It was cool this morning, 42°. Layers again. By noon it was in the 70s.
It was the tale of two rides today. The first 40 miles were scenic with rolling hills and the road surface was smoother. If you had enough speed, pedaling up the hills was optional 🙂. The last 37 miles were challenging. No shoulder and a lot of traffic. The roads were narrow and winding with a lot of blind curves. Drivers demonstrated patience but despite their generosity, it was extremely stressful to be climbing a hill on a single lane road with no shoulder, and no turn-offs, and have a line of 10 cars stuck behind you.
The silver lining was that everyone rode today! Several bumped to the 2nd SAG at 38 miles and rode the rest. Only a few tapped out at the 3rd SAG. Lucky for them, they missed the stressful part.
We rode through Johnson City aka the crossroads of the Texas Hill Country. It was the hometown of LBJ.
One thing that has changed over the last couple of days is that when we cross a river, it tends to be full of water. We had a minor road flooding situation at mile 49. We were messaged to walk our bikes through the water. Apparently, a motorcycle went down at that spot earlier in the day. The pavement under the water was very slippery. At least now my cycling shoes are clean 😉.
I should note that cycling on these roads requires a level of confidence. If you’re not comfortable riding in traffic where there is no shoulder, it can be very unnerving. Our map meetings describe each ride in detail when traffic is concerned. Several of the ladies on this tour are uncomfortable in traffic and choose to skip those parts of the ride. We all respect that! Safety first!
Tonight, we are on the west side of Austin. Tomorrow we ride through the city of Austin to the east side.
Glad it wasn’t worse!
Diane and Ginnie walking across the bridge.
A nice downhill moment…
Texas bluebonnet