Today a nice ride to the northwest to small settlement of Doss. The first part of the ride was heavy fog and mist. After that it cleared up and became warm and sunny. It was nice to not have rain for a change. Once again, I chose to do the B ride. I headed over to the Sunset Inn for the 9am start. Some people there, though also expect others had started earlier on their own. Still fun to be part of the group start. Within a few miles, the group split between A, B and C rides. My glasses had gotten misted over by the fog, so I stopped to clear them several times.
We headed roughly northbound on US87 and then also via old Mason Road. These smaller roads are often smoother and definitely quieter. At 13 miles turned left again via at the Hilltop Restaurant. This next section had some winding bits, but was relatively flat for this area. The heavy mist continued as we went through the trees. There were one or two sharp steep bits including one hill where I walked up.

At 27 miles the route brought us to the Doss Store. The store was filled with cyclists as the A riders looped around to this point as well. Nice place for a break. Also good chance to put on sunscreen after this point the sun came out for real. From Doss, we took smaller roads back southbound through winding areas. Some of these roads we’d done a few days before on trip from Harper. This included Old Harper Road. The photo above right was our one water crossing where cyclists carefully got off and walked. The water isn’t necessarily deep, but the hazard is if moss or other slippery stuff has grown. Without too much difficulty, circled around south and then back on TX 16 for ride back to town.

This afternoon the Nimitz Museum was free if you came wearing a Texas Hell Week shirt. I took advantage of the promotion and walked through the museum. It has a well done chronology of the entire pacific war with major battles and other points. It also has one entire building with the life story of Chester Nimitz, the CINCPAC (commander in chief pacific) selected in WWII just after Pearl Harbor to take over from Admiral Kimmel who held the post through Pearl Harbor. The Nimitz family had settled here in Texas and young Chester found a military academy a more interesting career than hotel tending.

Also outside was a hall of presidents, showing how 10 US presidents – starting with Roosevelt and ending with George Bush Sr. had some form of service associated with world war II. It was a fun museum to wander through.

62 miles today.