Day 48: Shepherd to wild camp 10 km before Richards

February 21, 2014

Morning TV featured a really aggressive preacher, claiming god would send you "stuff" of all categories, if you sent money to support the TV ministry.

We were ready to set out from Shepherd at 6:30 a.m., a half hour before the start of the free breakfast at our motel. Dodie had actually picked up two packages of those really poor small donuts covered in white powdered sugar in the lobby when we checked in, but we had hopes of finding something more palatable this morning. So Dodie headed over to the lobby to see if they might not have gotten an early start putting stuff out. She was greeted by a vicious German Shepard, deployed to protect the lobby at night. In the day, we later saw it lives in a small cage in the back. To repeat something written before, What is wrong with these people? Who in the hospitality industry would ever leave a thing like that to greet a guest? These guys, that's who.

Needless to say this dog encounter did not go down well with the dog freaked Dodie. As we were turning on our flashers in front of the motel door and getting ready to just go, the owner came waddling along. But we were not in a mood to discuss. We just headed off, relying on our packages of semi-poisonous white donuts for sustenance later.

While the motel was near a big highway, we soon entered the town of Shephered proper. Originated in 1875, the town had seen much better days as a port on the Trinity River, and a lumbering centre. However it was still somewhat recognizable as a town, rather than as a string of franchise businesses along a highway. And outside Shepherd we were still in the Big Thicket, and logging was still ongoing.

The wooded area had a few houses, spaced about 1/2 km apart. These caught our attention because they differed from the trailers and tumble down places we had come to expect. Rather the first one struck us as rather representative of the standard American house concept: Single detached, with one car and one pickup truckeither huge nor tiny. And because this is Texas, it had five lone star decorations, an American flag, and a cowboy hat motif address sign. The next one along was a little grander, and featured many wagon wheels, one Lone Star, and two large RVs stashed in the back.

The logging industry is still going here

This donkey was standing alone in a remote field

The next town in line was Coldspring, and here, more than Shepherd, was a "real" little town, though we are still talking basically only one or two business streets, that is businesses along the intersection of the two main roads that pass through town.

This sort of bakery advertises croissants

Clearly there is an election going on. A unique US procedure is to have judges and sheriffs elected. It sounds ok at first, but these people run under party banners, making it likely they will have political biases.

Somewhere in Texas we will have to test their famopus version of BBQ

Out of Coldspring we had the pleasure of meeting Helen, a cyclist from Santa Cruz, California. She had not actually cycled all the way, but we don't recall her exact starting point. Helen, being young, was going along without maps - declaring ACA too expensive. Rather she was using her phone and Google. Naturally we gave her a review of what was coming up as she headed east, and she did the same for what we would meet immediately west. We were able to give Helen one or two maps that will be helpful. Also, though it had become clear that you had to be very close to use the pepper spray, Dodie parted with her beloved pink weapon and quick draw, Texas souvenir, lanyard. After some big hugs, we wished each other well and were off.

Helen with her new quick release pepper spray and Texas souvenir lanyard

Now lacking in any chemical defence, Dodie stopped at the next Dollar General and picked up a bottle of wasp spray. This has a greater range than the pepper, and was recommended by some in the Guestbook, and some locals. It also fit in a water bottle holder. As it happened, and also as predicted in the Guestbook, this point in Texas marked the last of the aggressive loose dogs. One or two did come to the edge of their properties, but none took to the road, much less attacked. This change in dog keeping by the locals, plus having what we think is a very strong defence, has made a world of difference in our peace of mind.

Peace of mind greatly increased, by $3.50 spray can.

Meanwhile, in the Guestbook, several people have expressed concern about the harm that the spray could do to a dog. We agree with this concern, particularly since it is more the owner than the dog who is at fault. However in the case of an actual or imminent attack, it simply is necessary to put an end to it. We know this from our friend Emma Taylor, who had her trip and probably cycling career ended by dogs. To see what can happen, look here.

Now we temporarily left forest/logging territory and entered a lovely ranch country. With the pleasant weather and surroundings cycling here was pretty much what we came South to do. At lunch time, we just pulled onto the grounds of a disused church. There are many churches in this area, some large and well maintained, some small, and some seemingly abandoned.

New Waverly too was a real town, and we stopped by the courthouse to answer some UQs. From New Waverly our plan was to reach Richards. That would give us a 20 km hop to get to the post office in Anderson tomorrow, in their Saturday opening time slot of 8 am to 10 am.

Convenient disused church for a lunch break

These guys are curious about what we are up to

This dog was one of two guarding the goats. They spent too much time wagging their tails at us and playing with each other, vs, actually watching their goats.

To the west of New Waverly lies the Sam Houston National Forest, and the road passed through a remote but beautiful area of just trees. We also crossed Conroe Lake, on a causeway enjoying some beautiful open views.

Beautiful road through the Sam Houston forest

What does this sign mean? Who put it up? Note the bullet holes in the route sign.

Lots of shallow hills slowed us down a lot. So when, 10 km before Richards, we came across a cemetary, we tucked inand pitched the tent behind the chapel. Now with 30 km to go to Anderson, and given that we had been averaging, including stops, not much over 7 kph, we knew we needed four hours in the morning before 8 am to pick up our map. We thought about getting up later and sending me (Steve) racing ahead but I am really loathe to split up. So we set the alarm for 4 a.m. and turned in!

Today's ride: 88 km (55 miles)
Total: 2,866 km (1,780 miles)

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