Day 23, March 5.........The weather finally moderated, so riding conditions were good, but I spent the day in Bastrop. Since I was having a difficult time selecting roads that provided a comfortable riding experience, I had decided to purchase Adventure Cycling maps for the portion of the Southern Tier through the rest of Texas. The State of Texas does not publish a statewide cycling map (kudos to any state that has a cycling map, this is an excellent way to show local and visiting cyclists roads that lend themselves to safe cycling and roads to be avoided. Surprisingly, Louisiana has an excellent cycling map and it made a huge difference for me in that state. If you plan to go on a cycling journey where you select your own route, I suggest it is worth the time to investigate state cycling maps well ahead of your trip). The maps I purchased arrived late Wednesday.
Day 24, March 6, 85 miles (1439). Left Bastrop, rode through Austin, west of Austin started into the amazing hills known as Texas Hill Country. Riding through the city was hectic, but once clear to the west, it became very rural and for the most part it was just me and the hills. Camped at Pedernales Falls State Park.
Day 25, March 7, 58 miles (1497). A day of headwinds and hills. I saw two other cyclists headed, loaded with gear. They warned me to lower my mileage expectations in Hill Country, the hills demand a lot of energy to climb. I soon discovered how right they were. Camped in a nice little City park amongst monster RVs in Fredericksburg TX.
Day 26, March 8, 40 miles (1537). Awoke to a steady rain, so I decided to be lazy and stay in my sleeping bag until the rain let up. So I had a later then normal start time, plus I knew there was a Warm Showers host in Ingram (Kerrville area), so I made it a leisurely day meandering through ranch country on a wonderful rural road where I saw maybe 10 vehicles the entire ride. I am so glad I took the time to wait for the maps, it is good to be away from the stress of vehicular traffic. Had pizza with my WS hosts and talked about Texas.
We had a great time hosting Goeff and yes talking about Texas but some about Oregon and the northwest. A funny thing happened. A neighbor had left us some homemade Kalua which we mistakenly thought was our own homemade balsamic salid dressing. Goeff put it liberally on his salad as we both did and all realized something was wrong at the same time. My wife knew instantly that it was the kalua. Goeff never complained but used salad dressing on his second helping of salad. Fred and Janice, Kerrville, Texas
ReplyDelete