In a year with limited opportunities for travel I have been trying to make use of my resources as much as possible. Timeshare points are, in normal times, not very easy for me to use since they often require long lead times and discourage flexibility. But this year, with occupancy rates way down in the cellar, many RCI-affiliated timeshare resorts have cut points-requirements drastically, and so I had been able to spend six weeks in condos using fewer points than one week might cost in normal times.
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| Evening views from my Condo at Canyon Lake |
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| My unit was the top right one |
My seventh week this year in a comfy home-away-from-home cost me $209 in exchange fees and 6,000 points, which still leaves me with the possibility to do some more traveling before the next annual point allotment rolls in. My destination was the Holiday Inn Club Vacations Hill Country Resort, located in Canyon Lake in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. The reviews that I had read were a bit of a mixed bag, and now, after having stayed there, I understand why: It all depends on which condo you're assigned to! You could end up with a prime view from your patio of either the parking lot or busy Highway 305—or you could end up, the way I did, overlooking the lake and the beautiful area surrounding it. I know I would have hated my stay had I had one of those former units.
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| The massive dam of Canyon Lake |
On the way to Canyon Lake I had spent Thursday night with Martha and Alan in Temple, and on the way back—right now—I'm spending another few nights here as I am hoping to get a chance to ride with my buddy. If I already drive hundreds of miles I might as well see some friends. While I am typing this, the two of them are driving in from DFW where they landed a few hours ago, coming back from the Riviera Maya. It'll be interesting to hear their stories about Hurricane Delta and COVID south of the border.
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| In and around Temple, and Martha and Alan's backyard pool |
The HICV Hill Country Resort is a fairly large complex, with several pools, widely spaced-out units (some more, some less), and a beautiful location not far from many of the Hill Country's big attractions. I had an upstairs two-bedroom unit with a nice deck overlooking Canyon Lake. The kitchen was a bit on the small side (especially for somebody who cooks all his meals) but it had everything I needed. The combined living/dining area was large and bright, and the two bathrooms were adequate even if a bit dated. Can't complain paying less than $30 a day for such digs.
My plan was to ride my bikes, and apart from the fact that I rode only the road bike and never even touched the gravel bike this is exactly what I did. In the past seven days I rode a little more than 300 miles, and that means that I spent a lot of time in the saddle since my average speed hardly ever exceeds 13 miles per hour. The reason I didn't ride the gravel bike is simple: There aren't many gravel roads in this part of the world. Essentially all of the land down here is private, with locked gates and lots of NO TRESPASSING signs. So I stuck to the asphalted roads, most of which were in pretty horrible shape, with only a few nice and smooth ones as a special treat. Shoulders varied from non-existent and non-rideable to wide and smooth. I tried to ride as much as feasible on small Farm-to-Market roads, but it wasn't always possible to avoid traffic.
My first ride led me clockwise around the entire lake, the construction of which was completed as a flood control project in 1964. I clocked 51 miles that day—yep, this is a big lake! The reservoir dams the Guadalupe river, and on another day I rode the River Road south to New Braunfels, only to ride the same route on a different loop back up north, from the Historic District of Gruene to Sattler. They don't call this part of the world the "Hill Country" for nothing: Every day I would end up with around 3,000 feet of climbing, sometimes more. The ride from Canyon Lake to Wimberly leads up what's affectionately called The Devil's Backbone; branching off you can find Purgatory Road. This all is pretty challenging terrain, and I certainly didn't set any speed records.
On Sunday I drove about 45 minutes west to Boerne where Judy's nephew, Conner, and his family live (actually, they live a few miles to the south). I went for an early ride up to Sisterdale before meeting up with Conner and his twins Carlson and Lyndon at the Boerne city park where one of the boys had a soccer match. It was good to see them again after a few years of not getting together. Carlson drove with me back to their house, and he was pretty impressed with riding in a convertible. Conner and I had a chance to catch up over a beer (his wife, Leslie, had a migraine and I saw her for just a few seconds), and then I left again for my condo. Proper social distancing rules were observed!
Each day featured a different ride, and I saw a nice cross section of the area. In normal times it probably would be a lot of fun to visit some of the local wineries or frequent one of the many "world famous" BBQ joints. But, alas, these are not normal times, and I just feel best sitting on my bike and riding and not stopping anywhere there are other people. I broke this rule on my last day in the Hill Country when I actually visited three breweries, the first one in San Marcos (where I had driven and parked the car to embark on an easy, flat loop up toward Kyle), and the two others on the short drive back to the condo, just outside of Wimberly. None of them poured IPAs that came even close to knocking my socks off, but at least I supported the local hospitality industry.
That last day of riding was a bit different from the others, not only that it featured very little climbing. As I said, I had wanted to ride a flat loop with San Marcos as a starting point. About five miles into my ride I received a text message from my good old friend Micki, who lives a bit west of Austin; her parents, whom I had visited before, live in Buda, ten miles or so north of Kyle. So, it didn't take much convincing for me to somewhat alter my route and loop myself a little farther north and a little less east and pay all three a visit. Once again, no hugs or embraces. It's starting to be a real pain. But at least we got a chance to catch up with each other on a personal basis.
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| And as a special treat, the Wienermobile came by when I rolled back into Lubbock! |
Since starting this blog post, 48 hours have gone by and Alan and I have been out for two very pleasant rides here in Temple, plus we walked Flexi, the Doberfrau, at Miller Springs Park. It's Sunday afternoon, and we're close to taking off for Georgetown and some birthday activities for Alan. Tomorrow I'll drive back to Lubbock, and another nice vacation will come to a close.
Jürgen
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