Day 6/6 of “Biking and Blogging†on the Classic Adventures Texas Hill Country Tour.
Another last day of another bike tour. About the time the last day rolls around, I find I’m getting into a good groove and don’t want to stop! I love riding daily and exploring new places by bike.
One thing is for certain, we will ride in the Texas Hill Country again. Soon, hopefully next year.
Every bike tour has a “Queen stageâ€, the toughest day of the tour – the ride to Hilltop, Enchanted Rock and back to Fredericksburg would make it the most challenging (and longest at 67 miles) of the week. Daily mileage options are always provided and on this day in particular our group utilized all the available options.
Mark and I didn’t ride to Enchanted Rock, only to the entrance then back to Fredericksburg. We chose not to do it because of a tough climb coupled with a strong headwind and since we know we’ll be back we elected to save it for another day.
Even without Enchanted Rock it was a challenging day. Mainly because of the heat and headwind we faced going back. Still, it was an awesome day – good route, good mileage (it would put us around 250 miles for the week) – and just another superb day of riding.
We started out as usual from the Inn on Barons Creek. A good day for sunscreen so I slathered it on and put the tube in my trunk. I think Mark and I were the last of the group to pull away, other than Dianne. We headed out on the road we had come in on the day before. Got to see these guys again.
Wasn’t it nice of them to pose for me.
Although our route took us back on a road that had a fair amount of traffic (compared to the other roads), cars weren’t an issue and we didn’t appear to be a problem for them. They passed when it was safe and gave us a wide berth when doing so – all any cyclist needs or expects from drivers.
I have never encountered more courteous, respectful drivers than those in the Hill Country. Mark and I have talked a lot about this fact; most recently yesterday when we were out riding on our local roads and cars were buzzing by us as if waiting for two seconds to pass safely was too much to expect. We have come to the conclusion that the biggest difference is no one in the Hill Country (that we encountered) appeared to be in a hurry. No one felt the need to catch up on their phone calls, send text messages, read that report for work, do their nails… while driving, so they didn’t feel irritated by our presence. They weren’t in a hurry and everyone everywhere else is.
It’s that mosey thing. I’m telling you, we all need to mosey more. Moseying on a bike – even better.
We were all stretched out on the road. That is Deena in the photo just above. She is a strong rider and relatively new, but you wouldn’t know it by the way she rides. The day we rode the Willow City Loop, she also rode it the other way so she could do the toughest hill again going the other way making it steeper. Several years ago before she started riding, she was on the Willow City Loop in a car, saw some cyclists riding that same hill and couldn’t imagine doing it. Several years later it is her charging up that hill.
Most if not all who bike have similar stories and I love hearing them.
Mark and I met up at the snack stop and headed off together. We rode an easy pace, savoring the last day of the tour. As the pictures show it was a beautiful day.
With bucolic bliss adding to the biking bliss.
The last miles to Hilltop Cafe were fast and smooth as glass thanks to a tailwind and a newly paved road and shoulder. I parked Lucille and noticed Deena and Christopher aka the speedsters were already there.
The food was very good, including the gumbo which was possibly better than the stuff I grew up on although I would never admit that to a family member.
More homage to the bike outside the Hilltop cafe.
Soon after lunch we rode through a gypsum mine that sort of resembled the surface of the moon. It was a blizzard of gypsum dust, making it very hard to see and breathe. I guess the wind was kicking it up. Fortunately we noticed a Tonka looking truck roughly the size of a huge tank approaching on our right. He didn’t appear to want to wait and who were we to expect him to since he could have crushed us like a bug.
The rest of the route, however, was more of what we had experienced all week – roads that were more like paved bike paths, particularly today because there were more bikes than cars. We saw more cyclists out than all the previous days combined.
You only have to bike here once to understand why.
We had a bike club from Houston flying down the hills with what for them was a tailwind as we were ever so slowly making it up the hills with the headwind. One hill in particular was very steep and fairly long. I actually stopped in the middle of the climb because my legs refused to turn the pedals fast enough. They paid for it when we had to get started again.
A few more shots of the lightly traveled roads and quiet beauty of the Texas Hill Country on the remaining miles of our last day.
I told the cows above that I had chicken for lunch and they let me pass.
We finished the day with 60 miles, 3228 feet of ascent, and 2546 calories burned. For the week we rode 258 miles.
It was an outstanding week of riding, far exceeding any expectations I had.
I highly recommend the Texas Hill Country for your biking pleasure and the same goes for Classic Adventures. Dale and Dianne managed to make a highly organized tour seem flexible and relaxed, I’m not quite sure how they did it. The accommodations were very good, the dining choices very good and the daily routes superb. They provided each of us with excellent support throughout the week and treated us like friends rather than customers.
I hope you have enjoyed the blogposts, especially those of you on the tour. Safe travels.
Previous Posts on the Texas Hill Country Bike Tour:
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