Easter Bike Tour 2024
by Anne and Stewart French
March 29 - March 31, 2024

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-RideWithGPS Tracks-

Friday - 34 miles total
Saturday - 43 miles total

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2024/03/28 Thursday

Last year was the official last edition of the Easter Hill Country Tour (EHCT) bicycle rally. Apparently the sponsors ran out of volunteers or money or whatever. It was some cooperative thing with bike clubs from Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Dallas, maybe others. They took turns being the main sponsor each year and decided to stop last year. Unfortunately last year was cold and rainy and we decided not to make the drive. It was a sad time for us. We had done this ride 15 or more times (can't seem to remember the exact number!) over the decades. Then late last year we got an email that the ride was back on! Now called the Easter Bike Tour 2024, it still started at Schreiner University and had the same routes as 2 years ago. We registered and got a room at the Kerrville Hampton Inn to bike Friday and Saturday.

We decided to leave on Thursday after lunch so as to get to Kerrville about 5:30pm. Packet picket had been moved to the Y.O. Ranch Hotel which is right across Sidney Baker Street from our Hampton Inn, very convenient. By leaving a bit later we avoided a lot of the Dallas commuter traffic and had an easy 5.5 hour ride to Kerrville. The route was our usual, Dallas to Waco, Temple, Killeen, Lampasas, then south to Burnet, Marble Falls, Johnson City, west to Fredericksburg, Kerrville.

The wildflowers this year were stunning along the highway. We saw thousands (millions?) of Bluebonnets, Indian Paintbrushes, Primrose, White Poppies, Mustard, Daisies, Prairie Verbena, The weather was perfect, warm, clear, with a south breeze.

We checked in at the Hampton, room 204, and headed over to the YO for registration. No sooner had we got in line when our biking buddy Niles walked up! From Austin, Niles has done this ride many, many times. We connected with him a few years ago and always try to find him whenever we do this ride. Registration was easy. We got blue t-shirts, bags of swag, and fun conversation with the other bikers milling about. It seems these rides cater to the older riders. We saw a lot of our "contemporaries", people in their 60+ years with only a very few in their 30s.

We drove over to our favorite Schlotsky's restaurant for drive-thru sandwiches then back to the room. Lucky for us the first Ranger Game of the season was that night, on ESPN, and we got that channel on our Hampton TV. It was fun watching the Rangers beat the Chicago Cubs.

Here is the RideWithGPS log - 34 miles total

We had breakfast at the Hampton, coffee, oatmeal, yogurt, and a banana then leisurely got ready for the ride. They requested we try and get on the road before 9am since the rest stops would be closing in the mid afternoon. We loaded the bikes and gear and drove over to Schreiner University's Trailhead Beer Garden where the trail starts. Looks like they "borrowed" the inflatable arch to mark the start from the Waco Bike Club!

It was an open start where we could start riding any time we wanted. It was a bit cool, overcast, and very, very windy. Blowing at 20 mph and gusting higher, we knew it would be challenging. For Friday we chose to ride the 34 mile route. This is our first significant ride of the season and also one of the hardest. With the addition of the wind it was clear the 34 miles would be enough. It would also leave us enough energy to meet Niles for dinner later.

This route has a single rest stop that is shared. The first stop is at mile 12.8 Everyone there was super friendly. They had supplies of fruit, cookies, PB&J sandwiches, water, gatorade, and a bottled drink called Propel ( Mango flavor, and pretty good! ). We stopped again at this Rest Stop at mile 23.3 after a 10 mile out-and-back. That O&B was uphill, into the wind, for the first 5 miles, then a steep climb (16% grade!) to the turn-around point at Fall Creek Ranch. Anne's "new" bike doesn't have the gears of her old bike and she had to stop and walk part of of the steepest part. But she was not alone, there were a lot of people walking up that hill! We paused and got some pics at the top. The temperature was getting warmer so we took off our jackets and stashed them in our jerseys. From Fall Creek it is a steep downhill that levels off into a gradual, 5-mile downhill back to the rest stop. Once there we took a break and relaxed a bit, and saw Niles again. Anne spotted a beautiful white Trek Domane+ SL7 e-bike. The woman who owned it, who was about Anne's size, told her all about the advantages of riding an e-bike, and particularly one so powerful, light, smooth, and quiet. What really surprised Anne was that this bike, at 50cm, was small enough to be comfortable for her. Anne vowed to look closer into an e-bike when she got home so that she would never have to walk up a hill again. Also, she'd be able to go much further distances with comfort, which would make bike touring more memorable.

As we approached the University the route took us through the Riverhill Country Club golf course. It is a beautiful neighborhood and the houses were amazing. We had to Zillow it when we got back to the room.

We rolled into the Trailhead at Schreiner U. about 1pm. There were lots of bikers there enjoying the picnic tables, the bar was open, and a food truck was serving up TexMex, "Vecino's fruteria y cocina". We grabbed a spot at a table and talked with some other bikers about the wind, the Hotter n Hell, Waco Wild West 100, other fun rides, and really enjoyed ourselves. Turned out the food truck had run out of cheese (everything they served had cheese in it) so we waited a while before the cheese guy got back and we got to eat.

We headed back to the Hampton to get cleaned up and to meet Niles at Billie Gene's Restaurant in Kerrville later in the evening. We sat at a nice window table where we could see the river and the Hummingbirds eating at a feeder right outside. As we sat and talked, we met some folks at another table admiring our stack of onion rings. Later we gave them a few of the onion rings and talked more. Turned out the woman was on the committee in Wichita Falls that started the Hotter N Hell way back in 1982. She got to help choose the name!

