Today I repeated the training ride I made back in August. It wasn’t any easier, but I did know what to look for. The difference today was the water crossing in the Pedernales State Park was wet this time. It was slick so I took off my shoes and socks and walked my bike across. I couldn’t see any need in taking a chance of slipping and going down with so much left to do.

The hill after the crossing was just as hard as I remembered in August, but the traffic along W Fitzhugh road was a lot heavier. The steep climb after crossing Barton Creek was just as hard if not harder than I remembered from August. This heavy traffic continued all the way to the St Austin Catholic Church.

We did have a great stroke of luck when we reached the bike trail on the south side of City Lake. One of our riders made friends with a local rider who lead us thru the maze of people due to the Austin City Limit festival He made it look easy and he parted the pedestrians that were on the bike and hike trails and got us through the busy Austin streets. It was a blessing.

When I arrived at the church Kye and my son Brandon were waiting for me. This gave me great joy.

First thing on the list was getting lunch then on to the Full Todo list:

Get all my gear including my bike.

Go to Brandon’s house to get cleaned up.

Get a new replacement phone.

Go to REI to get a new air pad and rain coat (it looks like we could get some rain in the coming days)

Do Laundry ( Kye is spoiling me on this one)

and the list continues but after 14 days of straight riding REST is one of the top priorities.