Friday February 26, 2015

Today was going to be a day for me to quit cycling.   I have enough of being chased by dogs! How can I enjoy the ride when every time I see a mail box  or a driveway ahead I am wondering if there is a dog and where it is going to come from.

Today should have been a lovely ride. The sun was out, the wind was at our backs, the roads had a good shoulder or it was a nice quiet road, but those blasted dogs spoiled it for me completely. I wanted to get to Houston or Austin somewhere with an International airport and take me somewhere warm and where dogs do not run loose.  As I was cycling, I was working out how to tell Ralf that I wanted to get on a plane, or a train or anything else to get away from these dogs.

Then we cycled into Texas, we stopped in Kirbyville and met the nicest people we have come across on the Southern Tier.

A lady at the gas station had me laughing so hard, she said, after we told her we were from Canada “and you all thought you were going to cycle in Texas in the warmth – ha suckers”! She told us to get a zapper stick, Ralf asked if it was used on cattle – yep. Her husband had used it on her – once, she told us. He had zapped a cow to get it moving and then touched it on her, not realizing that it still held a charge. She said he was still alive. She was so funny and told us that she hoped angels surrounded us on our trip and kept us safe. We checked out a cow zapper at the local Feed Store, but it was too big and heavy. The guy at the store asked us if we needed one to keep the other cyclist moving quicker – these guys are all comedians. Ralf bought a riding whip at the Feed Store, he figures he may be able to hit the dogs with it if they come close enough. An older guy in a car followed us into the supermarket at the supermarket parking lot to ask where we were all from and where we were headed. Genuinely interested in what we were doing.

We also met three touring cyclists coming from the west – they were struggling against the headwind. They were 3 brothers, being supported by a daughter. Their bikes were skinny tired and very lightly loaded, the daughter was driving their gear from one hotel to the next. They advised us to go along Highway 105 towards Navosota, less dogs and an easier route.

When we arrived at our warmshowers for the night – Debbie gave us a big hug, as if we were long lost family. Sidney, said there aren’t as many dogs on our route west . Let’s hope not because the Amtrack train runs out of Beaumont to the west.

Dinner tonight is spaghetti and meat sauce made with venison and beef – life is hard!