it will die down in the morning some as we start heading north along the eastern shore of Toledo Bend Reservoir. 

We're both tired and will sleep well tonight. That's one of the benefits of touring -you always sleep good!

DAY 0 - HOUSTON, TX TO BROOKELAND, TX

Mileage - 0; Total Mileage - 0 miles

Margarita Count - 2

Today was a travel day to get to the start of the tour. There was no need to rush to get on the road early today since the campground tonight where we will leave the truck for the week was only about 2.5 hour's away. 

It has been a long time since either of us has been to East Texas but the lanscaped hasn't changed. About an hour out of Houston the woods and pine trees started filling in the side of the highway. We even had an opportunity to watch some of the annualar eclipse when we stopped for lunch. 

I wanted some margaritas to celebrate the kick-off of the tour in camp tonight and hadn't bought any in Houston. We figured it would be an easy thing to grab it at a liquor store in one of the larger towns we were going through. When we stopped for lunch in Livingston, I looked for a liquor store but the only stores that popped up were convenience stores and grocery stores. 

I knew they wouldn't have what I wanted because in Texas you can only get liquor in a licensed liquor store. Then I started remembering other trips in East Texas and the dry counties. I started thinking we wouldn't find one today and I'd have to wait to start the margarita count until tomorrow. About 10 miles from camp we crossed whatever magical line there is around here and two liquor stores popped up on either side of the road!

Provisions were purchased and I'm enjoying the first margarita of the tour. I think the margsrita count will be lackluster this tour - but I'll try hard to mainyain my standards if I can 😁 It might or might not get easier when we cross into Louisiana tomorrow. 

The weather is feeling very much like fall tonight. It is a nice night in camp and will be down in the low 50's overnight. We should sleep really well!

This is a picture of the piney woods along the highway this afternoon. While most of the trees are still green and lush, you can see the effects of the very hot, dry summer where dead and brown trees are scattered within the green. 

Mill Creek Park on Sam Rayburn Reservoir is a very nice, clean Corp of Engineers park. It is obviously popular with fishermen - there are fishing boats at every other campsite, if not more. We might visit here again for a camping trip. 

We'll sleep good tonight.  

ANOTHER TEXAS TOUR TO EXPLORE OUR HOME STATE

Not too long after we finished our spring tour, Dave and I started talking about other areas of Texas that we would like to explore by bicycle. There are several nice reservoirs in southeast Texas that neither of us have been to and so I started researching the area. As everyone knows, Texas is a huge state that offers lots of different options for tours. We were looking for something that wasn't too far of a drive from Houston and would provide a different landscape that Houston and the Hill Country.

We are going as far east as you can in Texas on this trip - spending several days in Louisiana before circling west and coming back into Texas. East Texas is known for its piney woods, so we'll be enjoying lots of forested areas along with plenty of hills. 

The weather has finally turned to fall here in the last two weeks (we thought it would never cool off this year!) and we are looking forward to nice riding conditions and cooler nights for camping. Days should be mid-70's and sunny, with nights in the 50's. We don't seem to get near as much of this cooler weather these years so we are going to take advantage of it.

This tour, we plan to circle around Toledo Bend Reservoir with a couple of nights on the Sam Rayburn Reservoir. There a plenty of Corps of Engineers parks, state parks, and private camping options around the reservoirs as they are also popular for fishing.

Dave is particularly looking forward to the Louisiana portion of the tour and the potential for finding some good boudin!

Neither Eve nor Elie could join us this trip as work duties prevented them from taking off. Maybe the next trip (next spring?) they will have an option to join again. 

A long-time friend, Reba, (notice I didn't say "old"!) is planning to join us for a couple of days during the tour. I have known and ridden with Reba for many years - so many it's hard to remember when I first met her. Reba was touring before I even knew what it was, riding the inaugural Trans Am Trail across the US with BikeCentennial in 1976. We've done two tours together during the years and I'm looking forward to seeing her again.

