DAY 5 - CLARKSVILLE, TX TO PARIS, TX

Mileage - 31.7; Total Mileage - 182.1 miles

Today was a really good riding day. By Day 5, your body finally starts to get with the program and accept that it has to get up and ride another day. 

The B&B last night was a treat, except that the heater never came on last night so it wasn't quite as toasty as I was hoping. It was cool (61 degrees) in the house when we got up about 7:30 this morning. But still way warmer than it would have been in camp at 39 degrees!

The original plan was to take the Northeast Texas Trail (NETT) fromt Clarksville to Paris. I was unsure of the trail surface from Clarksville so we decided to look it over and go with plan B if needed. We found the trail a few blocks from the B&B. It was mostly dirt and mowed grass on the RR right of way, but was rough and rutted. We rode it about a mile and decided plan B looked better. 

Plan B was to ride the wide shoulder of US 82 for about 5 miles out of town before we could turn off onto a quiet FM road that generally parralleled the path of the trail to the town of Bagwell. Once we got to Bagwell, we could see the trail leaving town was now graded dirt with gravel. It looked much smoother and more rideable so we moved over to the trail. The trail was in really good shape, and was very shady and quiet. Sometimes, with the trees you couldn't even tell where you were. 

Dave's trail find this morning!

We took the trail all the way to Detroit and planned to eat at CJ's Cafe right on the trail. CJ's had a good menu and good food. It was a bonus that it was easy to get into and out of! We headed west from Detroit towards Paris on the gravel trail. The trail continued to be in good shape except for the bridges. Most of the bridges were really rough and the wood decking was rotted in some areas. We were still able to ride them but we were slow and careful crossing. 

CJ's Cafe

Trail sign heading into Detroit

When we got to Blossom, we were rewarded with paved trail all the way into Paris (about 10 miles). Man, that pavement felt so smooth after the gravel! There were benches, port-a-potties, water fountains/pumps, and picnic tables beside the trail in this more developed area. The trail is being developed from the west to east, so further enhancements should be made to the gravel trail we rode earlier today. 

Look at the beautiful pavement ahead!

Nice picnic area near Paris

Just a few miles from Paris

It is forecasted to be another cold night (40 degrees) and our friends James and Monica were planning to come visit us in Paris so we decided to splurge on another motel tonight. 

We got in about 3:45 this afternoon and had time to clean up before James and Monica arrived. After getting caught up a little, we headed out to a Mexican restaurant for dinner and margaritas. We were not familiar with any of the restaurants so we chose one from Google and went there. We walked in and were seated, checked the menu and saw they didn't have margaritas, and we walked out to try the next restaurant on the list!

The second restaurant had great reviews, but we were not sure when we pulled into an old Sonic building. They must have expanded the building some because there was plenty of seating room inside. They had a full menu and best of all, there were margaritas! The food was good, the margaritas were better, and the company was the best!

James and Monica - don't get to see them enough!

After several rounds of margaritas, it was time for us to head back to the motel and for James and Monica to head home. 

We have one more day of riding until the tour is over. I'm not ready for it to be done yet, but reality is calling us. We will head back to Cooper tomorrow and then head home to Houston. Then the dreaming of the next tour will slowly begin again.