Pull Tight

Lucinda Williams may write and sing true love travels on a gravel road, but bicycles do not. Stiff aluminium frame, light weight seat and skinny tires at 110 psi make for a rough ride. We ran out of pavement a couple of times on our ride today, the second time in a light rain shower. Still a good day however. Rode from Paluxy on a route between Chalk Mountain and Three Way. There is a pretty nice kids baseball field about 3-4 miles from the nearest paved road out here, and many miles from any towns. I guess if you build it they will come. On through Hico, we visited the Billy the Kid statue. Most Hicoians think he died in Hico as an old man instead of NM. Worth checking out for you history buffs. Then on to Iredell for lunch at the only cafe where we had a pretty good lunch of catfish, shrimp and homemade coconut pie. We rode to Walnut Springs and then to Paluxy via FM and county roads. 69 miles

The unseasonal cool weather was great for bicycling riding. From Paluxy to Morgan Mill past mansions, abandoned dairy and chicken farms, and one lavender farm. Many more horses here than a few years ago. All of the newcomers to rural life seem to have some affinity for horses. Made it back down to Bluff Dale for lunch and was surprised to see an old high school acquaintance running the BBQ place where we stopped. Had a short but fun visit. On toward Tolar via Rock Church (with a side trip to the old suspension bridge, photo to follow) and then back to Paluxy via more very lightly traveled county roads. Logged almost exactly 60 miles. Got a few interesting photos to post as soon as get them downloaded.