March 29, 2016
Johnson City, TX to Austin, TX
Day: 48.8 miles; Total: 1,712.1 miles
Elevation Gain: 3,557′
Map Link: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/8315338
This morning brought new weather for us, cool, foggy and even a bit drizzly. We pretty quickly got onto a narrow ranch road where construction was going on for about 9 miles. That seemed to discourage a lot of traffic so that was nice. After the first hour, the main road turned off and we passed the sign for Perdernales Falls State park and we were on a very quiet road in the park boundary.
We’d been passing rangeland and then it began to look more like we were in semi rural residential outskirts of Austin. The road was narrow and got busy as we passed housing developments and then subdivisions. Finally one turn put….
Oddly, our photos ignored the cursor and just appeared here, oh, well
One of the rivers we crossed this morning
This is a Texas olive ranch. You can see the olive trees in the background.
Another ranch sign, Texas style
Here the road dropped down and in the distance you can see part of the climb up the other side. It was kind of a whopper
This very nice gentleman saw us looking confused at our maps and came out to give us some very helpful directional advice. He used to live in SF!
At the bike shop
Earlier in the day, riding on the quiet park road
This is part of the hilly terrain, very close to Austin
…us on a residential road with some shoulder, which then evolved into some very extensive subdivisions with huge houses, golf courses and wide streets. All along, the hilly ridges rose and fell as we rode across them. Close to Austin itself, we did a pretty significant climb that we think is the last really big hill, at least in this area. Then it was a rolling ride mostly down on an actual bike route heading to the downtown.
The Colorado River runs through the downtown and we found a road with an actual bike lane that led to the area with our hotel. As we rode along, we began to get the flavor of the city, with numerous BBQ places, music venues and all sorts of food trucks along the road.
After we got cleaned up, we took my bike to Mellow Johnies, Lance Armstrong ‘s bike shop ( which also has an espresso bar in it!), because I’d ordered replacement tires because my rear one was losing its tread. I think that one had been put on more than 4,000 miles ago and loaded touring is particularly hard on the rear tire. While the work was being done, I walked to do some more errands, including a visit to the original Whole Foods!
We’ re here til Friday the 1st, when we will head east out of Austin. Still a ways to reach the next state, Louisiana. See you in a few days!
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Interesting story as always and fun to see what part of Austin, Texas, looks like. You’re making good progress. Keep it up!
Thanks! It’s very interesting here and fun. We toured the LBJ Library , Driskill Hotel, U of Texas, etc and have been enjoying good Texas food. It’s a nice break.
Great to see you in good shape after 1,700 miles or so! You two are awesome cyclists and bloggers!
Yay! Your blog is finally coming thru and I can read it daily instead of bulk catch-up. Glad you appreciated Mellow Johnny’s. Did you go downstairs to see the collection of “historical” bikes? Perhaps you could still detect some illegal blood oxygen enhancers on the handlebars…. I loved biking around Austin.
Glad WordPress finally got organized!
It’s funny, other than biking in and soon, out, we are exercising our feet instead of the bikes to tour around. It’s been fun to get a look at both some history: (the capital building and LBJ library) and the food and street scene. All very entertaining!