Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire On the road again.

Day 2: First light from under the bridge......



I dunno how it happened but there were no flying insect of any sort, so instead of putting up a tent I just put out a sheet next to the bicycle...



The bridge lies at the meeting of the Guadalupe River and Sister's Creek. 175 years ago this was a rough neighborhood. In particular in two separate engagements not far from that spot Jack Hays and about fifteen stalwart companions gave Yellow Wolf's crew a hard lesson on them newfangled revolvers. Samuel Walker likewise received a pointed lesson about Comanche lances, and based on alla that got together with Samuel Colt to design a bigger, better revolver. Maybe too big, less than ten years later, with improvements made possible both in steel and manufacturing, the first practical (IMHO), affordable, durable and easily reparable fighting handgun was born; the 1851 Colt Navy




Fifteen miles to Luckenbach took 2 1/2 hours , glad I was that I didn't try it at the end of the day before. The operative word in "Texas Hill Country" is "Hill". My steel-framed touring bike weighs 33 pounds naked, add front and rear rack and four panniers; +20 pounds, add 40lbs of clothes, camping gear, bike tools, tubes, spare tire, laptop and water and you're looking at 90lbs give or take. Its geared low for climbing but ya still feel ever pound.

The Hill Country is actually the eroded edge of the High Plains above the Balcones Fault line. It runs in a long arc southwest to northeast. The trick is to ride north ACROSS it like I did and not west along it. North from Boerne to Fredericksburg and then Northwest again to Mason. Anyhoo, no food available that early on a Tuesday at Luckenbach...



So I settled for a $4 bottle of root beer (popularity and population has about killed the place) and rolled on 10 miles to Fredericksburg. $12 for a Jalapeno Whataburger with cheese, fries and a medium vanilla shake in Fredericksburg. Several cups of ice tea later I was still feeling pretty low, I ain't had the time to train for this trip like I did the others. Nothing for it though but to keep going. $3.00 for a quart of milk for that evening on the way.

Stopped on the far edge of town for peaches....