Tuesday, March 3, 2015 (Day 22)
Start: San Saba, Texas
End: Winters, Texas
Weather: Cloudy, Afternoon Sun
Miles: 111+
I stayed up past midnight, and continually awoke throughout the night, but I was able to leave just before 8.30am. I stopped in the only grocery store in town to buy drinks/snacks to make it most of the day.
Five miles outside of town, Google Maps suggested I take a road that did not exist. I should be heading northwest. After this, I thought it would be a looooong day. Without a cell signal, I decided to continue to head west, and hope for a cell signal to be apparent or a road sign to lead me further on my quest to reach Albuquerque, NM.
Ten miles passed before the next town; I still did not have access to a map on my phone. I did not even see a gas station in this town, but I found a truck sitting in a parking lot with a man inside. 
The man inside was on the phone conducting business, so I waited 5 minutes or so for him to get off with chatty Cathy. He told me HWY 45 North would take me in the general direction of Winters, TX. HWY 45 ended up being a farm road with little traffic, which was great, because there is not a shoulder. But 15 miles down HWY 45, I took another gamble, Google Maps asked me to take some County/Country Roads. I was nervous, but when I got to the road, the road was paved. I rode down for 5 miles, always thinking the road would soon dead-end, or the pavement would stop. But the County/Country Roads I continued were all paved.
Today seemed to be the perfect weather and road conditions for riding. I was able to remove my pants and hat not long into the ride this morning. And though Google Maps continued to take me on County/Country Roads, the roads were ALL PAVED!!! 
I could not believe it. After the first road did not exist, Google Maps lead me off of main highways, skirting cities, and the roads Google Maps lead me on were paved. Even being farm roads, all but 4 miles of a the roads were in pretty decent shape, no traffic, and I was able to keep my mph up pretty high as I avoided pot holes. 
I made Bangs, TX, and thought I had time to stop for a sandwich in Subway. I soon left Bangs, TX and as I reached Santa Anna, TX the sun started breaking through, warming me, and my spirits. At this point I am in my shorts and t-shirt for the first time in what seems weeks!
Just as I passed Santa Anna, TX city limit sign, my front tire went flat. 
I found a nice spot to do the repair work. Up until this point, I thought I was killing the miles, and would be finished early today, most likely before 5pm. But as I started fixing the flat tire, I found myself mounting the tire & tube, an inflating three times in a row. I quickly killed 45 minutes. The hole in the tube kept breaking through the patches when I would inflate to 110 psi. If you do not know, inflating with such a small pump is demanding on your hands and wrist to reach a such a high pressure of 110 psi… and I had to do it three times.
I finally gave in, removed the troubling tube, and replaced with a new tube. I will have to work on the tube to try to repair tonight.
By 3:30pm, I was back to cycling, and had 44 miles to Winters, TX. The roads had perfect shoulders, and I was able to knock out the miles. The sun being out made for beautiful scenery. I failed to get water/drinks in Coleman, TX, the last town with supplies before Winters, TX. So I went without liquids for 30+ miles. I reached Winters, TX just after 6.15pm. I checked into the only motel ($50.80) in town. 
I then went to the grocery store for dinner and snacks. I made microwave fajitas with chocolate milk. My plan is to make 90 miles tomorrow, and then Lubbock, TX the following day.
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