The travels of the Rambling Roses: Palacios Tx to Rockport Tx

82.27 in 6:19. During the first three hours of my trip, I rode 46.5 miles. During the next 3:19, I rode 35.77 miles. That is the difference that a favorable wind can make. The wind is not the number one factor in my ride in this great state of Texas, however. The condition of the road is much more of a factor. Some roads are paved smoothly, especially around populated areas. Some roads, however, especially out in God's country, are paved to have a rough surface, like tar and chipped, with stones that are WAY too big for bicycles. When I get on one of these stretches, I work twice as hard, and the bike doesn't roll down the road, it literally bounces over every stone. That's great for cars with shock absorbers, so they don't hydroplane or slide as easily, but bouncing down the road for twenty mile stretches is absolutely wearing me out. If I had a headwind with smooth roads, I would prefer it to a tailwind with these bumpy roads. It makes me long for the days of riding into a headwind on highway 12 on Hatteras island!
If you didn't guess from my first statement today, I had smooth roads and a tailwind from Palacios through Point Comfort and Port Lavaca to Tivoli, about 48 miles into the days ride. Palacios has a huge fishing fleet, that was harbor near where we stayed last night, and there were plenty of huge industries (Alcoa, FormUSA Plastics ) thru Point Comfort. I crossed a pretty big bridge over a bay, into Port Lavaca, and the thing that made me smile about that town of about 25,000, was the name of the high school. They were called the 'Fighting Sandcrabs'! That cracked me up...don't know why...just saying. I stopped for a Poweraid in a wee little town called Tivoli, and when I got back on my bike, the tailwind had changed to a buffeting side wind, about steady at 20 mph, and the road turned into the road from hell for the last 20some miles into Rockport. The scenery also changed. There was NOTHING for 20 miles, not even a bend in the road. I saw one billboard, and it was almost more excitement than I could stand! The fields were plowed on both sides of the road, and their crop had started to grow, maybe two inches in height. That was different from yesterday, where he fields were not growing. We are getting more south, with warmer climate all the sudden, just like in Florida, where the vegetation changed all at once, around Palm Beach. I noticed cotton along the side of the road that had blown out of trucks, just like in Georgia, so I'm guessing that the little plants were cotton. I also saw a truck that said 'Port Lavaca Gin Assn. I'm figuring cotton gin, not the alcohol.
By the time I caught up with Pam, I had 190 miles in two days and a bike seat imprinted in my butt, but she talked me into going out for Texas BBQ, at a little outdoor roadside place she saw in town. Boy, a I glad we did. It turns out it was owned by Ken Hatfield, of the Hatfield/McCoy fame. He also owned a flooring place across the street. His t shirt said that 'even McCoys eat here.' He sat and talked with us and told us that we were just in time for the Rockport Oyster Festival, starting tomorrow in town, so we may delay our trip into Corpus Christi so we can check it out. We are only 30 miles from there, so we will still make it. It's also the beginning of spring break down here, so there is a lot going on. We ate ribs and drank Shiner Bock, and watched the people in cowboy hats come and go at Hatfield s BBQ, until about nine, then called it a night.