The Tour Begins

September 30
Me and the Ozone Crew rode out to the Cedar Park Arena to watch the Battle of the Stars. The AHL affiliate Texas Stars played the Dallas team. much fun. Agreat send off. The next day I am off to Dallas.

Day One 10/1
I got a late start. I am moving out of my house for the duration of this tour. I am now officially unemployed and homeless. Vytis Vardys (owner of Ozone Bike Dept.) was kind enough to store my belongings in his barn and attic while I am away.
I finally leave late afternoon. This was my error. My plan was to make it to Dallas’ American Airlines Center for the NHL season opener. I would ride two long days and make the game day a short one. Leaving late kinda screwed that up. When I finally left, it was already 4 pm. I wanted to at least make it to Cedar Park and stay with my cousin in Avery Ranch. Fueled up on Mexican food and Dr. Pepper, I was able to make it to Leander.
There was a severe thunderstorm rolling in. When I got to Leander I stopped in a convenience store and sat it out and ate ice cream under the awning. I needed a place to stay for the night. I started rolling around some streets looking for a place to camp where I wouldn’t get in any trouble. When I couldn’t find anything, I decided to roll up the highway a bit. I came up on the Leander Park & Ride Metro Center. I rolled around and found a place to bivouac for the night along the fence line.
The sky was starting to clear and the moon was relatively close to full so I decided to inflate my mattress and sleep under the stars. An hour or so later I felt a few drops of rain and thought pitching my tent was a better option. I slept without my bag and was awaken by trains and cows only a coupla times.

Day Two 10/2
I broke my camp at around 5:30 AM and headed up the road to grab some food at a barbeque and taco joint near Seward Junction. I drank some coffee, ate some breakfast tacos, and watched CNN while waiting for the sun to rise. At sunrise, I was on my way.
I was anxious to get off 183 and on a farm road. I hit 970 and got to one of those wonderful moments for which a cyclist dreams are made. Cows and sheep watching you roll by. I reached Florence and needed to pick up some sunscreen. I parked my bike outside. There was no bike rack, but I don’t think there are any bike thieves in a town of less than a thousand.
Across the street there was a barber shop, Florence Hair Emporium. I went in and asked if I could get a haircut. When the barber asked me how I wanted I wanted my haircut, I tried to describe a mullet. I wound up just getting what he gave me.
I was wearing a hockey t-shirt. He asked if I saw the hockey team in Cedar Park. I told him I watched the Battle of the Stars a couple of days before.
His name was Warren Earp from Iowa. He kinda looked like Lanny McDonald. I told him the Texas Stars were playing in Des Moines the previous year. He came to Texas after being drafted and wound up staying. He told me he didn’t miss the winter. I told him that was where I was headed.
I headed out to Killeen. I stopped at a sandwich shop and sat outside. While looking at my map I fell asleep. Snapped out of my snooze and headed for Belton. Hilly roads were wearing me down. I headed toward Moody. I really wanted to get as far as I could so I could make it to Dallas for the game. In Moody, I could see an empty High School football stadium quietly ready for Friday Night Lights. Pushing to McGregor, I was running out of daylight and my knees were like volcanoes building with pressure.
I saw a police car parked in front of a grocer. I rolled up on the passenger side of the squad car to ask the officer wear I could find a place to stay. It took a minute or two to get her attention. She was staring off into the distance; observing traffic I assume. She recommended a hotel a three blocks away.
My attention span was low at this point. Did she say third street on the left or 3rd St on the left? I rolled onto Third St. and saw her car roll passed the block opposite the highway. I continued on to Highway 10 and decided to pull over and eat. I saw her car yet again. I was embarrassed for not paying close enough attention to her directions.
I asked a young lady at the convenience store attached to the fast food place where I ate for directions. She said it was just passed the dollar store, “You can’t miss it”. I rolled passed the dollar store and saw a Best Western sign with “18 miles ahead” under it. Surely I missed the hotel the officer suggested. I asked another person who gave me directions for which I paid close attention. Sure enough, I missed it.

