Significant rollers

Day 7. 51.5 mi. 5:15 hrs. 2932 elev climb. 9.8 mph

Where do I begin? It seems my day really started at sunset last night. You’d think someday when I set up camp I would pay closer attention to where the yard lights are? Last night soon after sunset the yard light comes on at the Roadrunner RV Park. Our tent is aglow! Because I seem to select these less than ideal locations, I have invested in an eye mask. Situation solved. But then it gets worse…my air mattress has a slow leak. I thought it was the cold temps the previous 2 nights but it wasn’t. I was sleeping on the hard, sunbaked tent site on very little suspension. Ugh!

Needless to say I sprung up early 6am and the group got rolling. We had a nice early start for the 60 miles into downtown Austin. With a quartering tailwind we were off through the ample rolling hills. Beautiful morning. Shortly after we had water on the road at a creek crossing we met up with a couple local (Austin) guys that had been bike camping at a state park. Had a super nice chat and then they directed us to the Olive Bistro. Good food. We shared a lunch table and met each other a little better. Super nice guys…Spencer and Tom!

Back to the winding, twisty, up, down, up , down for 30 miles into the city. I love/hate traveling through cities. I love it because there’s such a visual overload. But I hate it because there are so many stops and starts and double checking directions. It’s exhausting at the end of the day. Plus….it was still hilly. There was one hill that was like an exclamation point at the end of the day. Holy moly…it was a sure walk! It was the steepest hill I think we’ve encountered. It was a 4 stop interval push like a Tabata drill…hahaha.

Once you get to downtown Austin there’s all park along the river. It was like beach day downtown. Everyone was so vibrant, walking, running, paddle boards, kayaks, scooters and bikes. I love, love cities like this!

At about 4pm we arrived at AirBnB “Juan’s Place” is in a great little neighborhood on the East Side. Stretched out and hanging out. Life is still good 😊

Curt separated from us about midway through the city. He was having a chain guide issue on his bike and needed to go the recumbent specialty shop. His story of the ride into Austin downtown would be different than ours. More mileage, more climbing but situation resolved and he’s good to go!