DON'T bELIEVE ALL THOSE LIES

We know we are in Texas now!

Thursday 10-14-10. Today we rode from Kountze to Conroe Texas, 81 miles, our longest day yet. We had 2 options for riding today. One was to stay on the Adventure Cycling route that promised narrow, rough roads infested with logging trucks and questionable lodging. We opted to go off route and take Hwy 105 to Conroe, since it has a bike shop and we need tubes for Ann's bike. We called the sheriff's office to inquire about traffic on 105 and whether or not the road had shoulders. The sheriff's office told us we should contact the Texas DOT, who referred us to the Dept. of Public Safety. Evidently the agencies who patrol and patch the highway did not have the information we needed. Public Safety said they would have someone call us. A nice guy did call. Although he tried to be helpful, he did not know if the highway had shoulders. He did recall it had alot of traffic. He stated it had been years since he had driven that far west. Well, we need tubes since Ann's spares are patched, as is the tube in her rear wheel. She is now affectionately referred to as "PATCHES". We took 105 hoping for shoulders. We had great ones for 50 miles and stopped for lunch in Cleveland at the new Fish Tales restaurant. A group of locals told us 105 to Conroe had no shoulders-was dangerous with lots of truck traffic-and offered alternate routes that may have taken us all night. We stayed on 105 and, lo and behold, we biked nice shoulders all the way. As the song says, "Don't believe all those lies, Darlin' just believe your eyes"