I checked in, took a shower, reorganized my gear, and caught up with phone calls.
Day Three 10/3

Next morning, I packed up and headed for Crawford. When I arrived in Crawford I was greeted by a large sign with a photo of George W. and Laura Bush and a wagon with W ’04 on the side of it . I pulled into another restaurant/convenient store. The restaurant was called The Coffee Station. Several older folk were chatting about the previous night’s high school football game. I paid my check and looked around the store for some napkins. I saw a young man with a weight lifter t-shirt. He looked strong but small. He didn’t appear to be a having a pleasant morning. Some larger older gentleman came up behind him and gave him a hug. He reminded him of the beating his team took from McGregor the previous night. He then reassured him they would get ‘em next time and patted him on the back.
I rode off to Valley Mills and pulled over to orientate my map. It was approximately 10 am. A gentleman walked up to me wearing jeans and flip flops. He had one of those excessively large fountain drinks, a Manson beard, and dingy trucker hat. He walked straight to me and asked me where I was going. He already looked pretty drunk, so I was cautious with my conversation. He directed me just passed the “Purple pick-up” and then told me I no longer had to take out my map.
I followed the road out of town. A few miles into my pedaling a convoy of antique cars rode passed me. They gave an ah-oo-gah horn greeting and I continued on.
Arrived in Laguna Park/ Lake Whitney, Stopped and picked up some peanuts to mix with my dried cranberries, Sat in front of a convenience store and perused the map. I local young lady walked up to me and started to chat with me about bicycling and routes in the area. She offered me a sandwich at the store next door, but I needed to move on.

II rode on over Whitney Dam towards Hillsboro, There I realized my front tire was very low and consuming a good amount of energy. I turned towards Itasca and pulled over to top off my tire pressure. I felt a few drops of rain trickle down so I put on my rain jacket.. I arrive in Itasca and turned toward the Interstate, Grabbed a burrito right as I passed I35 W, The rain started to come down heavier. As I headed to Maypearl it became clear to me I picked a particularly hilly route, When I got to Maypearl I was wet, my hands were numb, and knees were shot. I grabbed some Mountain Dew and some Motrin and pushed on to Waxahachie.
In Waxahachie I turned north on I35 E and headed into Dallas, I called my friends who were meeting me in Dallas and told them I probably wouldn’t arrive in time for the game, but I would arrive. It continued to rain and I continued to pedal. I got into downtown Dallas and began trying to find the American Airlines Center. Right when I didn’t think I was gonna find it I saw a gentleman and his son wearing Dallas Stars sweaters. I asked them if they were at the game and where the arena was. It was literally around the corner.

My friend Andrew Dugas from Fort Worth and Adrian and Norma from Austin met up with me. We grabbed my bike loaded in his truck and went over to Dr. Bell’s Barbeque Restaurant. I was exhausted. I hung out with (Andrew) Bell, Dugas, Norma, and Adrian and had some hefeweizens. Bell’s kitchen was all shut down, but I had some potato salad and coleslaw,
I went to the bar next door and had a grilled Veggie sandwich and some pints of Guinness.
Dugas drove me to his house in Fort Worth.
Day Four 10/4
Sunday was uneventful. I pretty much rested and ate. I went to a flea market with Dugas. Grabbed an amazing burrito at Fuzzy’s Tacos and washed some clothes at a laundry mat.
Day Five 10/5
I had to take care of some errands. I rode my bike around Fort Worth to Montgomery Plaza to try (unsuccessfully) to get some cards made at Office Depot. I went to Starbucks to try to log on (unsuccessfully). Crossed the street and stole internet from a Marriot Residence Inn. Riding back I managed to get lost in downtown Fort Worth. Apparently there is a difference between 8th Street and 8th Avenue. Eventually I figured it out.
I returned to Dugas’ house, took a bath, and rolled over to Colonel’s Bike Shop by TCU. Met Doug Coyle, the owner, and some other’s at the shop. They were very helpful. I replaced my stem with another Kona stem a few millimeters shorter, grabbed some chain lube, and some spare tubes.
I got back to the house and realized I lost, misplaced, or somehow got separated from a little bag in which I had my passport. I decided to stay an extra day to try and find it.
Monday night I watched the Favre Bowl.
Day Six 10/6
Dugas took me around to retrace the places I went. I couldn’t find the little blue bag. He went off to work. I went online to try and set up a business card for a Lubbock pickup. Fail.
I was hungry so I rolled down to a vegan restaurant on Magnolia called Spiral. I had a seitan barbeque sandwich. It was excellent.
I walked next door to Panther City Cycles and met Jason Magby. We started talking; he offered me a beer from his new keg of Oktoberfest. We sat and chatted about the bike biz. A friend of his stopped by and joined us. We had a few laughs and drank several more beers. I grabbed some Proofide, tire boots, and a reflective vest. He totally helped me out.
My experience in Cow town has been great. Tomorrow, I am off to Mineral Wells.