Easter Hill Country Tour 2008
Category: Cycling/Running/Fitness... Travel...
Posted Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 09:17 AM [GMT-6]

MLB and I returned Sunday from our annual pilgrimage to Fredericksburg, where we participated in the 35th edition of the Easter Hill Country [Bicycle] Tour. We haven't been cycling for 35 years – although it sometimes feels as if we have – but we've missed only about a dozen of those events.

This year's EHCT was sponsored by the Fort Worth Bicycling Association (pronounced "Foat Wuth" for the benefit of my dear non-Texican readers), and the ride was well organized, with one glaring exception that I'll address below. Unfortunately for MLB and me, we had managed to ride a total of 23 miles this year leading up to the event, not exactly a desirable training base for bicycling in what is arguably one of the toughest regions in the state. But we exercised uncommon (for us) good sense, picked some shorter (although not necessarily easier) routes, and managed to survive another year.

Here are some observations from our visit to the Hill Country:

• It's not all about the wildflowers - With Easter coming so early, coupled with the lack of rainfall, we weren't surprised that there were no wildflowers to be viewed anywhere we rode or drove. However, that didn't seem to affect the size of the mob that invaded Fredericksburg for the long weekend. The sidewalks were just as packed as ever. This was probably due to the fact that many schools were out for spring break, although F'burg is not the greatest destination for kids.


• Wildflowers are on their way - If you have your heart set on a wildflower tour, don't despair. Within a couple of weeks, you should start seeing a great crop, as we saw the first bluebonnets popping out on the Sunday drive home. Check this website for flower sighting reports and maps of good viewing areas.


• One is not enough - As I mentioned earlier, the FWBA did a good job of organizing the tour, but dropped the ball badly in one important area. At the first rest stop of the first day's ride, there was only one Port-A-Potty. That's a serious logistical oversight, especially considering that all of the day's routes included that rest stop, and that most of the hundreds of riders were by that point dealing with a serious need to offload the morning's pre-ride coffee.


• Bambi gets revenge - We were able to return to our favorite B&B which is located a couple of miles outside of F'burg, out in the woods. Our friends, Tommy and Toni, flew in for the weekend, staying at the Hangar Hotel where they could park the plane less than 100 yards from their room. Tommy brought his new night vision binoculars and we tried them out on Friday. Here's a tip. If you have an active imagination, and if you've watched The Blair Witch Project and found it terrifying, then it's probably not the best idea to peer through night vision goggles into thick woods just beyond your little house in the country, and see gleaming eyes of...something...peering back at you, right before bedtime. Just sayin'.


• It's the gearing, not the engine - Even though we picked shorter routes to ride (43 miles on Friday, 25 on Saturday), owing to the aforementioned lacking of training, we found that shorter doesn't always mean easier. Friday's challenge was weather: temps in the 50s and 20mph+ winds (headwind coming back, of course). Saturday's ride included a hill we'd never ridden before, and felt fortunate to survive. There's a ride that leaves from Kerrville, heading toward Ingram, that includes a stretch of Bear Creek Road (there's a Bear Creek Road outside of F'burg also). We've ridden that road many times, and it's a pretty route. This year, though, we were instructed to turn onto a road called Freedom Trail or Trail of Tears or Bataan Death March Redux or something similar. The first half mile or so is uphill...waaaaaay uphill. My wife's GPS gently informed us at one point that we were pedaling up a 16% incline. For comparison purposes, if you've ever driven up to McDonald's Observatory outside Fort Davis, you'll no doubt recall that you feel like you're going vertical; most cyclists will swear that that's the toughest road to climb in the great state of Texas. That incline is, in fact, 17%. But, I'm proud to say that we made the climb, albeit at a snail's pace, thanks to our granny gear and a desperately illogical passion to avoid joining the overwhelming majority of our fellow cyclists who had succumbed to pedestrianism.


• Jason knows pickles - By the way, if you ever find yourself just on the edge of muscle cramps, due to, say, riding a hill you had no business tackling, and you come to a sag stop and the volunteers are handing out 8 oz bottles of something sickly green and called "Pickle Juice Sport," take the advice written on said bottle and just drink it. You might be amazed at the difference it will make.

That's my report, and I apologize for the lack of photos. We had two cameras, and in four days we took exactly one picture (and that was of the line in front of the lone port-a-john at the rest stop). After riding a few thousand miles through the Hill Country over the years, the scenery is still as beautiful as ever but the absence of flowers makes it less photogenic.

Oh, one last thing. A mile or two out of Fredericksburg, on FM 2093, there's a new but somewhat nondescript warehouse-looking building with a sign referring to "muscle cars." You might be tempted to pass it by, thinking it's a parts store or perhaps a mechanic's shop. But you need to stop and go inside, and be amazed.