A Subway Century

Last night’s stay in the park went about as well as I could’ve hoped. When I first arrived at the park yesterday there was quite a bit of activity in the area with a relatively large number of kids taking advantage of the basketball court. Their game ended shortly after dark and, with their departure, the park became very quiet. There weren’t even any trains rumbling by through the night. I tend to sleep through those anyway.

As usual, I had to do a couple of my usual mattress re-inflations during the night but by morning I was very well rested and ready for the day’s ride. Someday I’ll get around to finding (and possibly) fixing my leaky mattress.

Today’s destination was to be San Antonio. The specifics of WHERE in San Antonio were significantly less clear. As such, I hit the road knowing that my travel day could range anywhere from 85 km to 120 km. And to be completely honest, I had no preference.

Yesterday’s ride was significant because I crossed the 11,000 km threshold. Today began with another significant event.

Before leaving Sabinal, I stopped at Subway for breakfast. Hardly surprising. However, by doing so I registered my 100th Subway stop since leaving Kitchener on June 1st. No, I don’t know how many subs or cookies I’ve eaten in that time but it’s safe to say that it’s been a lot. One might even say sponsorship-worthy. Of course, while “one” might say that, I’m still waiting for Subway to say that. Sigh. Seriously, 100 Subway stops. Surely that should count for something!

With my morning Subway stop behind me (did I mention it was my 100th stop?), I turned my focus to San Antonio. For what it’s worth, by going through San Antonio I have completely strayed from the official Adventure Cycling Association (ACA) route. The official ACA route actually goes through Austin, Texas and does a bit of a leapfrog over both San Antonio and Houston. I certainly could’ve followed that route but it would’ve added a couple of days to the ride – and a few more climbs. Not that I’m in a rush but a couple of extra days into a potential headwind seemed like something I would gladly avoid. As such, I opted for the more direct route.

The downside to the direct route is that it has put me a bit ahead of schedule. “Schedule?”, you may ask. “What schedule?” Well, generally that would be a valid question but I do find myself on a BIT of a schedule at the moment. The first part of that schedule includes a visit with my friend Tracy who lives between San Antonio and Houston. Unfortunately, Tracy won’t be home until Sunday. Well, it’s unfortunate for me. It’s great for her since she’s at Lookout Mountain for some hang gliding. For those keeping track, this is the same Tracy that I met at Quest Air in Florida last year.

As luck would have it, the timing of having a few extra days to fill is somewhat ideal. I have a slightly larger freelance project to complete and having a few free days will certainly help with that. The only downside is that I need to have the video footage shipped to me. For those new to this journey, my success rate for timely deliveries on this trip hasn’t been exactly exemplary. Plus, I have to figure out where I’m going to be. I hope to have that figured out by the end of the day.

Today’s ride ended up being very leisurely. The sun was shining and the wind was surprisingly favourable for the most part. With the wind not hounding my every move I was able to simply relax and enjoy the ride. And I did it. As it turns out, it was a pretty uneventful ride. I made a quick stop at the library in Hondo where I was able to use their WiFi and determine a good place to stop for the night. And there was also a lunch stop in Hondo. Subway stop number 101.

The only real excitement on the day came when I somehow missed a turn as I neared San Antonio. I was supposed to leave the highway and follow an access road which ran parallel to said highway. By missing the turn I found myself on a somewhat busy and high speed thoroughfare. Certainly not nearly as dramatic as when I found myself on the highway as I pedalled into Calgary but there was definitely an increase in intensity level. Of course, that intensity level completely paled to the stretch of highway I pedalled on in Long Island last year. Now THAT was intense. And a little fun.

While on the highway, I passed an unimpressive sign officially marking the San Antonio city limit. I don’t know if a more impressive sign will appear as I get closer to the more populated part of town. Based on my experience with other big cities, I won’t hold my breath.

While I’m a big supporter of the “Push on and Power Through” motto, given that I’m a bit ahead of schedule there didn’t seem to be the need to go particularly far today. So I didn’t. As would be expected, legitimate camping options become more limited near larger cities and not-so-legitimate camping options are even more of a challenge. Combine that with the fact that it was still somewhat early in the afternoon and I decided to stay at a cheap motel on the west side of San Antonio.

After a quick stop at the grocery store, I returned to my room and concluded my day with some more blog updates, photo editing, freelance work, and a somewhat thorough examination of the map to come up with a plan of attack for the next few days. Of course, much of that plan will be affected by whether or not my parcel gets delivered in a timely fashion. Only time will tell.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 87.81 km
Ride time: 3:58:13
Average speed: 22.11 km/h
Maximum speed: 50.29 km/h