Colorado Cruiser: Carlsbad and Texas Hill Country Ride

This morning the sun was shining with nary a cloud in the sky, unlike yesterday when we had a major hail storm. BUT, it was 10 degrees colder than yesterday. It was 36 degrees.

So we decided to wait a while to let it warm up. I took the time to wash a load of laundry. And yes, I washed whites and colors together in cold water.

I showered, then moved the clothes to the dryer. After I ate some breakfast I grabbed the clothes. By the time everything was done the temperature had risen to a balmy 40 degrees, so we put on the warm gear, loaded up bikes,and hit the road.

We headed south on highway 16 towards the town of Bandera. There was a lot more traffic today than yesterday and we were a little upset to have to share our wonderful roads with others. But we dealt with life and continued riding the roads.

The road to Bandera was fun but it was cold. After 10 miles, most of the traffic had turned off and we were left to ourselves when the real twists and turns began. There were a couple of steep twisty sections that caught me by surprise. I wound up in 4th gear trying to climb a steep road with a tight turn. The bike managed to climb through the first turn though it chugged a lot. I managed to get down shifted to handle the rest of the climb.

Before we reached Bandera we turned off onto highway 337E, it's the eastern half of one of the Twisted Sisters highways, and it's one of the best. The temperature continued climbing slowly and by the time we reached Leakey, it was 50 degrees. We stopped for gas and a quick snack before continuing a great big loop south and east back to Bandera.

Once in Bandera I asked John what he wanted for lunch, he said he wasn't hungry and for me to just pick a place. I spotted a little hole in the wall BBQ place and pulled in. The ribs I got were pretty good.

After lunch we continued north and once again turned west on highway 337E. It was that good that we wanted to do it again. The second time through was just as good as the first.

When we reached Leakey we gassed up again, then continued east on 337. When we reached the end we turned north on 335 which we'd ridden yesterday. It was another road well worth riding a 2nd time. In fact, we repeated the rest of the ride just like yesterday.

When we reached the hotel we unloaded and started thinking about tomorrow's ride and where to eat for dinner. Nothing was jumping out at us in Kerrville, so we decided to ride to Fredericksburg to see what was good there.

It's 22 miles between the two towns, and half way there I was thinking to myself that it wasn't worth it. Turns out John was thinking the same thing, but neither of us stopped the insanity, so we rode to Fredericksburg. Once there, it appeared that most places were closed. We consulted Yelp and decided on West End Pizza. It was ok pizza, but we could have ordered just a good from Pizza Hut and not have had to ride 45 miles.

Tomorrow will be the last day of riding together so we're trying to pick some good roads that we haven't already ridden.

Highway 337E