ONE MORE TEXAS TOUR

We had a very hot and humid summer in Houston this year. It was brutal for me! During July and August I very often had to cut our "normal" Saturday morning ride short because I just could not handle the heat. Have I said "getting old sucks!" yet?

As we got into September, the heat was still there but the humidity backed off enough that I felt like I was myself on the bike again. That got me dreaming about another tour this fall to be able to escape "real life" for a short time.

Like previous tours, we wanted to stay within an easy drive from Houston but also wanted to go to an area we hadn't toured previously. We are looking forward to 2025 when we retire and won't be confined to a short vacation period to tour. Until then, we'd rather do a short tour than no tour at all. 

We have done two tours between Houston and the Hill Country and we did a great tour last fall around Toledo Bend Reservoir on the eastern border of Texas. I spent quite a bit of time looking for somewhere to go and then figuring out where I could cobble together a loop tour with camping and food options for a 6-day tour.

What I finally came up with was a tour in northeast Texas. I have done some riding in parts of northeast Texas many years ago, but have never ridden the majority of what I put together for this tour. I promised my husband I would do something unique for this tour and so I will take him to the Eiffel tower in Paris on Day 5 of the tour - Paris, TX that is! And yes, they do have an Eiffel tower. Pics will be provided for those interested.

Here is the general plan for the week, starting and ending at the circled location on the map (Cooper Lake State Park, TX):

This tour will be a little different since we won't have any friends touring with us. Everyone else has other plans or other places they need to be - or so they say! We know it is a very small group of cyclists that love this kind of bicycle touring and so it is hard to find others to join for the adventure. Fortunately, my better half loves to tour almost as much as me and so we each have a built-in touring partner.

Stay tuned to follow along for the good, the bad, and the ugly (hopefully not much of this!) as we explore northeast Texas.