Back at the room we hooked Anne's laptop to the TV and watched NBC Sports extended highlights of the 8 stages of the Paris-Nice bicycle race. An American won! Matteo Jorgenson of team "Visma-Lease a Bike".

Here is the RideWithGPS log - 43 miles total

We started the day pretty much just like Friday, breakfast, drive to the Trailhead, get ready and on the road. The weather was much less windy and a little warmer, but also there was a slight mist in the overcast sky. The overcast stayed with us for most of the ride. We were hoping the sun would come out because the wildflowers were pretty stunning, particularly the Prairie Verbena.

We chose to do the 43 mile route today because we knew there were some hills in the first 20 miles and the next route was too far for us at 65 miles. They also had another 86 mile route for the well-trained cyclists.

We knew that the longest, hardest climb of the day would be to the cell tower at mile 6. Turns out it is not as steep as the hill yesterday, at 11.5% grade. That was good. However, there were many short, very steep, rollers on the route right after the cell tower. The first rest stop was at mile 21, which is pretty far into a ride. They usually try and set rest stops every 10 miles. We were very happy to roll into the rest stop, after 2 hours of hard biking. Again, people were friendly, it was well stocked, and there was a lot of art to enjoy in the area. From here there was another 10-mile out-and-back to a hilltop then back to the rest stop. It was not nearly as challenging as the one on Friday. From here we crossed Center Point Lake at our favorite waterfall, got some pics, then headed west past our old hangout Dave's Place which is now privately owned, but mostly unchanged.

The route back took us by a short, steep left turn we call "Niles Incline". That's because Niles first told us about it several years ago : "It's a sharp right turn then the steep uphill begins!". It was about 1:30pm when we got back to the Trailhead. We decided not to eat here at the food truck but instead packed up and headed to the new Whataburger on Memorial Boulevard. They have nice salads and we had reservations at "Rails, A Cafe At The Depot" for the evening so we wanted to eat light (so we could eat dessert tonight!). On our way back to the Hampton we saw that the Jeep Wagoneer museum, "Wagonmaster", was still there. That place is a landmark of restored old Wagoneers. We had to stop and get some pics.

Back at our room we got cleaned up, napped, and headed out to walk and relax before dinner. Anne had researched it a bit and found the Riverside Nature Center in downtown Kerrville. This place was a beautiful haven for birds, bees, native plants, and wildflowers. They have a large covered porch area with rockers to sit and relax. Birds swarmed the feeders they had set up. We sat and watched the birds and walked the grounds marveling that this Center is located in the middle of the town and available for anyone to visit. It was not crowded at all.

We sat outside for dinner at The Rails Cafe. Our table was under a huge tree that was filled at the top with Cedar Waxwing birds. They squeaked their calls and entertained us as we ate pasta, fish tacos, and spicy chocolate cake. This is one of our favorite restaurants in Kerrville.

Easter morning we got some breakfast and packed up. We headed out north from Kerrville to Fredericksburg, north to Llano, then east to Lake Buchanan. Our friends Steve and Doris live on the east side of the lake and were expecting us. The route was covered with wildflowers : Bluebonnets, Indian Paintbrushes, Primrose, Verbena, Mustard, Daisies, and Poppies. It was the most vibrant and widespread display we had ever seen. Steve and Doris live on a side channel of the lake. In years past this was filled with water, but today it is completely dry. Apparently the lake is used to supply water to downriver lakes and cities. The side channel was completely filled with Bluebonnets! It looked like a lake of wildflowers. They have a small covered patio overlooking the channel that was perfect to sit, relax, and enjoy the beautiful view. We talked with them for an hour or so and got back on the road.

We got home about 3pm. As we came through the door our kittens, Cooper, Marley, and SeaBreeze ran to greet us and point out that it was both time for treats, and dinnertime. They got everything they wanted.

There are many more women biking now that in the past. There were fewer young people ( could also say it as - There were many more old people! ). Also, we saw many more e-bikes. This e-bike thing seems a lot like disc brakes were 10 years ago. Disc brakes started appearing a few at a time and now most bikes have them. Perhaps e-bikes will be the standard in 10 years?

These routes were the same as the last two years. We no longer bike from Fredericksburg. There were some very nice rides that left from the Fredericksburg High School and went north out of town. We knew that the Willow City Loop had been removed because it was just too crowded with cars and motorcycles, and now we suspect all of Fredericksburg is too busy to support a bike ride.

Kerrville is growing and growing. There were many more beautiful houses, nice businesses, a fantastic trail system, and roads.

Cell coverage was complete the entire trip. We can remember a time when coverage ended a few miles out of Dallas and did not resume until we got close to a major town. Back a few years ago there would not be any cell coverage on the bike ride. Now, coverage is complete and high-speed.

Steve showed Stewart the Starlink setup that he recently got installed. That is Elon Musk's satellite internet service. There are currently over 6,000 satellites in orbit providing coverage to much of the world. Steve's speed was very good and the satellite "dish" was a small rectangular plate on the end of a stick.

Thanks to Nancy Paglia and her business "Pets Need Nannies Too" for taking good care of our kittens while we travel. She has been doing this for decades and the kittens love seeing her show up.