October 25, 2021
Day Sixteen: Coldspring, Texas to Moscow, Texas
It was the last day of my tour, and it wasn't going to be a very long one, so I took much more time than usual getting ready.
It was overcast and very humid. The first two or three miles were backtracking - reversing the route I'd followed yesterday through town.
I didn't feel like looking around Coldspring much this morning; I stopped briefly and took only a couple of photos.
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Last night I'd quickly worked out a route to get to my friend's hunt club. I hadn't been in Texas long enough to really understand the characteristics of the different types of roads, and my route had me on various "Farm to Market" ("FM") roads. The first several miles were sporadically trafficky.
I was trying to avoid Livingston, a large-ish town that looked like it would be a pain in the ass to ride through, but doing that forced me west, close to Lake Livingston, where there was obviously some recreational traffic this morning.
I made my first snack stop of the morning, and sat at a table in a store drinking a Diet Coke - Diet Pepsi was once again scarce - and eating, for the first time in years, a Zero candy bar.
When I was a fat teenager, I ate these things constantly, until one day I bit into one and found that a large insect had somehow become embedded in it, and that I had apparently already swallowed half of the bug. That incident put me off Zero bars for many years.
It was still overcast, and so, so humid. I rode onto another Farm to Market road, passing many shabby residences, and then a large prison.
I was edging closer to Livingston, where I had to cross a busy highway. Before braving the busy intersection, I went into a 7-Eleven store. It struck me that I have virtually never seen a 7-Eleven store while bike touring, probably because they are more often in the urban-esque areas that I avoid.
There was hot food there, but the only vegetarian options were macaroni and cheese and potato wedges, which I purchased. The woman who sold them to me seemed to strongly disapprove: "All that starch!"
I sat down near a young couple with a tiny baby. For some reason, I got the impression that they were stranded at the 7-Eleven, a feeling that was semi-confirmed when a store employee came back and quietly told them not to worry, "We have someone coming to help you."
Traffic through the intersection had calmed down while I was in the 7-Eleven, so I quickly crossed the busy road, and onto FM-350, on which I'd be the rest of the day.
This was a great road, reminiscent of all the quiet Kentucky backroads I love.
The sun finally came out. After miles of pleasant scenery, I stopped at a church, and puzzled over a monument in front of the place:
Surely the misspellings were too obvious to be mistakes, right? But if there was some special meaning here, it eluded me. While I mulled this over I ate the last Little Debbie snack I had in my handlebar bag, and texted my friend BJ to let him know where I was. We decided to meet up at 2:00 at a picnic area next to a busy highway. That way I could end my trip on a nice country road instead of riding several miles on the highway to the next town.
The last ten miles of the tour were great. A friendly dog came out to greet me while I was stopped at the end of a long driveway.
I arrived to find BJ waiting for me at the picnic area next to the highway in the tiny community of Moscow. We loaded the bike in his truck and left, thus ending this successful, mostly enjoyable bike tour.
Today's ride: 47 miles (76 km)
Total: 1,108 miles (1,783 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 9 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 6 |
2 years ago
I am surprised she didn't mention it to you, though.
2 years ago
Also, I'm starting to put my many non-touring (mostly taken on day rides) photos online, if you're interested: http://jeffleeonline.com/
Jeff
1 year ago