Day 5 Riding, Thursday March 22
Charley & PhillipRode west to east from Dolen, TX to Bleakwood (7 miles past Kirbyville) via Thicket, Kountze, Silsbee, and Buna.
Drove 25 miles back to the bridge at Dolen. As we were preparing to begin the ride, a beleagured man walked across the bridge to us and asked if we would jump start his pickup truck which was under the bridge. He had been fishing the evening before and his battery would not start when he got ready to leave. He had spent the night in his truck under the bridge in a mosquito filled area. We were wary. Phillip stayed up on the bridge. Mike and Charley went under the bridge in the Yukon and jump started his truck. He was very thankful and we were glad to have been there when he needed us.
Encountered strong head winds during the morning. Phillip rode strong. Charley had no energy and a sore left ankle and right knee. Near Thicket we encountered a 28 year old lady named Carrie riding from St. Augustine to San Diego with her mother driving a support vehicle. Carrie had served in the Peace Corps in Honduras and was riding to raise money for medical supplies to send there.
We had lunch at Mama Jack's in Kountze. Charley had a 10 minute nap in the Yukon, a prayer for strength, and a much better ride in the afternoon. Rode through beautiful national forests with mature pine timber. We stopped riding 7 miles past Kirbyville where the road was closed from the flooding rains on Tuesday. Mosquitoes were bad while we waited on Mike to arrive. Local man recommended we drive 23 miles to Jasper for lodging. We did.
For the day: 83 miles, 13.2 mph average, 6 hours and 16 minutes riding time, 4783 calories burned