After a few weeks of moving and having by bikes destroyed by a redneck truck driver, I finally got back on the bike and back on the road. I’m living here in Texas hill country, so why not get out and have a look around? A bike is the best way to see the countryside, I reckon it’s the same way here in the Lone Star State. After all, this is Lance Armstrong’s home town(it’s Willie Nelson’s hometown as well, but I’m not sure what that has to do with it).
Out the door, past the pickup trucks with the brush guards in suburban driveways and onto the hill country ranch roads. Headed out of Leander on Ranch Road 279 towards Liberty Hill. A park on the outskirts of town had this cool little skate park, complete with a mini pool with steel copings
Once you get out of the new suburbs and planned communities, you can start to see a bit of Texas the way it used to be. Quite a change from the Pacific Northwest I’ve been used to.
There are rivers and creeks here, but at the end of the hottest summer on record, they are mostly dry
The Texas hill country roads are rough, hot and dry. There are a few short, relatively steeper little hills, most of them are longer, drawn out inclines. The thing that is very prominent is the wind. On this ride, a 15-20 mph headwind headed out made for pretty slow going. Coming back with a tailwind was pretty fun. Been a long time since I’ve been able to ride 25 mph for miles at a time.
Saw my first armadillo road kill, kind of rounds out the whole Texas bike riding experience.
Rode out to Balcones Canyonlands Wildlife Refuge, it has a different look than the wildlife areas I’m used to.
It’s always interesting to see new places and do new things. You may hear a lot about something, but you never know for sure what it’s going to be like until you see for yourself.