Today was more scenic than I had anticipated! It was another beautiful day in Texas, and was my second longest day of the trip both by total miles and total time in the saddle.
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When David and I rolled out of his garage at 8:20 AM, we were greeted by 44°F air, although it didn’t seem that cold due to the clear skies and lack of wind. After a short distance, we said our goodbyes so he could go to work as an instructor pilot while I was headed toward Austin.
It’s nice being back in civilization. I only have to carry three water bottles, and I can create milestones to break up the day. I’ll be generally in the I-35 corridor all day, but far enough from it to not hear the noise.
My first scheduled stop was a Starbucks after 20 miles. That’s the perfect distance to take a sit-down break. Dark roast coffee and a warm chocolate croissant are icing on the cake. This is the first time I’ve been to Starbucks on this entire trip.
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Starbucks in New Braunfels is where the Google Maps route crosses I-35, to ride on the north side on more country roads. The next stop was another 17 miles, Panda Express in San Marcos.
San Marcos was actually my original destination for the day, but because of tomorrow’s headwinds, and grandkids waiting for me in Austin, I decided to push further to get more miles out of the way today and get there earlier tomorrow.
I was surprised how rural some of the roads were, given how close I was to the big cities of San Antonio and Austin. Most of the roads were quiet, but there were some sections with higher traffic and no shoulders that required extra diligence.
I got my drone out for the first time in days. It’s been grounded due to high winds and airports lately. I got some footage of a very old bridge in New Braunfels and a quaint old water tower in Gruene.
It’s nice to have options not only of where to take a break, but where to stay for the night. Every time I got to a hotel, I could decide whether to stay there or ride another ten miles.
So I kept pushing on, and rode all the way to a Comfort Inn in Buda. This will minimize my final day tomorrow into Austin against headwinds.
It’s a strange feeling…tomorrow is not only my last day of this TEXBIRD trip, but it’s the final segment of the entire 3200-mile Southern Tier Bicycle Route that I started in March 2024.
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TRANSLATIONS/BACKGROUND: “TEXBIRD” = Texas Bike Ride, my own nickname for the 800 miles in the middle of Southern Tier Bicycle Route, from El Paso to Austin, using maps from ACA (Adventure Cycling Association). This will complete my ride of the Southern Tier from the Pacific Ocean (San Diego) to the Atlantic Ocean (Jacksonville). (I biked the 1500 miles from Austin to Jacksonville in March 2024, and the 1000 miles from San Diego to El Paso in February 2025.)
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LINKS:
Old-fashioned BLOG if you have friends who don’t use Facebook:
“Old Scouter” Facebook page if you want to follow big adventures with more pictures and video clips (but not unrelated personal posts):
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100066334039590
“Old Scouter” YouTube page (when I get time to edit after the trip):