Notes from the live oaks, 4/1/2010

The hammock is an absolute godsend. It opens up a world of camping possibilities that would otherwise not exist. Having suppressed my bitter resentment of it's 500 grams through California, Arizona and most of New Mexico it is now repaying its dues.

With a hammock you don't need flat ground to lie down. All you need is 2 trees between 8 and 12 feet apart. In Texas if the roadside verge is flat they remove all vegetation and with it any possibility of a subtle stop over . However every now and then the roadside ground is on a steep slope and if I'm very lucky they leave the trees on these slopes.

So it is today, my home for the night is little clump of live oaks trees on a 45 degree slope at the side of a very quiet back road. My bed swings above rocks and undergrowth in a place I simply could not sleep without it. I love my hammock.

I got up late today. Like the lazy bum that I am. It was such a warm night and in my tent I slept like a baby. I didn't want to get back on my bike and my knees were seizing up.

It was supposed to be rest day but I have broken my routine and ridden anyway, I didn't like it much where I was.

I have become a creature of habit. After a while you get used to life on the road.

I ride 50-60 miles a day. I ride for 3 days then rest for 1. On my rest day I shower, wash my clothes, charge up electrical things, catch up with the outside world if I can.

I eat the same food all the time because it is light, cheap, available everywhere and provides me with what I need: Calories!

Breakfast is porridge with a spoonful of peanut butter and one of jam.
I stop for coffee with 3 sugars.(I have given up making tea to because my type of gas cartridge is very hard to find.)
Lunch is 3 cinnamon and raisin bagels, with peanut butter and jam.
Snacks: cereal bars. (I am rationed to 2 per day but eat more then have to stock up with chocolate later.)
Dinner is pasta with fish.

I carry 2-3 days of this diet to I survive on when I'm camping, which is most of the time.

If I pass a small town around lunchtime I will break the monotony and have lunch at a cafe or a Mexican restaurant. Same with dinner but this rarely happens, I aim to be in the country for dinner and bed.

When I find fresh fruit I eat 2 oranges, 2 apples and 2 bananas immediately but I never carry fruit, it is too heavy.

If I find whole cooked chickens I eat one there and then with a loaf of french bread.

Americans make terrible bread, so do the English mind you. Something approaching OK bread can be found at a high price under the name of 'Artisan Bread'. Home baked 'Corn Bread' is also delicious if I am lucky enough to find it

I miss vegetables but my body really doesn't seem to mind.

I restocked this morning. Ate the dose of fruit, the bird and the loaf. I had the coffee and eventually forced myself to get on the road by midday. I knew it was too late make the next official campsite, but part of me loves the excitement of not knowing how I'm going to find a place to stay.

As the day winds down the pressure mounts. The places I saw in the mid afternoon would have been ideal but then I hadn't covered any distance. The later I leave it the more risky it gets.

Will I completely luck out and end up pitching the tent on the grass verge? This would a pain because it would no doubt lead to local interest and who knows where that would lead. Plus it might not be the safest place to be were someone to lose control of their car in the night.

At about 16.00 I start getting cold as the sun gets lower. My muscles start to tighten, I tell myself, "If I see a place now I will stop."

It's best to get everything done without using a head torch to avoid attracting attention. What I find in the next 2 hours determines how my whole evening and night play out.

Stealth camping across Texas!

It's a fun game I play each day, a harmless cloak and dagger mission.

Today worked out perfectly, as it so often does: I found the trees at 16.30 with about 50 miles under my belt; hauled the bike up the slope; set up the bed; changed into my cold weather clothes- thermals, woolly hat, wool socks, down jacket. I cooked and ate dinner and as I wiped the pan clean the sun went behind the hills. Perfect.

Now to while away the evening swinging from the trees, listening to hilarious local right-wing phone in shows on my wind up radio and watching the moon and the stars go by.