April 13, 2012
Day 48: To Seguin
Today I pedaled most of the day on highway 46 with heavy traffic and a narrow shoulder. I pedaled this road during a bike tour in 1990. At that time it was a mostly rural road. But now the fringe subdivisions outside San Antonio have sprawled to this area. I passed one gated subdivision after another. Traffic is much heavier now but it's still a 2-lane road.
The weather was extremely humid as usual, but today it also rained. It wasn't pleasant on the road, with the constant parade of traffic creating clouds of muddy spray.
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I detoured north on FM 3159 to get to the Guadalupe river, my last Hill Country river. Traffic was still heavy because the road leads to huge subdivisions on the shore of Canyon Lake.
I finally turned onto Guadalupe River Road, a scenic 11 mile road along the Guadalupe river in a limestone canyon downstream from Canyon Lake. It's all private property which is a shock after riding such a long distance in areas that have much more public property (half of the land in California, Arizona, and New Mexico is public land, but Texas is 95% private land).
River Road is still very scenic but is more developed than the last time I was there. No condos or giant RV resorts 20 years ago. The road now has far more "no" signs, such as "no stopping or parking next 11 miles". It is a narrow road in a confined space.
At the east end of River Road I detoured north a couple miles to see historic Gruene. Gruene is also a shock. In the 1970's it was a very sleepy place in the country, with only about 5 buildings. It's different now, with two upscale hotels, several restaurants, and large parking lots. The rural character is lost. The city of New Braunfels has grown so that Gruene is no longer out in the country.
East of Gruene I got back onto highway 46 and continued east through the north side of New Braunfels, then southeast to Seguin. It's a 5-lane racetrack all the way from New Braunfels to Seguin. The terrain is much flatter east of New Braunfels. No longer Hill Country.
My first stop in Seguin was at a Motel 6, but it was already full. So I continued on to a Super 8 motel and got an overpriced room for $101. It looked like a $70 room to me.
I ate dinner next door at a Bill Miller Barbeque restaurant. I haven't eaten at Bill Miller's since I was in college.
Today had heavy traffic but at least the roads were mostly asphalt instead of chipseal. High of 80F, overcast all day with frequent rain showers.
Overall, it was an unpleasant day because of the rain and traffic. And it was depressing to see how runaway development has changed the southern Hill Country, River Road, and Gruene.
Distance: 70.5 mi. (113 km)
Climbing: 2427 ft. (735 m)
Average Speed: 11.2 mph (17.9 km/h)
Today's ride: 71 miles (114 km)
Total: 2,573 miles (4,141 km)
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