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Ride Report: A trip through the Texas Hill Country

1K views 23 replies 11 participants last post by  innergel 
#1 · (Edited)
I went out with my cousin this last weekend for a ride. We started out at PoPo's restaurant, a place just north of Boerne, Texas for a 55 mile loop. We go along a road that follows Interstate Hwy 10 but then fairly soon cut off onto some small, very little traffic backroads.
We had a bit of rain during the night and it had just finished a while before we started the ride. This helped cool things off and the cloud cover kept the heat down.
 
#4 · (Edited)
After passing through Comfort we turned onto RR 1341. This road goes rolling along passing over IH-10 and then coming back under it again further up. After going past IH-10 again we turn off onto a very small road called Lazy Valley road. We usually immediately turn off onto a road named Stoneleigh Rd but this time we decided to try Lazy Valley Rd. This road connects up with our usuall route further down. This road ended up being a little flatter than the other route but still quite nice otherwise.

We ended up encountering a few early morning commuters...
 
#5 · (Edited)
After going across Lazy Valley Rd we came out on McDonald Loop road. This road has a few short steep hills with some nice overlooks along the way. After we crossed this road we come back on to Stoneleigh again and then continue across to the town of Center Point. We stopped again for a quick snack & drink. This is the last place to stop at before the end of the ride, about 25 miles from here.
 
#6 · (Edited)
After leaving Center Point we continued down Hwy 27 back towards Comfort again. We turn off on to Pankratz Rd, which is on the outskirts of Comfort. We then turned right on Mill Dam Rd. This road progressively climbs up until you get to where we turned off, onto Skyline Dr. Going along here is real nice with some great views. We come to the top of a 25% grade hill, a fast downhill with a sharp curve at the bottom. After you hit the bottom the road goes straight back up. I just barely had time to throw the chain onto my middle chainring. I still had to struggle as I was still in too hgih of a gear.
 
#7 · (Edited)
After climbing a short but very steep hill( probably upper teens grade as my front wheel kept wanting to pop up off the ground!) you get to the top. The entire hill with everything down below is all part of one property. This is the mansion on the top. Once you leave here you have a nice 20% grade downhill.

After going over Sky Line Dr we come back onto the road we originally came out on, it's called Holiday Rd and it leads back to Big Joshua Rd.
 
#8 · (Edited)
After going across Big Joshua Creek road we came back out onto 289, the road that leads back to IH-10 and back to our starting point. You end up with a nice fast downhill and then a couple of small climbs back to where we started.

Overall we lucked out with the weather as it has been in the 90's but today the clouds had kept the temps down until near the end of the ride.
 
#15 ·
Great report. I need to include more hills in my rides. Unfortunately I have to travel South, or West, to get those hills in. Like the pics.
 
#16 ·
Looks like an interesting ride. I live in Austin. How far away is this? Some of the road names sounded familiar.

As far as the pics I noticed a magenta cast too. You can try adjusting them on the computer - should be easy and quick. Most picture editing software these days has an "autocorrect" feature that will correct it with one button click. I find myself using Microsoft Office Picture Viewer a lot. A lot of people have it and don't even know it.

The magenta cast may be because the white balance of your digital camera is set incorrectly. There is a setting on a lot of digital cameras for flourecent light which puts a heavy magenta "filter" on the pics to correct the greenish cast of flourecent lighting.
 
#17 ·
The town of Boerne is about 25 miles northwest of San Antonio, it's on IH-10. I'm not sure how far it would be from Austin, probably 100+ miles. We started at PoPo's which is about 6 miles north of Boerne, right along the access road on IH-10.

Thanks for the tips on the pictures, I'll have to play around with them.
 
#19 ·
Riding in the Hill Country is great. Four of us did a 4 day "training camp" there last year and it was great. We were stationed just south of Fredricksberg and the riding was great there too. For a dude from mostly flat Dallas, the hills were a little more daunting than what I am used to. The guys from Colorado will laugh at this area being called the Hill Country, but the area is good enough to host the Texas Hell Week every year.

Thanks for the report. 25% grades make my knees hurt and my heartrate spike just reading about it.
 
#20 ·
Actually a buddy of mine is from So. Cal and every time he goes back he smokes his old riding buddies. The thing about the hill country is that the hills are steeper than mountain grades and they come one after the other. You go down the downhills really fast, but go up the uphills WAAAY slower, so you spend most of your ride time climbing. As a result, I think hills like we have here make for a better climber. Remember, this is where Lance is from. ;)
 
#24 ·
steephill said:
I've driven through Hill country once and stopped at Enchanted Rock SP, but I didn't see the good roads in your report. Nice choice of pictures. Actually the only places I've ridden in Texas were around Kerr and two days in the Davis Mountains. Thanks for sharing.
There is a road called the Willow City Loop that is very nice. From the top you can see bluebonnets forever in the spring. You can sweep around from Willow City up to Enchanted Rock SP and get a refill at the ranger station in there. The roads are mostly chip seal, but it's a good challenging ride. And the ride from Enchanted Rock back into F'berg has some great views. Unfortunately it also has some of the steepest hills on that course, so you better be ready to do some climbing and have your bottle and food supply topped off.

Enchanted Rock SP is the only place I ever had to take the sag wagon from. We had been riding for 3.5 hours and I was totally spent. I couldn't face another minute on the bike.
 
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