Day 25 - 86.45 miles - Shepherd, TX

     I was sleeping away when I was awakened to my phone ringing at 6am. It's Bonnie, from Nantucket with her parents to say good morning before I set off for the day. Wow, I'am normally up and ready by now. We talk for a bit and then it's a mad dash to my Super 8's breakfast. Which is pretty good, with waffles, cereal, and juice. I am fueled for many miles now, which is good because my food sack is looking rather weak. It's 6:45am and I'am off. Oh good, it's windy already. "Quit complaining" I said to myself. Today's going to be a good day. I'am going to make it a good day no matter what. I'am tired of complaining about this and that. This is what it is. This is what I signed up for. No one promised me perfect days, perfect weather, perfect tailwinds, perfect roads, or perfect people. No one told me that. For some reason, I felt like that is what I should be getting. Why? I don't know why I felt I entitled to 2 months of perfect everything and nothing ever to go wrong. Maybe that's just human nature. I believe In today's society, of the cell phones, the computers, the TV's, and the automobiles we as humans do have everything we need and want at our disposal. Not to say the whole world is like that because I know it is not. I know even more now that I volunteered in Haiti last year and got a real sense of how a third world country lives and it was a eye opening experience to say the least. So for some reason I started today off with no sympathy for myself, like I have the past few weeks. After all, I have my health. So what if I have headwinds today. Then just do less miles. So what if I have to climb hills all day. Then just walk your bike up them. I think about my new friend "Nimblewill" every time I coast down a hill. I say to myself "Nimblewill can't coast down hills like I can and his not complaining". I have realized that this is as much mental as it is physical. Glad it only took me halfway across the country to get all this figured out.

     I was treated to wonderful smooth pavement early this morning with wide shoulders. Maybe that's why I was in a good mood this morning. It makes a huge difference riding on the difference black top surfaces. My friend Brad and I call the really smooth pavement "Ice Cream" and I'am on some Ice Cream now. Of course short lived, but nice when I get it. Today ride was again on small farm roads, that were winding and rolling but nothing like it was several days ago. By 7:15am I had to stop biking and wipe the sweat away from my face. "No complaining", I said. I have made a few changes in my wardrobe. Two days ago when the nice motel owner did my laundry, he must have cooked my clothes in the dryer. My cycling gloves came out of the dryer in two pieces and were ripped to shreds. I had to throw them out. To be fair, they were in rough shape to begin with. I need gloves on my hands. Reason being, with all of this humidity my hands sweat in minutes and the handlebars become hard to grip. There are no bike shops for hundreds of miles acording to my maps, so I came up with a plan. I asked the motel owner if I could borrow his scissors and I took out my camp socks and started cutting to make a pair of cycling gloves. The second change I made is, I now carry a small motel towel around my handlebars so I can wipe my face on the fly. I use it constantly, and love having it. The third change I made is that instead of wearing my sun cap under my helmet which has a neck protector but is to hot to wear. I now have a small motel hand towel that I safety pinned to the back of my helmet. It protects my ears and neck from burning. Plus I can soak it with water and it will keep me cooler in the baking afternoon sun. Now all I have to do is just pedal.

     The one the biggest changes I have noticed today was that there are trees lining the roads. Oaks and Pines that will bring shade and the feeling of being in the woods after a thousand miles of cactus  and desert. There was one stretch today for about 15 miles that on Route 150 that I thought I would not make it through alive. This route had zero shoulder and was heavily travelled by logging trucks. I was scared for my life and very surprised that Adventure Cycling would send me on this road. I really believe that my best friend on this trip "my bike mirror" saved me here. I saw a big rig barreling down behind me. It was a logging truck. I could tell from my mirror that something didn't look right. The logs were not stacked straight, but at an angle and hanging out the rear toward my side of the road. I quickly pulled over off the road and put my foot down. Then I sank into the earth 3 to 4 inches and by the time I looked down, I had hundreds of red ants in my shoe, on my sock, and already biting my lower leg. I remembered, "No Complaining" but I really had to bite my tongue on this one. It took some time and work to remove these buggers. I just really wanted to make it out of this section as fast as I could. I put my head down and pushed as hard as I could through the wind. Just then, 2 dogs came flying out of nowhere and are chomping at my heals in seconds. My foot is off the pedal and is cocked ready to fire if I see teeth. I'am not getting bit, if I can help it. Luckily, the dog on the outside of the two dogs bit the other dog on the neck and that distracted him enough for me to sprint off and get away. Talk about a panic attack. I don't mind dogs but that was crazy. Still on the horrible road just a few miles from where I was just attacked, and this time I get two more dogs blazing right at me. Only now it's one dog on my left, and one dog on my right. On top of this, the road is terrible, and there is heavy haulers blasting through. I had no choice but to double cock both legs, and get them ready to fire. This is not good. Hey "No Complaining" remember. Forget that, I'am in trouble here, and these crazed dogs are showing teeth. I came to an almost complete stop, and yelled as loud as I could, "to go home". It was enough to scare them back, and I escaped another dog encounter. No leash law here in East Texas I guess. I am surprised I haven't seen more dead dogs on the side of the road. I may have to come up with a plan to fight back, if this keeps happening. It's giving me a heart attack every time these dogs come charging at me. Worst yet, I was told that most of these mutts are abandoned. I guess pretty common in the country of East Texas. I was wondering why they aren't fenced in or on a leash. Nobody owns or takes care of these dogs, which makes it all the worst for me. Chances are they aren't up to date with their shots. It they bite me and draw blood, I will have to get myself to a doctor quick. Better yet, I can't let this dogs get close enough to bite. I might just have to bite back myself.

     I have been following a few cross country cyclist on "A Crazy Guy On A Bike" which is a website to post journals of your biking adventures. A few people are doing the same route as I am, only they are ahead of me. This guy "Wesley" posted a few days ago that if you are cycling the Southern Tier and stop for the night in Shepherd, TX, do not miss out on staying at the Shepherd Sanctuary. They have cabins and tenting and it's a once in a lifetime experience. I listen to Wesley and pulled into the Sanctuary around 2:30pm and I was met by a wonderful woman named "Connie". We talked and talked. She showed me around their beautiful property and told me to make myself at home. The place was mine. I am the only one here at this Retreat Center. I picked out my cabin ($20), took an ice cold shower (my choice), and took photos all around. Connie, was telling me about a book she wrote, called " Big Master Plan". She also told me that she is heading to NYC to receive an award for her book. I was very interested. She brought a copy of the book out to me. I read it in about 5 minutes and it was very powerful and full of life's meaning. It also has amazing artistry in full color.  At 6pm the other owner came home and that's when I met "Peach", who is just as lovely as her name sounds. This place is an absolute oasis for the tired cyclist and I am so happy that I listened to Wesley. I can't wait to pass this hidden gem off to others I meet going west. You won't regret it. They both said that the refrigerator is full of food and needs to be eaten. Well, I'am off to indulge. Thank you to my hosts Peach and Connie at the Shepherd Sanctuary. How am I going to top this? It's that unknown around the next corner that keeps you going, and you just never know what's going to happen. I can't wait for that next corner to come.

Photos: The Town of Anderson's Town Hall - My homemade cycling / sock gloves - Protecting my neck and ears from sunburn - Looking over my maps during a break in Richards, TX - Happy face - Shepherd Sanctuary Campground and Retreat Center  ( next six photos )