February 12th, 2008 | categorizilation: all categories,USA (Texas)
Today’s distance / ???????: 34 miles / 55km
Average speed / ????: 7.7mph / 12.3km/h
Time on skateboard / ????: 4h 30m
Total skateboarding distance to date / ????????????: 2554mi (plus 266mi) / 4110km (plus 430km)
Ascent / ??: 560m
Descent / ??: 525m
End-of-day GPS coordinates: N30.05.20.9, W098.25.26.8
I had another radio interview with CallFM from Miami this morning. I was just packing up getting ready to start skating for the day when they called for an update on my progress. I visited their studio in Homestead earlier in the US leg of the journey.
For the next two hours I battles rough roads and annoyingly frequent traffic to the attractive town of Wimberly.
Here I spent the late morning updating the website at the public library. The weather was cloudy and dark when I entered the library, but by the time I had finished at 12:30pm, the clouds had parted and a beautiful blue sky day was left.
I stopped in at Mrs. Mac’s BBQ Restaurant for lunch, and the owner, Steve, after hearing about what I was doing, hooked me up with a free lunch. Thanks Steve!
The next 22 miles to Blanco were grueling. The uphills and rough roads were tough, but rewarding.
Taylor and Jacob stopped for a chat as I was taking a break on the side of the road.
The traffic was not so fun. The traffic was sparse, but no one expects to see a skateboarder in their lane when they come over a blind hill. There was of course no shoulder on the narrow Ranch Road 2325, and by the time I was about 2 miles out of Blanco, I had been called in by drivers to the local Sheriff’s office. Two officers drove out to find me, and found me they did, struggling along trying to stay as close to the side of the road as possible.
The officers were understanding, and I of all people did not want to be on that road. I skated the rest of the way to Blanco and gratefully set up camp in the Blanco State Recreation Campground for the night. The plan for tomorrow is to forget the nice peaceful back roads, and stay on the beaten track – the main highways with nice wide shoulders. Not my perfect choice, but at least I will have a higher chance of not being hit by traffic.
Texans are obviously not used to anyone using their roads in an unconventional way. A pity that when there are some hills you can't take advantage of them to go careering down them!
Yeah, you picked some busy roads. I ride around Wimberly and the FM2325 road is always a scary bit. You've got a great site man, and I plan to keep up with your journeys!