Here is a look at the route I have planned. True to form - I'm sure we will deviate from this at least some but it is the lightly sketched plan for now. 😊

For those of you not from Texas (or even the eastern part of Texas!), the red dot shows our starting location and gives you a general idea where we will be riding within Texas. Basically just barely in Texas!

FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE SPRING TOUR

Total mileage:  196.6 - we'll just round that up to 200 miles!

Total climbing:  4,923 feet

What a great 5 days on the road with my hubby and wonderful friends! This was a great trip length with a very acceptable amount of climbing for us flatlanders. It was still hard work, especially the climbs that tilted up more than 7%. Fortunately, there weren't too many of those - unfortunately, they all seemed to happen on the last day! I didn't plan that very well, did I?

April weather can still be unpredictable in Texas, even though it is finally starting to warm up. We lucked out and missed the rain on day 1 and day 5, even though it looked like it was raining all around us. It was never too warm during the day and the nights were cool for good sleeping. 

I added a Big Agnes camp table to the touring kit this time. Dave gave it to me for Christmas and he also carried one this tour for the first time. It provides a nice area off the ground when camping without a picnic table, and only adds a little over 2 pounds to the overall load. They came in very handy for the whole group the two nights we didn't have a picnic table. The Big Agnes chairs go without saying. It is so much more relaxing to sit in a chair with a back after a day on the road, than it is to sit at a picnic table. And I'm willing to carry the extra 2 pounds for this as well!

Big Agnes Woodchuck Camp Table and Big Agnes Mica Basin Camp Chair

I'm not sure where the next tour will take us, or when. My brain is already spinning about places to explore. I'll let you know when we figure it out!

DAY 5 - LEXINGTON, TX TO WARDA, TX

Mileage - 32.6; Total Mileage - 196.6 miles

Margarita Count - 4! plus 2 shots of Tequila in camp

Today was our last day of this tour. We are all finally in the daily routine. It takes a few days before the setting up and packing up of camp are normal and you know where everything belongs. It is quite the sight when we roll into camp and start unpacking the bags. It is amazing to see two tables, four chairs and the tents all set up with sleeping bags, pads, pillows and clothes. 

Everyone sat in camp a little longer this morning, savoring an extra cup of coffee while packing up. We finally rolled out about 10am, just far enough to get to Herk's Store and Grill a few blocks from camp. They made a great breakfast that got us ready for the road. We finally left town about 11am - not an early start but we knew we had a shorter day and were not too worried about time.

Most of the ride today was on small county roads, which varied in condition from mostly patches with intermittent smooth road, to pretty good road. What they all had in common was beautiful country, very few cars, and great scenery. We had more wildflowers today, mostly Indian paintbrush and primrose. I also saw one small area with this pretty blue wildflower that I don't remember ever seeing before. I had to look it up - I think it is the Blue Mealy Cup Sage. We've also seen patches of the purple Drummond Phlox all through the trip.

Here is some scenery rolling down CR 216 this morning.

We came across a ranch that had this display of statues of all types of wild animals. They were very life-like and so well done.

Dave found the first patch of wild blackberries that were ripe today on the side of the road. Of course, he had to stop and pick some for a quick snack.

Here are some more scenery pics from the last part of the ride. 

Right outside of Giddings there was a pasture with these two donkeys and this beautiful longhorn. One of the donkeys came charging from the back of the pasture when I stopped by the fence, braying all the way!

We rolled into Giddings about 2pm and stopped for our last meal "on the road". We ate a great lunch at the Santa Fe Steakhouse and then it was time to ride the last 12 miles of the tour. We arrived back at Bluff Creek Ranch (Warda) about 4pm. There were a few shots of tequila to celebrate a great tour and I managed to get my last two margaritas in celebration. Then it was time for showers and everyone to load up and head back to reality.

I'll follow up with stats and other thoughts tomorrow.