As we leave the house, my wife asks (again) if we would rather do something (anything) else for spring break. We assure her we are fine and we will call her later during the day. Besides, we are going a short distance and she knows our exact route. We will be fine. From the house, we stick to the back streets as we make our way across I-35 and onto the better part of highway 3009. For the first 7 miles (after we cross 35), we have a great wide shoulder to learn on, and we definitely take advantage of the time. After 7 miles, the road narrows but thankfully, the traffic eases up a little. We have even managed to develop a bit of a rhythm.

Unfortunately, this rhythm is destroyed each time we attempt a climb as the &^ing chain comes off and we are forced to stop and replace it. By about the ten-mile mark, I have almost exhausted my supply of colorful words, and I am damn near the point of tossing the bike in the ditch and thumbing a ride home. Who needs this kind of stress on a “vacation?” After a particularly annoying series of stops, my son suggests we actually calm down and fix the bike. “We knew there might be trouble, and we have the tools.” He was right (of course), we took a bit to study the problem and found an idler that was not aligned correctly. A few minutes of creative roadside repair and we were back in the saddle. We never had problems with the chain again. Smart kid!

We reached the campsite a little later (and a lot more tired) then I had expected. I am definitely in worse physical shape then I thought. Even though we were at the very outside of the “hill country”, we had plenty of hills to deal with! As for the Texas weather… Yuck! I don’t think I will ever get used to it. Today it was in the 80’s with 80% humidity. Have ya ever heard of seasons?

Tags: Texas Hill Country

It all started innocently enough. I asked my son “What do you want to do on spring break this year?” Of course, I was thrilled with his answer. “How about a bike tour?”

“How about a bike tour?” What an awesome idea! But I was a bit worried about his bike handling skills. However, that was a problem that could be handled “easily enough” (why does it always start that way?) by building a tandem bicycle for the tour. So it began, The Texas Hill Country Tour.

At the time, we lived just outside of San Antonio, and we had some good friends living up in Lampasas, TX. We decided to make a ride from San Antonio to Lampasas (and back if possible). For us this really made sense as I was not in the best of shape, and my son was new to this whole “touring thing.” We also concluded (in one of our few moments of common sense) that this ride would leave us no more then a few hours (by car) from assistance if the need arose.

As luck, and a bit of (poor) planning would have it, the bike is “finished” at about 10:00pm, the night before the ride begins. How great is that? Up until now, we have had only a couple of practice miles of riding to learn how “Double Trouble” (yup, I name my bikes) will work for us. Nevertheless, we are a strong team, and we can learn as we go along…

Tags: Texas Hill Country

Early in 2004, my son and I were talking about activities for spring break a few years ago, and we hit on the idea of a bike tour of the Texas Hill country. So, armed with a plan and little common sense, we began building Double Trouble with the goal of finishing it before spring break and the start of our tour. As luck would have it, the bike was “completed” the night before our tour was to start. As you might imagine, two riders on an unfamiliar (and untested) bike made for an interesting tour, to say the least. My Texas Hill Country Tour posts have more about this interesting and unforgettable week.

Tags: Texas Hill Country