April 12, 2012
Day 47: To Boerne
On the road at 8:50. Once again the weather was overcast and extremely humid. I pedaled 5 miles south in Sabinal canyon, then turned east to get back onto FM 337 towards Medina and Bandera.
I'm leaving the ACA Southern Tier route for good. The ACA route goes northeast to Austin and ends at the Atlantic ocean in St. Augustine, Florida. I will take a short cut to Atlantic water by going southeast to the Gulf of Mexico in Corpus Christi, Texas.
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The Sabinal river is smaller than the Frio and Nueces rivers but Sabinal canyon is more narrow and canyon-like.
FM 337 climbs very steeply to get out of Sabinal canyon. Mostly 8-10% grade. This is an FM road, not a gently graded state highway.
After climbing 1000 feet the road descends more than 1000 feet to the Medina river which flows east in this area.
In the little town of Medina I stopped for lunch at the Core Coffee House which is a volunteer-run cafe/community center. They had an all you can eat taco bar at a very reasonable price. I ate with several of the locals. Excellent place. It's nice that this small town is still surviving and that not everything has moved to the bigger town of Bandera.
I'm now on state highway 16, still following the Medina river downstream. This is still considered the Hill Country but I'm at lower elevation now. The valleys are larger and more populated. Traffic was still low until I got to Bandera.
I stopped for ice cream in Bandera. The sun finally came out and it was warm and extremely humid as usual. Bandera is a thriving tourist town less than 1 hour drive from San Antonio. The town now calls itself the "Cowboy Capital of the World". It used to be called the "Dude Ranch Capital of the World". Apparently the dude ranch business has declined and been replaced by motorcycle tourism. Bandera is the eastern end of the main motorcycle tourism zone. From here the motorcyclists all go west towards Medina, Vanderpool, Leakey, and Camp Wood.
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Traffic was heavy on the route from Bandera to Boerne. Much more industry and construction-related activity. I'm now in the exurban sphere of San Antonio. Not many big trucks, mostly pickup trucks and SUV's driving to acreage lots in gated subdivisions.
The road was a roller coaster, frequently climbing 200 feet at an 8% grade. The afternoon was partly cloudy and I got drenched in sweat during the climbs. I had difficulty operating my rear grip shifter because my hands were so sweaty and oily. Once again the shoulder was rough chipseal while the main traffic lanes were packed smooth by the traffic.
I toured extensively in Texas in the 1980's and early 1990's. At that time Texas highways were excellent for bike touring. All the roads were smooth asphalt. But since then nearly every highway has been overlaid with chipseal. The shoulders have little or no traffic, so the chipseal shoulder stays rough pretty much forever, unlike the travel lanes that get packed smooth by the traffic. Texas highways were once truly excellent for cycling, but now they are unpleasant. I pedaled hundreds of miles on rough shoulders, watching traffic whiz by on smooth travel lanes.
I arrived in Boerne at 4:45 PM and got a $56 room at Motel 6. No fridge or microwave in the room. For dinner I had a salad next door at Wendy's.
Distance: 64.7 mi. (103.5 km)
Climbing: 2701 ft. (818 m)
Average Speed: 11.6 mp[h (18.6 km/h)
Today's ride: 65 miles (105 km)
Total: 2,502 miles (4,027 km)
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