Bumpy and busy roads: a week riding in the Bandera area of the Texas Hill Country

After spending almost 10 days on the road on my recent trip that was covered in the last blog post, I wasn't ready to give up the vagabond life just yet. Weeks ago, when I had planned the entire itinerary, the Jacob's Well road race in Wimberley, close to Austin, had offered itself as the fulcrum between the "northern" and the "southern" portions of my trip.

After leaving Keith and Cindy in the metroplex I drove down the horribly busy I-35 corridor via Waco and Temple and through Austin (just before Friday's five-o'clock rush hour) and arrived in Kyle at the Comfort Suites, where the organizer of the Jacob's Well race had reserved a room for me and a new USAC official from Dallas, Rob. Saturday morning came very early, with the first race going off at 7:00 a.m. and the drive to Wimberley taking a good half hour (officials generally are supposed to be at the venue about an hour before the first start). Oh well, since this race (mostly thanks to the mileage fee) was going to cover most of my expenses for the entire two-and-a-half weeks I certainly didn't complain. I was the follow commissaire for both the Pro/1/2/3 and Masters 40+ fields, and by 2:00 p.m. I was done with my official duties. I was reminded of the Dire Straits song that we all know so well—Money For Nothing....

For this final week of the trip I had been able to use some timeshare points to secure a nice condo for myself. Check-in at the Bandera River Club timeshare resort was at 4:00 p.m., and I got there just a few minutes after that. At the back-end of the pandemic I had once stayed here for a week, and by sheer luck I was given the same two-bedroom unit as last time, with an expansive view south from my top floor balcony. The friendly woman who took up my info and gave me my key, Suzie, recognized me from two years ago and was delighted to have me back. Man, my mustache must be memorable!

It didn't take long to move my stuff into the condo and then make a grocery run to nearby Bandera. Over dinner I started to plan the first two days' rides. After all the road noise of the recent days that comes with a convertible, it was peaceful and quiet on the balcony, and it finally felt like vacation. The evenings and nights are totally quiet, and in the morning only the beautifully cascading sound of canyon wrens interrupts the peace. This is truly a nice place, and I was surprised by how few people were staying here, given the difficulty of finding check-in dates with an RCI points exchange.

My days all pretty much followed the same pattern: wake up when the sun comes up, have a cup of coffee while checking e-mails, have breakfast (I brought a bag of custom-mixed cereal and loaded up on fruit in Bandera's Lowe's Marketplace), and then head out for a ride. It didn't really matter at what time I got on the bike, 9:30 or 10:00 or 10:30: It was already stinking hot!

For the entire time of my stay, high temperatures were just a smidgen below or above 100° F, and at night it never cooled much below 80° F. After just five miles on the bike I would squeeze sweat out of my helmet pads, time and again. My rides averaged around 35 miles, and I took my sweet time completing them at a sustainable pace. I always took extra water along, just in case; there aren't many towns in the Hill Country, and the number of convenience stores or similar is practically nil. Additionally, I took several rides where I was on gravel roads out in the boondocks, so self sufficiency was paramount.

The larger highways such as TX 16 or TX 173 are busier than ever. I have been coming to this area since the Easter after arriving in the US 47 years ago, and back then cars would pass at the rate of one every 15 minutes; now it's more like three to four every minute!!! Even the smaller farm-to-market roads have a much higher traffic load than they used to, and it is just the tiniest of local byways that are still quiet and so much fun to ride. The road quality sucks, with the major roads having chip-and-seal surfaces and the smaller ones being potholed and bumpy. Nope, this is not southern Missouri.

My choice of gravel-worthy tires for this trip (definite overkill in Missouri with its smooth roads for the most part) definitely paid off since they took up some of the punishment from the pavement, and of course they also meant that I could keep going when the asphalt ended and the dirt began. I carried spare water, a lunch sandwich, and spare tubes in my Tailfin rack-pack, a system that that works better than anything else I have ever used for such trips. The Locus app guided me with few problems, although it would be nice if it could reliably differentiate between surface types and also were more accurate in regard to private roads. Nothing is perfect, I s'pose.

Because of a major re-surfacing project of TX 16 in front of the resort I decided to not take my life into my hands and instead drive the six miles to Bandera, park the car in a safe spot, and start my rides from there. On two days I rode from the resort, but the work zone and the heavy traffic were definitely uncomfortable (and I rode detours where possible to avoid the construction). If you're not familiar with how roads are re-surfaced here, here's a primer: The crews pour tar onto the existing asphalt and then simply spread rocks on top and let cars take care of smoothing out the whole thing. Insane, and guaranteed to chip windshield galore.

Depending on my starting point and the distance, my rides lasted until mid-afternoon. Back at the condo—in a state ranging between really tired to bushed to shattered—I'd drink copious amounts of iced tea (I had had the foresight to bring my repurposed half-gallon pickle jar and tea bags to make sun tea) and have a light (and sodium-heavy) lunch, followed by pool-time and eventual Happy Hour. I'd prepare dinners such as pizza or grilled drumsticks with pesto pasta and a big salad, and would simply relax, read, listen to music, and plan out the next day's ride. Simple, yet effective.

Overall, in the six full days that I was in Bandera I rode 212 miles, which may not sound like much, but considering the crazy temperatures (I received daily "excessive heat warnings" via one of my apps) it was quite a bit of saddle time. One of my favorite rides took me along the Medina River, and I found the perfect spot to strip down and skinny dip for almost an hour. Oh man, that was certainly a highlight! All the other creeks and rivers (apart from the Guadalupe River, which is bordered by private land wherever the road comes even close) had way too little water to provide a refreshing pause. The area around Camp Verde did its name proud by being verdant and showing off the spoils of well-timed rains in the recent past; other areas, such as in the Comfort area, where brown and dusty.

Finding availability for an RCI points exchange on relatively short notice (four to six weeks out) is extremely difficult, and I lucked out that everything fell in place. My check-in date on August 10 had been the only one for the entire month; I am really glad that I got to stay in this nice place for what amounted to fees of less than $40 a night for a comfortable and well-equipped two-bedroom condo. I wish there were more opportunities like this, but I suppose that unless I book a year in advance I have to live with this uncertainty.

Yesterday morning it was time to load up the BMW and drive home. It's about a six-and-a-half hour drive, and at the end of the day I was glad when I finally pulled into my driveway. I had covered 2,042 miles since I had left, burned $156 worth of gas, and enjoyed a wonderfully diverse time visiting numerous friends, riding altogether 385 miles on my Ritchey, and adding a few more micro-breweries to my list. 

According to the national weather service, the next week will bring Lubbock daily temperatures in excess of 100° F, accompanied by "unhealthy heat warnings." Time to limit the rides to the mornings, do a few things around the house, and get ready for the next adventure.

Jürgen