Day 41: Flat & Fast

FINALLY, today we got to do what tandems do well -- mostly flat terrain.  It was great!  We jammed along, keeping mostly a 15 mph average (keep in mind we are still towing our 100+ pound non-pedaling passenger).  It's amazing how fast 60+ miles goes when you're not laboring up hill after hill after hill.

We got a late start out of Shepherd Sanctuary this morning, about 9:30 a.m..  I was thinking we'd have a long day ahead of us but it turned out seemingly short.   We went east on highway 223 to Dolen, then 787 through Romayor and Votaw to Thicket, then 1293 to Honey Island and Kountze, then 69/287 and 327 to Silsbee.  We had called the Red Cloud RV Park in Silsbee this morning to inquire about camping availability to find that our friends, the Adventure Cycling tour group, would be there tonight as well.  We passed Ed and Cathy on the road today, rolled into the camp about 3 p.m. and snagged one of two available cabins.  Rode about a half mile to the Walmart and got dinner for the night - seafood jambalaya, cheese bread, and southwestern salad, and of course, plenty of beer.  Rick played horseshoes with some of the ACA guys tonight and then we watched Game 2 of the SF/Detroit World Series with several of them in the park's community.  And YAY!!  SF won again!!!!  A "thumbs up" day today for sure.

This is our last night in Texas.  Tomorrow we will ride highway 96 to Kirbyville, TX, then 363 and 190 into DeRidder, Louisiana.  Tomorrow night I'm drinking champagne to celebrate crossing Texas.  It's a BIG tough state.  Rick commented just yesterday there's rides across Iowa (RAGBRAI) and a lot of states, but have you ever heard of a ride across Texas?????

Total miles:  64.3

Time:  4:19

Avg:  14.9 mph