hill country

i left austin on sunday morning and felt in good shape after a 3 day rest although i think my liver took a bit of a battering! rode about 40 miles to wimberly without taking any breaks. had lunch in blanco and as i was leaving the town a woman passed me on the road, she said her husband was english and invited me for tea. rocked up to the house and looked round the gallery as the englishman was an artist and a real character. he was still producing work aged 85! we all went for a walk around the hills and had a cup of tea. after that rest i pushed on through hill country going up and down loads of hills with little traffric till i reached sisterdale. i biked over 100 miles and felt pretty good but in dire need of a beer! the only shop in the village happened to be a bar so i met lots of friendly locals and had a few drinks. one of the guys was Willie who was shot in the head and was left for 6 hours before he was taken to the hospital. his forehead is crumpled between the eyes and he still has the bullet in his brain, apperntly it is too far in to take out.

the next day i woke up on the sofa on the porch of the bar and cycled to comfort where i had a cup of tea before making it to kerrville. from there the road starts to climb along the guadeloupe river which is a beautiful emerald green colour and surrounded by rounded hills. at hunt i met some really nice people who bought me an ice cream. so far on monday i must have chatted to about 10 people who were all very interesting. it makes me think that cycling is the ONLY way to travel as you meet so many brilliant people and learn about all sorts of things. on a bike there is no schedule and not always a destination so it is perfect for random unexpected meetings. finally i made it over more hill to the lost maples state park where i camped and met a lovely family who gave me a beer and some stawberries and even cooked me pancakes this morning! legendary! Thank you Dwayne and Stephanie!

Now i am in camp wood after some tough hill and slightly sketchy weather. got my mud guards blocked with mud and got a lift with some teachers and met some kind cyclists called Ray and Dave from Michigan who helped me as the rain came down. the weather has improved a bit now so i must push on.