We had a Mother Nature wake-up call. The geese, ducks, doves and turtle doves were competing to see who could make the most noise a little after 5:00 a.m. This was not was we had expected since were had set our alarms for 6:15.

We stopped at another donut shop in Llano. It seemed to be the hot shop in town. Then after filling the Navigator with gas we were off. 

We continued North on Highway 16 for 32 miles to San Saba Texas. The shoulder was again narrow at best.  Once we hit San Saba’s county line the shoulder improved greatly from almost nonexistent to 10′ wide.  What a difference a county line makes.

We grabbed a quick snack at San Saba and headed toward Richland Hills on Highway 190.  It was a good road and again with a good shoulder.  The only concern was at the bridges where the shoulder disappeared.   I would watch my mirror closely so I could time the oncoming traffic from my rear and cross the bridges safely.  

Once we reached Richland Springs we turned north on highway 45.  With a good south wind pushing me I made good time but there was some construction to tend with and the day was warm.  When I would peddle the same speed as the south wind, it would blow and I really felt the heat.   This highway had a lot of rolling hills to climb and this 33 miles stretch seemed to take forever.

Once we hit the Brownwood, Kye used her phone’s GPS and guided us right into Brownwood on the route my friend Ed Tally explained the night before.

We loaded up my bike and headed to Lake Brownwood where we will be staying with Ed and Kay Talley for our first official rest day.  It is great opportunity to catch up with good friends.