Day 30 - Blanco to Austin, TX

My cell phone finally shows five bars for Verizon. Nice to see after days of "No service" (no bars) west of and in the Hill Country.
I forgot to mention that at a map meeting several days ago, Jerry treated us to a humorous song composed to the tune of "The Streets of Laredo". He has a very good voice. See his post of today for the lyrics.
We rode 67 miles today in six hours, into the heart of Austin, the capital of Texas and home of the University of Texas. Low overcast but no rain. Carol said temps was in the 70s when we arrived; jackets were marginal in the ride. It feels humid.
Nine of us wore Multiple Sclerosis Ride jerseys today at Bob Pedersen's request. We wear the jerseys whenever we enter a city. Pictured in the jerseys are (in front) Mitch, Julie, Carol, Andre and (in back) Bruce, Bob G, Flynn, Terry and Bob Pedersen.
The first 26 miles was rollers from Blanco to Wimberly on county roads. Chip seal as usual; not too bad. We found the Maui Wowi coffee shop and recaffeinated with slices of first-rate banana nut bread. It was surreal to sit among the faux Hawaiian decor, thinking this is what we rode all the way to Texas for?? Wimberly is a poster child for good road; route 12 is silk-smooth asphalt that extends several miles out of town. Good job!
Blue bonnets (lupin) were in bloom (see photo). Carol is the flowers expert, and pointed out wild mustard in yellow stands. I am waiting for a sunny day to photograph more flowers.
From Wimberly we rode 17 miles to Mountain City. Here we went off-route to detour 24 miles into Austin. Past the town of Buda we rode right into hundreds of bicyclists doing a Wounded Warriors / Ride 2 Recovery bicycle ride. Six days from San Antonio through Austin to Fort Worth. Half the riders are pros or former pros; the other half are recovering servicemen and women and sponsors. We had a friendly conversation with them as we rode side by side, until our route veered off after three miles. I was beside Scotty Moro, an Aussie who now lives in Ohio and is the equipment director for Ride 2 Recovery rides. His legs were incredibly muscular. It was fun to have a police escort and zoom through red lights! See Jerry's blog post for a photo of the riders.
Adventure Cycling's directions to the Rodeway Inn were convoluted, so it was helpful to ride with Carol, Bob Plant and Jerry. That way we could get lost together! But we didn't get lost. Our route brought us in from the southwest through Austin suburbs, past the humongous University football stadium, the LBJ presidential library, and through a hip part of town with cutting-edge restaurants and a Tesla parked on the street (see photo).
Mitch said we would be near the campus. What he didn't say is that we are practically in the shoulder lane of Interstate 35 (see photos). Note the "garden watering hole" in the shadow of semis!
It felt SO good to shower and chill out. The plan is to gather at 6 pm, do logistics, then pile into the van for a run to a BBQ place. Getting hungry thinking about dinner!
Bruce