Who would have thought that the first few days could be so varied and eventful!

Watch Lisa’s departure from Woodlands Mall (Houston, Texas - USA) on Youtube.

Departure day involved an early start for everybody. Claire, who had just arrived the day before, was dropped off by her hosts, Emma and David, just before 8 am. I had gone to bed late having tried to finish all outstanding tasks before setting off for almost 8 months. I then packed the rest of my luggage in the early hours of the morning. I dropped Claire off at the Woodlands Mall with the bikes and then went to return the Texan tank. Made my way back to the Woodlands Mall and a small crowd had assembled to wave us off. I think I had expected to slip off quietly so that, as one friend in the UK pointed out, nobody would see how soon after I had gotten off to rest / fallen off and / or had a sore bum… In beautiful sunshine though and in front of the supporters, I rode across the “starting line” of red, yellow and blue ribbon to the sound of a horn blowing…

It was sunny and about 80 degrees as we set off. Essentially perfect weather and it bode well for the trip if this were to continue… Alas…

The initial part of the trip was at a fast pace by my standards. We had to ride a few miles along a busy feeder road to an interstate so there was an incentive to reach the first turning and get onto a farm road. I had dropped off most of my luggage the day before at a pre-booked motel, so that made things easier too. We held a steady pace and I think most people in Houston were surprised to get a call from me before 5 pm to say we had arrived in one piece and in reasonable shape (me – Claire of course could have ridden further and faster!) - only mistake was not to have put sun screen on all exposed body parts but neither of us burnt badly. After over 24 hrs in the USA, Claire finally met her first American: a Texan even, at the motel!

Claire managed to have waffles for breakfast in the shape of Texas and there was a background of religious TV programmes – this was an unusual Sunday morning by my standards as I usually just listen to the Archers omnibus and Desert Island Discs on Radio 4 whilst in bed…

As we set off on Day 2 though, a minor crisis ensued when Claire’s saddle dropped out of position and “ping” was heard as something obviously fell out of place. We found a garage which opened a bit later and they managed to do a temporary repair. We then set off from Cleveland towards Kountze. Neither signposts nor maps were much use but I fortunately remembered having travelled along the required road a couple of years ago so we found the first road of the day and headed off. I was quite apprehensive as this was going to be the longest cycle ride I had done as it was over 50 miles. We both found it hard though, as the route was just along 2 long, straight, rather uninteresting roads for the entire day. We were excited at a bend in the road as it meant we could look forward to seeing something different around the corner (but it was more of the same…) and the single turn of the day induced elation. It was rather relentless and not aided by rain and wind at times in the day.

We finally reached the last marker on the map before Kountze – about 7 miles out there is a small village called Honey island (next to a place called Dies!). I think that for the rest of the trip I will view that final marker each day as “Honey Island”.” Knowing that I have less than 10 miles to go, Claire then went ahead to get a motel room as she also didn’t have any lights on her bike. I arrived to Kountze just as it was getting dark. Claire was not enthusiastic about the accommodation! It was a dive… Afraid I can’t muster a positive word. We then realised that there was at least one mouse in the room, whom we christened Mickey (sorry for lack of originality but we had cycled 54 miles). Mickey may have had family as a mouse kept appearing in different parts of the room, boldly indifferent to our presence… Mickey & family seemed to be heavy smokers too, as the stench of cigarettes was pretty overpowering.

We left the bikes and swapped rooms – we wondered if Mickey (& co) would play on the bikes; i just hoped he was polite enough not to leave any unwanted deposits on the saddle. We vacated to an upstairs room, which seemed to have no wildlife in the room, but there were definitely critters in the attic space above that proceeded to scratch, flap and scrape their way thru the night.

We went out to get dinner in Kountze only to find that there was nothing open for evening meals. Claire resorted to buying some supplies at the gas station. I did buy a beer but then couldn’t even face it. This was not the reward evening we had hoped for after the day’s cycllng…

After a buffet breakfast at the local diner, we headed out of Kountze asap. Weather had changed again – it was cold and there was a tornado watch in force! Before we reached our first stop, it had begun to rain… We were headed for Kirbyvllle on part of the Southern tier cycle route. It involved cycling about 30 miles on the hard shoulder of a busy dual carriageway though. It was very wet, cold and windy and very hard work. Bearing in mind that Claire had come on HOLIDAY here, i don’t think I was establishing a reputation for showing somebody a good time so far – mice in room, no evening meals, tornado watch and a cycle ride down a main road – then, just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I got a puncture!!! Claire changed it – it of course rained again whilst that was going on… Anyhow, with a stoic attitude, Claire decided it would all serve as good mental preparation for the Iron Man competition she is entering later this year… That is friendship for you!

Have to say, that evening I was frozen and stiff and struggled to even get on or off my bed. Was concerned that this was what it is going to feel like being 40!

In our motel in Kirbyville, we feared we would be without dinner again as there was seemingly nothing nearby and the dual carriageway had no sidewalk. However, the motel manager then knocked on the door and offered to drive us to collect food from a fantastic diner whose menu fulfilled all of our food fantasies that day… So we ate a lovely meal in the motel room off of polystyrene plates with the bikes propped up surrounded by our drying laundry and money! Zip lock bags are needed!