Date(s): Oct. 26, 1999
Day: Tuesday
From: Austin, TX
To: Round Top, TX
Lodging: Round Top RV Park
Segment Mileage: 94.7
Cumulative Mileage: 2064.2
Actual Riding Time: 7:20
Average Speed: 12.9
Weather: Warm, sunny
Temp: low 80's
Today we wanted to get away early because of the long mileage, a 95 mile ride to Round Top, TX, but the hostel doesn't come to life until after 8am, the end of quiet hours. Jimmy, as usual the first one up, at one point dropped his metal eating bowl, and woke everyone in the room. Janet got into the spirit of things by throwing her metal pots onto the floor as well; we don't know exactly why but it got everyone's attention, including the one non-cyclist in the room who could no longer ignore our rustling but tried nonetheless. We continued to pretend to be quiet as we fumbled in the dark to arrange our gear.
We got a late start and headed out into the rush hour traffic. It wasn't bad since we were headed in the opposite direction of most of the traffice that was coming into town. Oliver and I were two of the last to leave and had no problems getting out of town and into the countryside. The terrain was still rolling, but much more gently than before as the hill country changed to rolling farmland. An option today was to ride through Bastrop and Beuscher State Parks just outside of Bastrop. That area is fairly hilly, and those who didn't care for the hills opted to ride the more direct route but had to contend with traffic. After a milk shake at the Dairy Queen in Bastrop with Suzanne and Oliver, and a stop at the Bastrop post office so Oliver could mail another pound of stuff back to Germany, we headed to the parks. Bastrop has an attractive downtown with several small galleries and restaurants. Unfortunately my bike fell while parked against a pole, and my mirror broke. Duct tape is now holding it together.
The ride through the parks was ideal: smooth roads, no traffic, pine trees blocking the wind, and lots of steep downhills. Of course we climbed most of the time to get to the downhills but I didn't mind as it was such a pretty route, with a strong smell of pine forest permeating the air. The Parks contain an isolated remnant of an extensive pine forest that migrated east during the last ice age as local conditions changed. Todd met up with us in the park but stopped for a break along the way. Later he lost his prized possession, a Border Patrol cowboy hat that he found back in Del Rio. It must have taken flight on one of the downhills. Now he has to find another Halloween hat.
In La Grange I stopped at a small bakery on the main square that surrounds the old stone courthouse. The town seems very lively, with lots of old storefronts still in use. I met up again with Oliver and Todd and we rode the rest of the way to Round Top together. The others were all in camp. Jimmy and Bruno had also taken the park route. The bypass route was a little shorter and less hilly, and those who went that way made good time, although we were all very tired after the short night and the long day. Luckily Spike and Lynne volunteered at the last minute to cook dinner and had done the shopping, knowing that the two cooks, Oliver and Todd, probably wouldn't get in until after the store closed. We camped on the wide lawn and enjoyed the luxury of picnic tables under a lighted porch as we ate dinner and wrote in our journals. Jimmy kept track of the score of the World Series game. Although only about half the group are baseball fans, we are paying attention to the outcome. Spike, one of the more diehard fans, started a group bet: guessing the total number of runs to be scored in the series, which allows everyone a chance to participate. The loser does the dishes for the winner the night the winner cooks.
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