There was no wind this morning as I rolled the loaded bicycle
out to the highway and headed up the hill toward Camp Wood, leaving Leakey, a
town that claims to be the motorcycle capitol of Texas. No cars and no cold on the road this morning. The expected rain might come, but in the
lovely dim light of dawning there was only overcast blocking the sun and later
keeping the mid-morning cool. I climbed a
thousand feet in the first two miles and barely felt it. A more perfect day in the hilly heart of
Texas is unimaginable. 
Long uphill grades at three miles per hour. Long downgrades would pass at fifty if I let them. Brake overheating, an unexpected issue, solved with alternating front and rear pressure on the brake handles.
 |
| My room in Leakey |
Back in the outpost town of Leakey, I shared the Hog Pen with
motorcyclists. This twisty Texas country
is one of their favorites, and since it was a weekend, they swarmed the hills
like dissatisfied colonies of bees
leaving the home hive.
It’s a desolate country for a cyclist, made a little nicer by
a full moon and bright green maple leaves of spring. 
Wow, I was sure you'd knock at our door tomorrow and we could celebrate your birthday! April Fool, right? It would be perfect, instead you are climbing and sliding the hills of Texas and Hog-Penning with motorcyclists... oh well all in good time I guess. One can be an April Fool any day... even when it's not April. Look forward to your adventures and return. I like the looks of your Leakey home, the greenness of Spring and the fullness of moon looking out for you and meeting its match...
ReplyDeleteIf distance were not that ancient problem, so little conquered or understood, that even a bicycle cannot span the gap, if somebody would invent a horse, then I would.
DeleteOne thousand feet elevation gain in two miles!?!?!?! (Faints away on the spot.)
ReplyDeleteDo I dare say "Better a room in Leakey than a leaky room?" No way! I have higher standards.
But I do love that plump moon, ripe for picking.
Sorry Steven, I would have fainted too if it came on the first day out of Florida. Thighs of steel replace flab now, it didn't seem hard. It might have been a leaky room in Leakey, dry as the last few days have been.
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