Bicycling the Southern Tier

I arrived in Austin yesterday afternoon and was welcomed by my son, Andy, who resides here, and several of his friends (and mine) who joined us for a most enjoyable dinner. This wraps up the first stage of my coast-to-coast adventure. I will leave my bike and gear here in Austin and return to Austin when the bluebonnets are in bloom to ride from Austin to St. Augustine, FL. It was a fantastic first stage in which I rode over 1,700 miles through California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. I was blessed with perfect weather every single day. I met lots of fantastic people, experienced several  interesting cultures, and saw many beautiful and historic sites.  Thank you for following my blog! I will resume blogging on this site when I resume riding, which I anticipate will be some time in mid-March.

There is one winery after another from Fredericksburg to Johnson City. Looked it up and learned that the Texas Hill Country wine region covers 9 million acres making it the second largest wine region in the U.S. Took the afternoon off to visit the LBJ visitor center, LBJ’s childhood home and other historic Johnson family buildings in the Lyndon B Johnson National Historic Park.  I’m very excited to see my son Andy, who lives in Austin, tomorrow! Only things between us are 50 miles and a bunch of hills.

From Cowboys to Wine to Music, the Texas Hill Country has it all. Rode past lots of impressive looking wineries today. When I arrived in Fredericksburg I was ready to sample some of those wines.  I found a wine tasting bar on the very fun Main Street in Fredericksburg with some fine entertainment and I stayed for quite some time. Perfect ending to a perfect day! Seems strange seeing Christmas decorations going up in the towns of Kerrville and Fredericksburg given the endless run of sunny 80 degree days I’ve had on this trip. Hard for this Minnesotan to believe that Thanksgiving is next week.

Bandera takes its designation as the “Cowboy Capital of The World” very seriously. It dates back to the days when Bandera was the staging town for cattle drives northward. Today there are other towns that claim the same distinction.  xashighways.com Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a proclamation in 2016 recognizing Bandera as the “Cowboy Capital of The World”. There being no higher authority than that, that pretty much decides the issue once and for all. I couldn’t help but notice that most men here wear Cowboy hats and wear Wrangler jeans. I really stood out in my Michigan baseball cap. 

The Texas Hill Country reminds me of the Black Hills of South Dakota. Both are awesome areas for bicycling.  Banderas is a touristy little Hill Country town that bills itself as the “Cowboy Capital of The World”. They are having a huge Veterans Day celebration this weekend so I decided to take the day off and see for myself how cowboys celebrate.

Permanent Inspection Stations are set up all over the lower Rio Grande Valley. On the lightly traveled roads I have been on of late there is no one going through the inspection stations and the border patrol agents just wave me through. I do not fit the profile that peaks their interest. An illegal immigrant would not fit in my panniers.  Today was different. I approached one of these inspection stations on a much busier road today. The cars and trucks that had buzzed past me over the past few minutes were waiting in a long line to be inspected. I scoot into the far right side of the lane and pedal to the front of the line on the assumption that I am somehow exempt.  When I get to the front of the line a heavy set border patrol agent points at me and yells, “Hey! Hey! Hey!” This sets off the large German Shepherd he has on a leash in his other hand. Seeing that the heavy set dude is struggling with both arms to control this raging beast I quickly take a few steps back and ask ...

An easy 40-some mile ride eastward past Laughlin Air Force Base brought me to an attraction I found too good to pass up - Moras Spring, the 9th largest springs in Texas. Had the place entirely to myself. I spent the afternoon swimming, which required the use of long neglected upper body muscles. Felt great!  After a lengthy swim I checked into a motel that is part of what were once barracks in adjacent Fort Clark, a well-preserved frontier fort constructed about 170 years ago. Among the distinguished people stationed here were General George Patton, the Buffalo Soldiers ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Soldier ) and Black Seminole Scouts ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Seminole_Scouts ). Right now the normally quiet little town of Bracketville is full of Texas State Troopers that Governor Abbott has relocated from around the state to this region to help stem the flood of illegal immigrants. I had dinner tonight at a small Mexican restaurant in Brackettville with a...

A Texas State Trooper approached me as I walked into the only store in Comstock looking a bit bedraggled after four hours of fighting headwinds and hills in the central part of the Chijuajuan Desert. Looking suspicious, he asked whether I was the bicyclist who had been seen last night sleeping underneath his bike as it was leaning against the guardrail in the narrow shoulder of the two mile bridge over the Amistad Reservoir. He said I fit the description he had been given. Not sure whether the cop believed me, but I spent last night in my tent in Langtry on a bluff overlooking the Rio Grande River Valley and the mountains of Mexico. There was no wall and it was beautiful. The only human contact I had was with the guy at the Roy Bean Museum in Langtry. I asked him whether he lived in Langtry. He laughed kind of derisively and said he lived in Comstock (pop. 191). There are exactly 10 people living in Langtry, but back in 1900 when it was the domain of Judge Roy Bean it was a bustling ra...

My host last night told me, with evident pride, that Sanderson has been dubbed, “the town that was too mean for Bean“. Bean is Judge Roy Bean.  en.m.wikipedia.org Bean lived in Sanderson for a short time before moving to Langtry. According to my host Bean had a very acrimonious relationship with the townspeople of Sanderson, who surreptitiously dumped the whiskey out of his whisky bottles and substituted turpentine. This undoubtedly contributed to Bean’s decision to move to Langtry. I am camping tonight in Langtry, which today is a town in name and history only. There is a small museum here dedicated to Roy Bean and that is about it. I am wild camping here, literally on the banks of the Rio Grande overlooking Mexico. To say this is a remote region would be an understatement. It was originally settled (sparsely)as a cattle ranching area, and ranchers managed to persuade the railroads to put in a railroad to transport cattle to slaughter houses. Windmills supplied the power to pump w...

On my 55 mile ride today I came into contact with exactly 3 people. The first was a passing motorist who pulled over to give me water. The second and third were a couple from Sanderson who pulled over and insisted that I stay with them tonight in their home and adjacent church (in which he is the minister). They routinely invite touring bicyclists to stay with them and set them up with a shower, bed, snacks, drinks and everything a touring bicyclist could possibly need. I gladly accepted and when I arrived they also made me dinner! Lovely couple and a most enjoyable evening. My minister host also serves as town constable in Sanderson (pop. 774). That job almost exclusively involves working hand in hand with federal border patrol agents to enforce immigration laws. The stories he told me about what is going on right now in this area were sad and distressing.

The forecast called for crosswinds, but they turned into headwinds. So I decided to stop in the town of Marathon, where I spent the afternoon hanging out in a microbrewery and an art gallery. Then tonight I went to a star party that featured a professional grade telescope on loan from the McDonald Observatory with a 24” lens. Saw a lot of incredible things, including 4 moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn in a way I had never seen them before.

I managed to pry myself out of Marfa a little after noon today and had a short, enjoyable ride through the high plains to the town of Alpine. Far West Texas is a lot more mountainous than I had imagined and the weather continues to be spectacular. Tonight it’s Friday Night Lights here in Alpine. The opponent is another overnight town for me - Anthony. Gotta pull for the home team tonight on seniors night! Go Bucks!