Above Left: Bandera County Courthouse. Bruce takes a photo for his blog. See link to his blog to the right of this window. Below Sparrow’s Nest and Buttermilk Pie. I first ate this at Lost Maples Café 39 years ago – and again today at the same café. Click HERE to see today’s route.
Below is a picture our prosecco happy hour in the gardens of The Laurel Tree followed by a four course dinner. The Laurel Tree is only opened for lunch and dinner on Saturdays.
THIS IS A GOOD GROUP!
Today some rode bicycles and some road horses. Below, BAC Chair of the Board tries a different kind of saddle. And then there are two “song birds” who just talk about it. Ever tried to get a word in sidewise with Brenda and Patrice?
First Glenn sends me a picture of Patrice and Brenda (above) and then Chip sends one.
Evening’s entertainment is two cowboy singers:
Instead of the easy 37 mile route to the ranch, I gave the riders a much prettier 54 mile route. The wind made it more difficult than normal.
Below: Patrice and Glenn – here they come; there they go.
It’s a lazy day at the ranch:
Brenda rode the long route and I drove the van. I rode from the ranch to Bandera and met her for lunch. Photos are on the 10 mile ride to the ranch, mostly up hill and into the wind. Brenda is on the last climb of the day – where the large picture below was taken.
Click HERE for today’s route. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, John practices “When in Rome, do as the Romans and with the Romans, if possible!”. Happy hour and hay ride photos.
We’re in the German town od Boerne (rhymes with “journey”) for two nights. Today’s official ride takes us to Sisterdale and then to Popo’s restaurant before returning to Boerne. Based on the number of “riders” who we saw taking a late breakfast, I suspect this is unofficially a rest day. We do see a few riders taking off, including Toni Blanken in the photo.
Our Boerne headquarters is Ye Kendall Inn, originally a stage coach stop. We’ve been staying here since our first BAC Hill Country tour in 2001.
Today, day two, was one of the most difficult riding days. We climbed over 3,000 feet today, something we won’t have to do again the entire ride. And we also had strong winds. The final reward was the last 16 miles with a strong tail-wind. When you finish the day like this, life is good.
We were pleased to see many flowers today, especially bluebonnets. This bodes well for the rest of the trip. Click HERE to see today’s route.
The tour begins. We have a decent route out of Austin and it’s 42 miles to Wimberley. I’m driving the van; when I get to Wimberley I get on my bike and head in the direction the riders are coming. As I meet the riders coming 2 by 2 I have a change to photograph them. Later I discovered the controls on my fancy new camera are not set properly and I basically have no images. Hope you enjoy the photos. Here is today’s route: http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2447450
We had a nice happy hour on one of the decks and then went our separate ways to dinner. During dinner a strong storm brought a lot of rain as well as wind, thunder and lightning. But by the time we left the storm had passed.
We’re in Austin to lead a ride for Bicycle Adventure Club which we call “The Whole Enchilada”. So where did that name come from?
Brenda and I have led many tours in the Hill Country; we’ve led 7-day tours our of Fredericksburg, 10-day tours which began and ended in Boerne and 14-day tours which begin and end in Austin. So The Whole Enchilada is the 14-day tour. I think it’s the best of the bunch. It may not cover the entire Hill Country but it gives a pretty good sense of the entire area. Here are the routes we ride and the places we will stay:
We have a very diverse group:
My challenge will be to write a daily blog while Brenda and I lead the ride. I don’t think I ever done these blogs at the same time - hope I can do it.
