Brackettville (Ft. Clark Springs) to Camp Wood, TX (49 mi) Tues. 3/30/10

We started out the day with sunshine and a mild wind.  The road is still taking its toll on bodies and bikes, however.  As we were rolling down the road, suddenly my rear view mirror, mounted on the top of my handlebar, flopped over and looked like a child's loose tooth!  After trying to fix it, I just put it in my bike bag.  Alayne loaned me her extra sunglasses mirror.

The flowers continued to cover fields, and the ride was filled with wonderful scents.  The birds were chirping, and there were fields filled with goats, sheep and cows.  There were also the ever-present Turkey Buzzards.  We usually see them soaring above us on the updrafts, look quite beautiful.  They are large birds, but really ugly up close!  There were many deer carcasses on the side of the road, and these bold birds feeding on a deer barely moved as we rumbled by.  I even stopped to take photos of them working on a deer, with about 20 perched in a tree above me.  (see below)

At mile 45, we rode across a high bridge across the Nueces River.  It is a newer bridge, with easy access to the water.  Mike, Alayne and I rode into a camp site to get a closer look.  It is a warm day, but we declined to wade into the river to cool off like some of the other riders did.  We were close to our destination, and after taking a few photos, we rode the rest of the way in.

The side of my foot where I had my surgery back when, has become quite aggravated with all the vibration caused by the road surface.  With my sore right knee and now my left foot, I am seriously considering taking a day break tomorrow.  We are headed for some steep hills (this is called "Hill Country") and I do not want to seriously damage either.

Our ride tomorrow is 39 miles...a sure sign of serious climbing, as in 10% grade.  And of course those chip/seal surface the entire way.

I will wait until tomorrow to decide.  We will not have Internet tomorrow in Vanderpool, so the update for tomorrow will be delayed until we get to Kerrville, TX on Thursday, April 1.