Day 26: This is Hill Country

Camp Wood, TX to Kerrville, TX
Date: 01/27/2013
Distance traveled: 89.91 miles (1597.69 miles total)
GPS tracks: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/266899121


Up up and up.

On the way out of Camp Wood, this ‘ole boy hollers out at me, “You got some hills ahead!”

Yah, I know I said to myself. I’ve poured over the elevation profile. I’ve seen how hard this is going to be. But cartographers are lazy. The maps aren’t that detailed. And today I did a lot, a lot more elevation than I thought I would. I was thinking I’d do somewhere around 2,000-3,000ft of climbing. Boy was I wrong.

5,579 feet of climbing. Over 90 miles. I am spent.

Short notes from the day’s ride:

  • The wind is still very windy. Luckily most of the day was cross and with the wind. Up in mountains it actually wasn’t too bad.
  • I got chased by a dachshund on two wheels. The poor lil guy had his rear legs on rollers. He wasn’t very fast.
  • I got up to 49mph!!!! These hills were steep!
  • I climbed several hills at 2mph. These hills were steep!
  • Lots of motorcycles out on these roads. Texas Highway 337 is one of the ‘three twisted sisters’ which are very popular motorcycle rides.
  • Motorcycles = good food. I had a great burger at the motorcycle stop in Leakey, Texas. Best of the trip.
  • Long, long day in the saddle – I was on the road for 12 hours. This was the first time where I stopped for both lunch and dinner while on the road.
  • Riding at night was fun and peaceful as usual. I went 20-30 miles in the dark without a single car passing me on highway 39 into Kerrville. Got to enjoy the sounds of nature by myself out there – the birds, the bugs, the flowing water of the river I was following.
  • Road conditions today were mixed. Luckily the worst roads were also the emptiest, so I could just ride right down the middle.
  • There are some cool ranch houses out there – and some big ones, too! All lit up at night they look pretty cool.

Some pictures:


Rollers & chip seal.


Leakey Eagles – sounds gross!


Great burger & lunch stop with the motorcycle crowd.


Hill country indeed.


Valleys & hills.


I really liked this ranch gate design.


I’ve seen lots of ‘no trespassing’ signs. This is the first time I’ve seen a security camera on a fence. Also, wouldn’t it be pretty easy to disable it?


Up I go!


Raaaaawr!


Texas Hill Country Trail

3 thoughts on “Day 26: This is Hill Country”

  1. I love reading your blog, Kevin. Those ranch gates are really neat-o! I'm following your route on google maps and you are almost to Austin! So incredible!

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