As in golf, some days on tour you need to lay up short to make the easiest and safest play.  That's pretty much what today was.

From Kirbyville,  Kountze TX was only 40 miles.  Beyond Kountze,  however, it's another 45 or 50 miles with no listed lodging, camping, or towns of any size.  So today we rode only 40 miles, aided by a very pleasant tailwind and cool temperatures.   When we got on the road this morning, it was only 61 degrees outside, perhaps a bit cool for simply sitting around, but nearly ideal for cycling.

The only thing that delayed our departure, was the discovery that my front derailleur wasn't just sticky from being outside in the dew.  The spring which causes the derailleur to move the chain onto smaller chain rings as tension on the cable is released has broken.  It hasn't really mattered to much, while we're in gentle terrain, but will be a real aggravation when we get west of Austin TX.  Fortunately, a few emails and phone calls have assured me of a new derailleur waiting in Austin.

We dallied through our rest stop in Buna, talking football, local roads, and drivers with a few folks at a convenience store,  and Barb picked up a Texas road map.  There was no welcome center on our route into Texas and it's been helpful to have a map so we can see a bigger picture of where we are, besides the snippets that the Adventure Cycling maplets show.

From our rest stop we rode straight to Silsbee TX for lunch, not even bothering to stop at the small town of Evadale -- something that would have been unthinkable had the temperatures been in the 90's.   We did some additional shopping for toiletries after lunch and then leisurely rode the last 10 miles into Kountze.   We were checked into our hotel room before 1 pm.

A load of bathtub laundry is drying on the hotel pool deck, we've arranged to stay with a warmshower.org host tomorrow in Coldspring TX, and Barb is snoozing before supper.

All in all,  we're well, safe, and happy.  Sometimes laying up is the right thing to do.