An easy ride

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Nice cycling weather today. Overcast, cool and with tailwinds. I think this is likely also the nicest part of the highway (except for stretch of 220 coming up tomorrow) with one lane of traffic, good shoulders and not yet having the different oil field trucks. Left Lampasas a little before sunrise, enjoy getting out on the road right at start of the day. The first few miles were busy through town with an occasional light, but then US 183 split off and at five miles, just past the airport it changed to a single lane.

Today had a number of gentle rises over a hill and then down the other side. I stopped briefly in Adamsville at place above left, named “The Store”. The proprietor remembered me from the trip down. He said, “hope to see you again” – to which I replied, “no offense intended but if I am by here again, something has likely gone very wrong”. Some more gentle climbs and descents to come into Evant at 31 miles. I stopped in the grocery store here.

After Evant it was a straightforward ride to Hamilton at mile 47. I passed the motel I had stayed before and stopped briefly in town for lunch. I had a good tailwind, though not quite as strong as the day before. From here a nice straightforward ride into Hico. I was curious if I would find internet but as photo bottom left shows, they also had a banner for “free wireless internet”. I can’t get cell phone service here but can get the internet. It was early enough that I could have continued, but decided to stop in and visit this town for a change. Overall, a nice easy ride today. It threatened to rain once or twice but kept dry. I’m expected slightly more showers over the next two days cycling into Dallas.

68 miles today.

Tailwinds!

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Now time to cycle back to Dallas after Fredericksburg. After the headwinds on the way down, I was hoping for tailwinds today and wasn’t disappointed. Got some good winds to blow me along, particularly to Lampasas.

Last night caught up with Shanna Armstrong over dinner. Shanna is an impressive athlete who has done quite a bit of endurance cycling including competing (and winning) two Race Across America bike races. We met at Gator Hell Week a few years ago, and overlapped a few times since (e.g. when we were cycling/hiking to top of Mauna Kea, Shanna was competing, and winning, the Ultraman event – essentially a 320 mile triathalon). Shanna is currently training for Gigathalon, a five sport event (road biking, mountain biking, inline skating, running and swimming). If you are looking for someone to cheer on this summer (or even better send a few $ to help sponsor her racing or help the Lubbock Boys and Girls Club), check out Shanna’s website.

This morning I loaded everything on the bike and set off a little before sunrise. The bike was noticeably heavier, though still handled well.
In general, I noticed the roads I was cycling were considerably flatter than the Texas Hell Week rides, so I was making good progress. I was a little wary of the roughness of US 290, but with loaded panniers, the roughness seemed to get smoothed out a bit. A brief pause at Stonewell at mile 14 and then at Hye at mile 20. They had a big scale outside the post office. I stood on it, and best could tell, still roughly the same weight as I set off two weeks ago. From here a few winding hills before coming through Johnson City at mile 31.

From Johnson City, the cross winds changed over to tailwinds. Hooray! Made sure not to cheer too soon as there were some gentle slopes to cross over. At mile 42, a brief stop in Round Mountain where I met a local cyclist who had also cycled some of the Hell Week rides. From here some gentle ups and downs and into Marble Falls at mile 53 for lunch. Overall, on this part and other routes today I was on a four lane highway with moderate amounts of traffic and not much for (smooth) shoulders. I’m glad I made it to Lampasas since I remember the road getting better from here.

After lunch a slow steady climb up the hill and into Burnet. This had been my initial stop for the day, but it wasn’t too late and I had some good tailwinds, so decided to continue another 22 miles to Lampasas. Found a hotel with wireless internet. There isn’t much of a real center to this town. All a bit spread out, so walked around and then came back to update the web site. Happy to have tailwinds!

87 miles today.

Easy ride to tunnel wildlife management area

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Today an easy ride that was a partial repeat from yesterday. However, with winds from the south instead of the north.

Bert and Jean left early today. I headed over for the 9am group start and there were fewer folks there as well, some are already on their way home. Today I did the B ride with a short-cut at the very end. We cycled together in a big group heading southbound on Texas 16. After 6 miles we turned onto smaller roads and river road. This took us briefly on US 87 and then via backroads again. Here some gentle climbs to reach the Tunnel Wildlife Management area again.  Too early for lunch, so took a quick break before cycling back by way of Luckenbach.  We went through the town loop and there were many motorcycles out and about.  Also a big sign about one motorcycle being raffled.

From Luckenbach took the side roads back to US 290.  Here I took the more direct road along 290 and then into the side roads back to the Super 8 motel.  I stopped briefly on the way in because my right toe strap had  worn through, so replaced the strap and then finished the day.  Tomorrow, I’ll ride loaded again, so took an easier day today.

Overall, I’ve enjoyed the Hell Week cycling.  It is a bit different of an event with a “base camp” that lets you unpack everything into one motel room and get situated for the week.  Once again, Nick did a great job with cue sheets.  There are a surprising variety of small roads here and this allows for a sequence of A, B and C rides each day.  People often also do slight variations of the rides.  There are a good set of strong riders here and if your goal was training for next triathlon or cycling racing season, then Hell Week would be a good place to get in quite a few miles.  For my touring training, it also worked well.

