Trans Am Bicycle Ride to Fill this House 2010

Today's Guest Blogger is Michael Novak:

We started our day from Brackettville after riding 34 miles yesterday (from our original start in Del Rio). Yesterday De Rio hit a record high of 92 and today it was another record at 96. So much for a mild October in Texas. With the record heat and a long ride scheduled for today (82 miles), we planned appropriately to split up the day – even though it took away from the normal “day of rest” on Sunday. Our target was Utopia, Texas.

This week we have three and a half guest riders (Sam, Michael, Charles and Dan – one-half because Sam and Dan are taking turns riding as well as driving Vanna). We are a welcome addition to the odd couple of Peter and Carl. They are starting to finish each other’s sentences and bicker about the mapping of our routes. I guess three weeks together has had a marital effect on them.

My bike was finally delivered from FedEx, so I was able to join the rest of our loose peloton. My stock tip for today – go long on UPS and short FedEx. It was a great feeling to be on familiar equipment. Carl was kind enough to lend me his bike yesterday to ride, but my body was in desperate need of my long lost friend.

While the normal route planned for today would have taken us through a mountainous Camp Wood and Leakey, we re-routed to the south. Charles, who is our resident professional rider, went on the original route unsupported by Vanna. He is a machine, and is amazing to watch cycle. Even though the rest of us took off some elevation and miles on the new route, we now have a new appreciation (more like DE-preciation) for the term “chip and seal”. This is effectively tarring the road surface and throwing pebbles over the top. Our bikes and teeth rattled for many miles as we struggled to find a smooth path on state Route 90.

After one wrong turn from me, we ended our ride at the Sabinal River Lodge – probably the best place we will stay for the week. It is a lodge crafted out of Texas cedar and nestled along the Sabinal River (which we crossed twice during the day). Dan took a quick dip in the cool, clear water and emerged refreshed after his uphill climb. The rest of us relaxed over some cold Coronas on the back deck of the lodge. What a beautiful setting. We are now entering the “hill country” of Texas, and the landscape is changing from scrub and desert to cedar and pine trees.

The real news from today was not the ride itself (which was rough in the heat), but our dinner with David Cook at the Lost Maples Café. David is the author of the book “Golf’s Sacred Journey”. No only was this on Peter’s bucket list, but it has also been one of his dreams – to go to Utopia and live some of the book. On the last part of our ride, we rode past the Utopia golf course and the Waresville cemetery. At dinner, David entertained us with the background for the making of the book into a film, showed us the final trailer, and told stories of the characters in the film (like Robert Duvall). We won’t spoil the movie for you, but the story of how PGA professional golfer KJ Choi (who plays the antagonist role of TK Oh in the movie) met David and was chosen for a key film role is unreal. Ask any one of us for more details.

After stuffing our weakened bodies with famous Texas dishes like chicken fried steak and buttermilk pie, we all piled into David’s vintage Ford 250 and took a quick tour of Utopia and the parts of it that were in the film. We finished the day back on the deck at the lodge watching the first trailer (which was changed) and various scenes from the movie. It comes out in the spring of 2011 and will be well worth the wait.

Guest blogger note: please check out this movie at http://www.sevendaysinutopiablog.com/.

Many of us on the trip have been moved by David Cook and his incredible story and message. We feel that more of you will feel the same as we do. God bless.

To see all of the miles we have traveled to date, click on this link:

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/san-diego/184128793598634354