Maybe Tomorrow

After spending five leisurely days and nights in Schulenburg, it was time to hit the road again. It would’ve been great to visit with Tracy for another day but there are planes to catch and two days of cycling between me and the airport.

The weather during my stay in Schulenburg was somewhat inconsistent but there was certainly a lot of wind and rain. That wasn’t the case this morning. As if welcoming me back to the road, the weather greeted me this morning with a beautiful sunny morning. A little bit cool when I first hit the road but a beautiful day for a ride.

The plan for today was simple. Get to Katy, TX. Several days ago, I had arranged a stay with a Warm Showers host – my first Warm Showers host since October 11th. From looking at the map, it looks like Katy is essentially the suburbs of Houston and would put me in a good position to reach Houston tomorrow.

Tracy had to drop her granddaughter off at school early this morning so we planned to meet up again at Frank’s Restaurant for breakfast at 8:00. I pretty much had everything packed up last night so all that was left to do this morning was load the bike, say goodbye to Titan, and hit the road. And that’s what I did.

The ride into town for breakfast was pretty uneventful although it really was a beautiful day for a ride. Having ridden into town three times on an unloaded bike, today was the first time I did so with the bike fully loaded. As you would expect, adding 50 kg of gear tends to slow down the ride a bit. Although, not as much as you might think – partially because it’s a pretty flat ride and partially because I wasn’t really racing when the bike was unloaded.

Breakfast at Frank’s was very good and and I had a great final visit with Tracy. It was really too bad we didn’t get to visit more but maybe we’ll meet up again at Lookout Mountain in the spring. No, that’s not a “Spoiler Alert”, just an idea.

By 9:20, breakfast was officially over and it was time to say goodbye to Tracy and return to the road. It was like I was The Littlest Hobo – except, not a dog. Yes, it was sad to go, but it was also great to back on the road again. I rode away humming the The Littlest Hobo theme (aka. Maybe Tomorrow). For those unfamiliar with The Littlest Hope, well … watch the video below:

The ride to Katy, TX was entirely uneventful but very enjoyable. The route was rather direct despite not being on the Interstate. It was another day where there was an access road that ran directly beside Interstate 10 which meant there would be no crazy detours nor heavy traffic – until I got closer to Katy anyway. There was even a Wendy’s somewhat close to my Warm Showers host. After not riding for several days, it was nice to be able to have an easy ride that ended with ice cream.

I arrived at my Warm Showers host shortly after 5:00. I had another great evening visiting with Tecky and his family before calling it a night. Once again there was plenty of talk to cycling, travelling, and there was even a fair bit of talk about cycling gear and gadgets. Fun stuff. As for the gadgets, Tecky even gave me a front light for my bike. Yes, I already had a front light but it isn’t ideal since my handlebar bag sits directly in front of the light mount. My new light can be attached in a more useful position. No, I don’t plan on riding in the dark more but with the days getting shorter every day, it’s good to be prepared. And now I am.

Tomorrow looks to be a much shorter ride than I had originally anticipated – although, I expect it will be made slower by the fact that much of the ride will be through urban areas. As such, I expect more than a few traffic lights in my future. And while I HOPE to see more green lights than red lights, that’s not the way it usual works.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 133.75 km
Ride time: 6:11:51
Average speed: 21.58 km/h
Maximum speed: 39.71 km/h