49 miles today.

Nice ride to the vineyard and wildlife center

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A good solid ride today. Sorry no photos as I forgot my camera this morning. As I read the cue sheet, I had some concerns reading “very cool route, with hardly any flat moments”. Often I am just as happy with those flat moments as the really short choppy hills. While there was both hills and wind today, it felt like a good solid ride. I walked a hill or two, but overall it was a fun ride.

We left under partly cloudy skies and cooler temperatures. This morning had a 300km brevet departing at 6am for the real strong riders. Supposedly, 11 of them rode. I was there with many of the other riders at 9am. Once again, I picked the B route, posted for 66 miles. We cut across town on our standard routes and then out in the country. A brief stretch of 290 at 9 miles before taking 1376 south. This was a small road and as advertised we had some good hills to climb over as we rode this road for 20+ miles. We also had tailwinds which helped. It was still overcast and never really warmed much today. The last few miles into Sisterdale had a fun downhill. Zoom, despite the hills we were making good time. The hoard of hungry cyclists had consumed most of the good stuff at the store, but there was still one chocolate bar left. Myself and fellow cyclists wondered how much headwinds we would get from here.

The next 7 miles was mostly cross wind and some gentle hills. From here we turned north on old county road #9. This was nice quiet country road and mostly followed a water drainage with gentle hills. After 8 miles there was a steep climb up to the Old Tunnel State Wildlife Area. The wildlife area was named for a 920 foot long railroad tunnel that had been dug underneath the hill (too bad cyclists couldn’t use it). It had been abandoned in the 1940s but now this area was home to more than 3 million bats. Starting in April, there were evening viewings where you could come watch the bats take to the skies. Also nearby was a small cafe with very tasty burgers. That made for a good lunch.

After lunch, some more gentle riding into the wind, though more downhill this time. We then zigzagged through country roads for 8 miles or so, before the last 4 miles into the wind on Texas 16. I felt pretty slow into the last headwind, but overall am feeling like I’ve been riding stronger than 10 days ago. A fun Texas Hell Week ride today.

68 miles today.

Scenic ride to Doss

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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.

Easy ride on the Bar-B-Q relay

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An easy ride today. Today was a day with two official sets of rides. One set started 60 miles south in Bandera and included the infamous “Leakey Death Ride”. Others were around here. Skies were overcast and forecasts called for intermittent showers in the morning with improving weather in the afternoon. I decided to take an easy ride on the C ride starting from Fredericksburg. The ride itself was to Harry’s BBQ. I rode with Jean and Bert today, but they did the ride as a relay. Jean rode to Harry’s and Bert rode back.

Last night was time for the Texas Hell Week Banquet. Nice chance to see everyone together, eat some bbq, and get together after the rain. We were tightly packed into the Nimitz hotel, a local museum here dedicated to the Nimitz family and also the WWII pacific theater war. The dinner was fun. Nick had me say a few words about my trip. Not quite sure what to say, but told about the overall plans and the road across Russia.

This morning a smaller group than normal. Most of those in town were doing the B ride to Blanco. Jean and I headed out of town to the North and East and through some winding roads. It got quieter as we got out of town. Without much difficulty we reached Harry’s at mile 22. Unfortunately left my camera back, but Harry’s was a fun Texas type bbq house. Jukebox was playing loud music. Inside were a collection of different memorabilia and folksy signs (e.g. “Only out of town cheques accepted” or “Shoes and Shirt required but bras and panties optional”. All throughout the inside, people had signed names and dates of their visit. A few small framed editions of reviews of Harry’s as a Texas institution were also present. Not too far from here is “the loop” a supposedly very scenic road going through wildflower areas and overlooking some nice drop offs.

After a nice big BBQ sandwich, Bert and I continued on smaller roads to the west. At mile 31 we turned south on Lower Cranapple drive. This road wound its way through the countryside and across a few sharp hills before coming back into town. A slight detour past supermarket before end to an easy cycling day. 46 miles today.

One loop too many

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Today a ride back to Dauna’s in Harper. Skies were overcast with forecast of thundershowers later in the day. Today had three choices again. The C ride went to Harper and back (65 miles). From Harper there were two optional loops. Ride both for an A ride and ride one loop for a B ride. Bert and Jean joined on the ride as well today.

Left town under overcast skies and gentle ups and downs as we rode back roads to 290. A few miles on 290 before turning to the right and taking smaller roads. These smaller roads are smoother with smaller chips than the rough chip seal on 290. Also some smaller shorter hills. Circled back end ended up on the “Old Harper Road” to reach Harper at 34 miles. Bert and Jean had taken a more direct road so were already there. Also as photo above shows a number of other cyclists – some of whom had cycled one of the loops already. I stopped and had a nice lunch and then question was whether to do one of the B loops or to return back.

