1,216 Total Miles ✔️
DAY 17: Baton Rouge, Louisiana ➡️ Opelousas, Louisiana (75 miles)
This was our longest day of the trip so far. (75 miles). We took off very early in the morning to make sure we would make it before sunset. I had a flat tire on the way, but I ended up just pumping it back up and it lasted about 80% of the trip. I pumped it again it again and made it to the warmshowers apartment that we stayed in that night. The home was unfurnished and the man who hosted us was fostering a pregnant dog who stayed with us. She was awesome and would jump up on the couch with us. We ended up getting some really good fried chicken for dinner at mama's chicken.
DAY 18: Opelousas, Louisiana ➡️ Lake Charles (86 miles)
We one upped the day before and biked 86 miles to lake charles. We passed a ton of cows this day and its pretty funny because everytime we pass groups of them they just stopped and stared at us. We also got chased by a bunch of dogs on the way because most people don't fence in their yard. (there aren't usually a lot of people that pass through these areas). We made it to the casino/resort we were staying in, and we chilled for the night. We went to the casino around 10pm for a little fun and I ended up winning $1,000 lol.
DAY 19: Lake Charles, Louisiana (off day)
We spent one more night at the hotel and we just took the day off to relax and rest our bodies. We spent the day in the lazy river, and caught up on any other work we had to do.
DAY 20: Lake Charles, Louisiana ➡️ Silsbee, Texas (83 miles)
This is the day we crossed over into Texas. We went down Sandy beach rd, which was literally all sand for about 3 miles. Then the next road was all rocks which definitely wasn't good for our popped tire situations. Google maps sent us through this 8-10 mile dirt, sand, grassy path with a huge puddle in the middle towards the end. It was miserable and it put us way back in time to make it before sunset. We finally made it through and as were cruising to make it in time for sunset a cop pulled us over. He told us the neighbors complained and that it was a private way. He took our licenses and was very nice considering we obviously had no idea that that was the case, and we told him what our situation was. We ended up making it a few minutes after sunset.
DAY 21: Silsbee, Texas ➡️ Conroe, Texas (87 miles)
So these past few days I have been pumping my tire here and there, and it has been lasting me, but it kept going down and we weren't sure why. We made it about 50 miles and stopped to get tamales on the side of the road. (They were wicked good). Then, my tire was going down faster than usual and we had to either pump it every 5 miles, or stop at a Walmart. We were battling daylight but decided to stop. We bought everything they had to help, but they were out of tubes that fit my tire. We ended up trying a couple things to fix it, and had to pump my tire every 6-10 miles for the remaining 37 just to get to conroe and deal with it the next day.
DAY 22: Conroe, Texas ➡️ Navasota, Texas (45 miles)
We planned to go about 75 miles this day but my tire had other plans. It stayed inflated overnight so we figured it could last us until Austin (where we planned to go to REI). That wasn't the case. About 15 miles in it popped and Mike and I ubered to a bike store to get it fixed. An older man fixed my tire, we ubered back, and were on our way. Another 8 miles in my tire explodes! Literally made a gunshot sound and exploded. We were not close to any bike shops so I called the man who helped fix the tire before and he told us he would close up shop in 30 and drive to us (which was about 30 minutes away). This was very nice of him, because he didn't even charge me the first time. He brought more tubes and tires and he once again did not charge us. He was a really nice and very helpful considering we literally had no other option. We took off again and once again........flat. We ended up ubering all three of our bikes strapped to the roof and bags and wheels all over the car. The uber driver was awesome and we tipped him extra because he went out of his way to strap our bikes to the roof and help us out. We got to the hotel and grabbed dinner at the best bbq place we have ever had.
DAY 23: Navasota, Texas ➡️ College Station, Texas (20 miles)
We needed a bike shop. We ended up finding one in a more populated area 20 miles from us. The plan was for Luke and mike to bike there and I would take an uber so that we could all meet there at 12:00, when they opened. About 7 miles in to their bike ride luke pops a tire. Him and mike hitch-hiked a ride to the bike store and I took the Uber where we could finally diagnosis these problems. We had them fixed and decided to take the day off to relax and regroup.
Day 24: College Station, Texas ➡️ Manor, Texas (90 miles)
This day was a GRIND. 90 miles means we literally barely have time for a gas station break or if we do we have to be in and out quick. Not much happened this day but peddling forever. Mike popped a tire as well and we stopped to run into a gas station to grab food and drinks while he fixed it. We made it just in time for sundown but we could definitely feel it in our legs that this was a very long day.
Day 25: Manor, Texas ➡️ Austin, Texas (15 miles)
We finally made it to Austin. We biked straight to REI to have our bikes completely detailed and looked at. (REI is where we bought our bikes). We scootered around Austin grabbed some tacos and laid down because we were still exhausted from the day before.
Thanks for following along so far! It has been a wild ride, and I have learned so much. Your support has meant everything and I am looking forward to what's coming!
(Check out my photos tab to see more pictures from this week!)
