Camp Wood Texas (Rib Day)
Camp Wood TX to Kerrville TX
May 8, 2015
62 miles
We had liked our BBQ dinner last night that we decided Royce would wait until they open at 11 am and get some ribs for lunch, dinner, snacking or whatever. The BBQ spot only had certain meats available on certain days. Last night we could get chicken, but no ribs. On Friday you can get ribs but no chicken. Royce started out riding with me in the morning in the drizzly rain. He turned back at the top of the summit on our way to Leaky. He would catch up to me later with ribs for lunch. The ride into Leaky was wet, but pretty. I had altered my original route due to the weather we had been experiencing. I used google maps which was not the routing I had been using. I had been using Adventure Cycling's standard Southern Tier Route. This route at times takes some out and about routes that assume you make like the road or scenery better. One thing about their routes is they are tried and true. Google maps are not so much tried and true. When I came to my first turn off the main rd something looked very wrong. The road had a "No Outlet" sign. It was a narrow road that dropped into a valley that had fairly thick vegetation covering it. Bottom line is , it just did not look right. I knew that if I continued up the highway I could take Hwy 38 which would tie back into the route and bypass this sketchy looking piece. The only problem was, I promised Royce I would not leave the designated route. We usually use a cell phone app called Glympse. If we have cell coverage it allows us to track where each other are. The only problem was for the last few days we did not cell coverage and did not have it this day. The only way Royce would find me would be if I was on the route he thought I would be on. I knew I could ride the bypass and still get back on the route before he would get to me. After all he was waiting until 11 to get the ribs. Only problem was, what route would Royce take? He would have to rely on the car GPS for an alternate route and it may or may not take the route I take. I rode hard on my bypass route stopping frequently to see if I had cell coverage. Nothing, nothing and nothing. I kept thinking I have to stop checking for coverage and just ride. That is when I saw a woman sitting along side the road in her car with a cell phone stuck to her ear. I stopped and asked her where I could get coverage. She said this is the only spot I know of and I can not move off of it or I loose it. Oh and I have AT&T. Well I have Verizon so no such luck. I put my head down and road as hard I could ride. I only had to 11 am ish to get coverage because once Royce left the motel room he would not have coverage. Ten minutes to 11 am riding along ranches I see a cell tower. I stand under it twirl and twirl around until I get 3 bars 1x...try to send a text message. The phone whirls and twirls and then reports message failed. I tried and tried again and nothing. I absolutely knew at this point that I would get on the course before Royce would catch up to me. As I hit the intersection (where the road that I did not take would come in), I thought maybe I should hold at the intersection for Royce. It could be 2 hours before he would make it, if he actually were able to use the route. No, Royce knows that I will always keep pedaling toward the destination. I have to keep pedaling. I continue to check for cell coverage along the way. Alas on one of my breaks, probably 25 miles from Kerrville I hit redial on my phone and Royce answers. Unfortunately he cannot hear me. I had sent him a Glympse location at some point in my many attempts to establish communication. Some how, some where it made it through and Royce was able to see my location. I was able to understand where he was, which was about 10 miles in front of me. I started riding faster hoping he would hold there until I arrived. The next thing I know, Royce appears behind me. Yes!!! I was so happy to see him. A few miles down the road we met up. We had lunch(yummy ribs, still warm) around 2 pm and shared our stories of the routes we took. Another lesson learned on routing and GPS units. We had a couple of things that allowed us to finally hook back up. Royce would not leave the route until he had clearly established contact with me. Secondly I kept riding to the destination. These were two things that we knew as absolutes in each other. Five miles before reaching the hotel I got caught in a downpour. After the days events nothing really mattered anymore, so I just kept riding. To top the day of we found some wonderful Mexican food in Kerrville. The day was done and to ever be known as the Rib Day Ride. (I feel I need to add the rest of the story to this fantastic narrative. When I reached the fork in the road that Terry confirmed states "no outlet" I was already far enough down the road that I could not make a U turn. I had a steep hill to one side of the road and a very brisk running creek on the other. I decided to follow the GPS and see if this was truly an alternate route. The further up the road I went the chance of turning around became less and less of an option. I came to a really neat gate across the road (that I later learned was a bump gate) that had an old tire in the middle of this very strong rustic gate. You would ram this tire with your bumper and the gate would swing open giving you just enough time to go through before it would swing closed. Since the Acura only has plastic bumpers I opted out of that idea and opened the gate and secured it with a log until I could go through. Almost immediately I came to a fork in the road and my GPS indicated I should go to the left. I found myself on a concrete road just barely wide enough for one car and severe drop offs on both sides preventing any chance of turning around. It was a very steep road and I followed it to the top of a very large hill. At the top of the hill much to my delight was a broad field that I could turn around in. As I was making a quick U turn a man came running after me yelling at me. I stop and got out to chat with him. He was amazed to find California plates on an Acura pulling a trailer on the top of his hill. He was very pleasant and was anxious to help me out of my predicament. He explained that many people followed this same route on their GPS's with the same result I had because the actual alternate route had been deserted years ago and no traces of it existed. He was convinced that I must be smoking pot to have come so far off the main road but when I explained the route I had come in on he laughed and agreed that there was no way to make a U turn to go back. We chatted for quite awhile and I marveled at his spectacular view from his hilltop perch. We finally parted company and I started my very precarious journey back down the hill, across the very swollen creek and back on to the main road. Yes, I lost valuable time but the adventure was well worth it. Just wanted to set the record straight about my little side trip).