Decided I would do an extra loop of 15 miles heading to the south. Some smaller roads and not too many hills so it was a nice loop to finish at 49 miles. On return it was starting to sprinkle and the skies to the west looked darker and more ominous. Cyclists were starting to anticipate the ride back and how wet it might be. Another brief stop before returning via Old Harper Road. Along this road the rain became much heavier. It started to thunder and lightning and the rain started to pour. I was kept going on slowly.

At 61 miles, I was back to US 290 and rain was coming down in buckets. As I was slowly cycling along the road, a pickup slowed and stopped. Normally, I might wave the first one or two on, but rain was heavy enough and there was enough lightning that I opted for a ride. Thanks! Had a nice ride until the outskirts of Fredricksburg. A last few miles cycling into town. Guess I did one loop too many – if I’d ridden the C ride, I likely would have made it before the worst rain. 64 miles today.

Short little steep hills

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Today the weather became nicer and nicer as the second part of todays ride had many small short steep hills. It was a beautiful day for a ride. Overnight we could hear the rain coming down, but by morning it was overcast but not raining anymore. Today had four different choices: a 200km brevet, an A ride (101 miles), B ride (72 miles) and C ride (48 miles). Once again I decided to try the B ride today. One thing I’ve noticed is that it seems like few do exactly one of the choices but typically vary things just a bit as in “we did the A ride but then decided to short-cut back” or “we started the B and then got lost and came back on the C”. It seems like variations are much more common than purely one choice or another. I did hear that the brevet had 12 riders. There were fewer than 300 there to start, perhaps a reflection of the mix-match approach people take on the bike rides.

The first eight miles were along the major route 16. From here we turned off onto smaller roads. The back roads go via a series of “ranches”. Some of them with quite high fences to keep livestock either in or out. There are still a good share of cattle grades along the way as well. It stayed dry in the morning and over time the skies began to clear more. A few short steep hills but also some flatter pieces along the way. At 23 miles turned right onto 763 and headed north to Harper. I think I had been on this road back in 2001 when I cycled across the USA.

Dauna’s store was at mile 35 in Harper. Many cyclists stopped here as this was the one store along the way. The photo below shows one cyclist who had troubles with his pedals. Helpful friends had worked through things by helping to duct tape his shoe to the pedal. This meant he would need to stay on the bike, even through the tough hills ahead.

After a nice lunch at Dauna’s I went north on the scenic but more hill portion of the ride. There were one or two places where the road crossed a small stream. It was recommended to walk across these crossings. At one of them some workmen were busy clearing the channel. Apparently, the stream had been dry yesterday but they had 4 inches of rain locally in spots here and now water flowing. Also, apparently, someone had fallen and broken a hip last year. So I walked carefully.

I walked once or twice after that. However, it was mostly because the grade quickly changed to a sharp upturn. I didn’t see a lot of value to quickly shift into a low gear when I could walk up the hill almost as fast. It was beautiful scenic area with many short little hills and small windy road through them. At 62 miles I came into US 87 and more major road. A brief side road here and then off downhills to Fredericksburg. A fun ride today with more hills than before and steadily improving weather. 72 miles today.

Rainy day weather

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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.

Hell Week begins

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Today the first day of cycling Hell Week. Hell Week started 16 years ago and is known being able to ride 100 miles per day for eight days in a row. Over time, shorter rides have been added as well. Todays choices were an A ride (99.4 miles), B ride (56.4 miles) and a C ride (46.1 miles). I opted for the B, since I want to get some riding in each day, but don’t need to push the 100 miles/per day training. Todays ride was fairly easy since it was unloaded without my gear and I had fewer headwinds.

Yesterday, I cycled over to pick up my Hell Week materials. Nick and Becky Gerlich have organized this event as well as a number of other Hell Week theme rides. As of this morning there were over 300 registered so a fun event with other cyclists. I left this morning for a 9am start. Lots of people out and about and without much fuss we were off. All of the A, B and C rides shared the initial departure route and also crossed over each other a few times later. We bunched up some at the lights but slowly spread ourselves out along the way. There were some gentle hills to cross and many folks passed as I slowly climbed the hills. Lots of little winding country roads and not too much on the bigger highways. We passed briefly onto TX 16. Here a local police officer was telling folks to ride on the shoulder. Unfortunately, the shoulder was a lot rougher than right side of the travel lane, but we didn’t have long before turning to the next winding road.

Some gentle hills to cross until we turned south towards Stonewall. I had been here yesterday, and stopped briefly at the store for more refreshments. This was one of those sections where all of the A/B/C routes intersected but each going slightly different ways. From here backtrack and up a road known as Grape Creek. This area was rustic and very beautiful. A few sharp hills but it was worth it going along the countryside. At 43 miles back to the larger road and then mostly along those major roads back to Fredericksburg. Overall, it was a fairly easy ride since I wasn’t carrying all my gear along. 59 miles today.