Update 3/16
Day #24
Today: San Angelo, TX, to Ballinger, TX (47 miles)
Total miles: 1262
Tomorrow (plan): Brownwood, TX
We're trying a little different format by pointing out our daily location at the beginning of our report. Hope this helps.
We decided to take some time to ride around San Angelo, so we went to the historic downtown section and to the site of Ft. Concho, an Army fort established in 1867 and a post where the Buffalo Soldiers were stationed. Although it was a very brief tour, it gave us a snapshot of San Angelo, the largest city we have been in since we were in the El Paso area. It was around noon when we departed.
As we sat around talking last night at Steve and Debra's home, the comment was made that we would encounter some hills as we headed eastward from San Angelo. That proved to be an accurate prediction. Our ride today was reminiscent of the "roller coaster" sections we had ridden in Arizona. It was a beautiful day: clear, morning temperatures in the low 50s and afternoon high in the high 70s. The only "drawback" was that the wind was from the southeast instead of the predicted southwest; guess you can't have everything.
About 15 miles into the day's journey we had a rear tire blow-out. I now understand why some touring cyclists recommend the smaller 26-inch wheels used on mountain bikes. Heavy-duty tires are more readily available for those wheels, and that would certainly help on a trip like this. It is almost impossible to avoid tire debris and large-sized pieces of gravel while riding on the shoulder, and those can play havoc with traditional, thinner road tires. Our blow-out was probably caused by a sharp-edged piece of gravel, and the tire was destroyed. I put on the spare and off we went, hoping we would not have a similar incident before we could buy another spare tire. When we arrived in Ballinger about 5:00 PM, we headed for the city park because we had information we could camp there and that there were showers. There are, in fact, showers; however, there is only cold water, since the showers are at the swimming pool and used in the summer for showering before entering the pool. We tested the water temperature and immediately began to look for other lodging for the night. We were fortunate to find the Olde Park Hotel right across from the courthouse in downtown Ballinger. Jeanette runs an antique store downstairs and rents out a few rooms upstairs in a building originally owned by her great grandfather. In earlier times it served as a bunk house for workers building the railroad. It is a very interesting place, and Jeanette was helpful in every way that can be imagined, even allowing us to put the tandem inside her antique shop for the night. She also recommended an Italian restaurant just a couple of blocks away, where we had a delicious meal. All in all it was a good day; our good fortune in Ballinger made it turn out that way.