May 8, 2015
62 miles
We had liked our BBQ dinner last night that we decided Royce would wait until they open at 11 am and get some ribs for lunch, dinner, snacking or whatever. The BBQ spot only had certain meats available on certain days. Last night we could get chicken, but no ribs. On Friday you can get ribs but no chicken. Royce started out riding with me in the morning in the drizzly rain. He turned back at the top of the summit on our way to Leaky. He would catch up to me later with ribs for lunch. The ride into Leaky was wet, but pretty. I had altered my original route due to the weather we had been experiencing. I used google maps which was not the routing I had been using. I had been using Adventure Cycling's standard Southern Tier Route. This route at times takes some out and about routes that assume you make like the road or scenery better. One thing about their routes is they are tried and true. Google maps are not so much tried and true. When I came to my first turn off the main rd something looked very wrong. The road had a "No Outlet" sign. It was a narrow road that dropped into a valley that had fairly thick vegetation covering it. Bottom line is , it just did not look right. I knew that if I continued up the highway I could take Hwy 38 which would tie back into the route and bypass this sketchy looking piece. The only problem was, I promised Royce I would not leave the designated route. We usually use a cell phone app called Glympse. If we have cell coverage it allows us to track where each other are. The only problem was for the last few days we did not cell coverage and did not have it this day. The only way Royce would find me would be if I was on the route he thought I would be on. I knew I could ride the bypass and still get back on the route before he would get to me. After all he was waiting until 11 to get the ribs. Only problem was, what route would Royce take? He would have to rely on the car GPS for an alternate route and it may or may not take the route I take. I rode hard on my bypass route stopping frequently to see if I had cell coverage. Nothing, nothing and nothing. I kept thinking I have to stop checking for coverage and just ride. That is when I saw a woman sitting along side the road in her car with a cell phone stuck to her ear. I stopped and asked her where I could get coverage. She said this is the only spot I know of and I can not move off of it or I loose it. Oh and I have AT&T. Well I have Verizon so no such luck. I put my head down and road as hard I could ride. I only had to 11 am ish to get coverage because once Royce left the motel room he would not have coverage. Ten minutes to 11 am riding along ranches I see a cell tower. I stand under it twirl and twirl around until I get 3 bars 1x...try to send a text message. The phone whirls and twirls and then reports message failed. I tried and tried again and nothing. I absolutely knew at this point that I would get on the course before Royce would catch up to me. As I hit the intersection (where the road that I did not take would come in), I thought maybe I should hold at the intersection for Royce. It could be 2 hours before he would make it, if he actually were able to use the route. No, Royce knows that I will always keep pedaling toward the destination. I have to keep pedaling. I continue to check for cell coverage along the way. Alas on one of my breaks, probably 25 miles from Kerrville I hit redial on my phone and Royce answers. Unfortunately he cannot hear me. I had sent him a Glympse location at some point in my many attempts to establish communication. Some how, some where it made it through and Royce was able to see my location. I was able to understand where he was, which was about 10 miles in front of me. I started riding faster hoping he would hold there until I arrived. The next thing I know, Royce appears behind me. Yes!!! I was so happy to see him. A few miles down the road we met up. We had lunch(yummy ribs, still warm) around 2 pm and shared our stories of the routes we took. Another lesson learned on routing and GPS units. We had a couple of things that allowed us to finally hook back up. Royce would not leave the route until he had clearly established contact with me. Secondly I kept riding to the destination. These were two things that we knew as absolutes in each other. Five miles before reaching the hotel I got caught in a downpour. After the days events nothing really mattered anymore, so I just kept riding. To top the day of we found some wonderful Mexican food in Kerrville. The day was done and to ever be known as the Rib Day Ride. (I feel I need to add the rest of the story to this fantastic narrative. When I reached the fork in the road that Terry confirmed states "no outlet" I was already far enough down the road that I could not make a U turn. I had a steep hill to one side of the road and a very brisk running creek on the other. I decided to follow the GPS and see if this was truly an alternate route. The further up the road I went the chance of turning around became less and less of an option. I came to a really neat gate across the road (that I later learned was a bump gate) that had an old tire in the middle of this very strong rustic gate. You would ram this tire with your bumper and the gate would swing open giving you just enough time to go through before it would swing closed. Since the Acura only has plastic bumpers I opted out of that idea and opened the gate and secured it with a log until I could go through. Almost immediately I came to a fork in the road and my GPS indicated I should go to the left. I found myself on a concrete road just barely wide enough for one car and severe drop offs on both sides preventing any chance of turning around. It was a very steep road and I followed it to the top of a very large hill. At the top of the hill much to my delight was a broad field that I could turn around in. As I was making a quick U turn a man came running after me yelling at me. I stop and got out to chat with him. He was amazed to find California plates on an Acura pulling a trailer on the top of his hill. He was very pleasant and was anxious to help me out of my predicament. He explained that many people followed this same route on their GPS's with the same result I had because the actual alternate route had been deserted years ago and no traces of it existed. He was convinced that I must be smoking pot to have come so far off the main road but when I explained the route I had come in on he laughed and agreed that there was no way to make a U turn to go back. We chatted for quite awhile and I marveled at his spectacular view from his hilltop perch. We finally parted company and I started my very precarious journey back down the hill, across the very swollen creek and back on to the main road. Yes, I lost valuable time but the adventure was well worth it. Just wanted to set the record straight about my little side trip).
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| Those yummy ribs |
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| Road Warrior lunch |
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| Valley before Leaky TX |
WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!! What a scary experience !!! I am just now catching up to your blog even though this is a few days ago.. You both are UNBELIEVABLE !! You have a lot of F A I T H to do such a long ride under some tough situations. !! Terry B.
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