Day 31 – My first side trip

Miles Completed: 56.5

Cumulative miles: 1637.0

Miles to St Augustine: 1428

Today we rode from Kerrville through Fredericksburg to Stonewall, TX with a short side trip to Luckenbach. But once again, let’s start at morning camp. We all woke up to soaking wet tents again. But there was no rain or storm. The humidity was at 100% and the dew was everywhere. Tents, bikes, and everything was soaked. But we packed up and moved on. Luckily, the sun was out this afternoon and everything got dried out again.

We continued our ride through some low traffic roads through the Texas Hill Country. It was enjoyable being out there with the quietness and beautiful scenery. It felt that we had the hills to ourselves. About 10 miles into the ride I decided to stop and take my first picture of the day. While stopped, I heard a fast bike rider coming. I wasn’t sure who it was in our group. But they weren’t from our group. A fast lady rider came flying by and she checked that I didn’t need help and continued on.

A few miles later I saw a deer run across the road in front of me, so I rode up to the spot it crossed and looked back from where it came from. I saw three more deer looking at me. After a minute I clapped my hands and made noise until they bounded away. Ironically, another bike rider came by at that time, this time a male about my age. I started wondering about where they were coming from, when another lady rider came by. We talked a little and she actually moved to the Texas Hill Country because she loved riding her bike in the area. She said some people from Austin come out and ride in that area too. While we were talking, our Adventure Cycling van drove by. We talked about our cross country ride before she moved on. About 15 minutes later another van and trailer passed me and it was the Cycle of Life bicycle tour van. Two more riders came by and said they are with a group of 13 riders doing the same Southern Tier trip as we were. I hadn’t seen other cyclists in days or weeks and now I’m seeing a bunch.

What’s interesting is that I looked into the Cycle of Life tours as an option, before I chose Adventure Cycling. Cycle of Life tours stay in hotels and have meals cooked for them. I remember Katie J. telling me to sign up for the hotels!!! But they average 75 miles a day compared to our 60. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that much cycling each day and I made the right decision. Anyway, the Cycle of Life van stopped ahead for a water break for their riders and I stopped once more and talked to the owner who was driving the van. It was just a fun coincidence that our two groups crossed paths.

So I continued riding on to Fredericksburg where I planned to join Felix, Dana, and Chris for lunch. Normally, we all pack our lunches in the morning and I usually take the following with me: a PB&J sandwich, a banana, some trail mix, and a protein bar. But today, I didn’t take a sandwich because Felix wanted Texas BBQ. I met them at Eaker’s BBQ and they got there right when it opened at 11:00. I got there about 20 minutes later and the place was busy. But I got a brisket sandwich and it was awesome!!! We all enjoyed it!

We still had about 15 miles to our camp site, but for only about an extra 5 miles we could take a side trip to Luckenbach Texas. Dana, Felix, and I decided to go. Sing along again:

“Let’s go to Luckenbach Texas with Waylon and Willie and the boys…”

Now Luckenbach is not a city or town, it’s an outdoor music venue with picnic tables and food and beer and just a casual atmosphere. On this Sunday afternoon, a lady was singing on stage and people were just enjoying a beautiful day. We talked to some packer fans and to some Texans with some good Texas accents. A fun time in Luckenbach Texas (but no Willie).

Now Felix informed us he was going to meet a friend at a brewery on the way to the campground, so off we went to Witcher Brewery. It was a large tap room with an awesome patio and yard. After a short visit, we headed back to camp. Overall, a fun side excursion!

For dinner tonight, most of us hopped in the van and headed back to Fredericksburg to go to a German restaurant. Fredericksburg was founded by German immigrants and it has become a fun touristy city and is only about an hour’s drive from Austin. We got back to camp and I was able to watch the second half of the Packers 35-25 win over Aaron Rodgers. Go Pack Go!