George: Sunday, 24SEP’17 – Del Rio, TX to Johnson Ranch, TX

It was mutually agreed that we observe to the proverbial day of rest by taking the day off.  The off day was the result of two brutal 60-mile days on the road riding against that invisible bandit that stealthily steals your energy.  In fact, we did ride 40 miles today, half the distance to Camp Wood, our next stop. 

The above maneuver puts us one day behind in the original schedule. No one here is complaining. Mike even benefited because we have stayed in Del Rio with its great hotel accommodations. He will miss out on the Woodbine Inn in Camp Wood. The rest of us are holding our breath, wishing for the best.

We met in the breakfast room at 7:00am for a hearty meal. While we ate, a dripping rain began to dampen the roadways. After breakfast we stepped out into an intermittent mist, just enough to be comforting, and dangerous. Bike tires and wet roadways are a bad mix. The lane lines and any metal are extremely dangerous. With that we headed for the highway with some trepidation.  As we rode US 90 30 miles east toward Brackettville our path dried up. The fickle wind shuffled between a headwind and a crosswind. We managed it well even though we were both riding tired. We met St. Susan half way there and again in Brackettville where Mike was waiting for us as well. He had a couple of warm Stripes burritos in hand as we arrived. Stripes is West Texas’ equivalent to the Southeast’s 7-11 stores.

We left Brackettville for another 10 miles before we called it a day.  We adjusted reservations for the next two days and returned to Del Rio for the evening. Tomorrow we will pick up where we left off and finish the last 40 miles into Camp Wood. Mike will be leaving us in the morning heading back home. Stay tuned. 

Jeff Johnson, of the Johnson Ranch, himself