I’m still trying to write my way through last week’s academic deliverables, but I’ve found it much easier since my 3 day bike trek to the Texas coast via route 183. I left with seven of my teammates Monday and rode 80 miles to Gonzales, stopping only for a barbeque lunch at Black’s in Lockhart (hang a right just after the train tracks). It was then that it was decided that brisket was “energizing and refreshing”.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have the key to unlock our bikes outside of Black’s Barbeque, so we split up to look for someone with the tools (ultimately “tin snips”) to break the cable. Without these extra minutes, I would not have come upon the town square where Waiting for Guffman was filmed.

The rest of the day was rough, 80 miles is the farthest I’ve ridden and the barbeque wasn’t sitting so well with me. I wanted to be sure I could remember exactly how it felt to be riding through the Texas countryside and so I took this short movie about 65 miles into the ride. Although it does not capture the pain I felt then or the pain I would come to know over the next two days for you, the viewer, hearing the wind and watching the road brings it all back to me.

Mike West’s (“Zeph’s”) mom and sister were kind enough to accompany us on our journey, carrying our supplies, meeting us at campsites, cooking dinner and breakfast, and lifting our spirits.

Tuesday morning we rose stiff, stetched out a bit, picked up camp, and said goodbye to two teammates who were headed back to Austin. The remaining six continued 75 miles to Goliad, making a pit stop at the Barbeque Station (next to the train tracks) in Cuero.

That night we were thankful for toliets with doors and showers with curtains. After throwing the frisbee around a bit, the boys gathered kindling for the fire and we had smores after dinner.

Carly, my lone female teammate on the beach trip, and I had been talking about the topography of the ride and on the third day, it was all downhill. I had been looking forward to the third day for days before the trip. I neglected to consider the wind in this excitement. I’ve learned, from both my teammates and experience, that hills are fair – you climb them and then you freeride down them, wind on the other hand is cruel – especially headwinds coming off the coast. I had also picked up the start of a cold and a touch of poison ivy on the top of my thighs…needless to say, I was thrilled when we had 69 miles behind us and a mile ahead of us on the ferry to Port Aransas.

I feel good today, although I didn’t have to ride the 110 miles Zeph, Paul, and Brett did… This is a small step in the right direction. I need to know what consecutive long days feel like after sleeping on the ground the night before and what it feels like to get on the bike after eating lunch. The past three days are a start, but I’ll take as many of these opportunities as I can get, June 1 is getting awfully close. There are more trips in the works, it seems we’re using Texas Monthly’s 50 best bbq joints as a map.

I think I’ll hit the gym tomorrow, but this weekend I need to acquaint myself with some of the hills around Austin…