A rainy and sometimes hilly ride today. Once again we had choices between A (108 miles), B (72 miles) and C (41 miles) and I picked B. Last night my brother Bert and sister-in-law Jean arrived and joined as well. We reset clocks but rides still started at 9am. I carefully got everything together including a few snacks to eat along the way. Skies were overcast but it was dry.

As the group assembled before the ride, the unanswered question was “what will the weather do today”. Was the overcast some low clouds that would burn off or a start of something wetter. No good way to know so we set off. The first six miles were along a major road (TX 16) and fairly quick. From here we turned off to Center Point Road and the fun began. For the next 14 miles this road would climb and drop across little dips and cross many small cattle crossings. In one or two places, cows freely crossed over the road. It was a nice quiet and rustic road. After 18 miles or so, the road started to descend and we also got our first rain. Light raindrops on the way. A number of the other cyclists turned around already. At mile 23 was end of this road and turn onto 1341. While this was a larger road, the surface was surprisingly rougher version of chip seal.

For the next 11 miles, cycled along this road. Mostly by myself as others were either ahead or perhaps had turned around already. One or two sharp hills and from what I could see through the mist, was a pretty area. At mile 34 turned onto a more major road and descended down into part of Kerrville. Nice place for a quick snack for lunch. From here the A and B routes split and I followed the B. Went past the airport and then back along a very small road across and through the hills. Was a nice little route and really didn’t see any other traffic along the way. Rain continued intermittently.

After this came back to our original road and then retraced the last 22 miles. There was a large hill to climb at first, but I was surprised at how much was downhill after that. It was nice to get back to town, as the showers were occasionally getting more severe. Today was definitely hillier than yesterday and a little longer. The rain and fog closed in the views and gave more of a sense of being alone on the roads as you couldn’t see cyclists or others further on the road. Nice ride overall.  No photos today as I kept the camera dry

75 miles today.