- DAY 1: Monday 28th February 2022 – Austin, TX to Pedernales Falls State Park, TX
- Distance: 64km
- Elevation gain: 950m
- Accomodation: Pedernales Falls State Park Campground
Our ride got underway today with dropping our hire car back at Barton Creek Mall, unloading the bikes and getting set up to go in the mall carpark. We set off along the ‘360 loop’ which inexplicably is very popular with local cyclists despite being an 8 lane highway (at least it had a decent shoulder to cycle on) Heading out off Austin, the roads were busy and hilly – comined with our lack of fitness at the start of the ride, this made for a tough day all round.
We finally made it to the State park entrance only to find that the campground was another 6km inside the park (US state parks always seem to do this to us). Finally getting the tent pitched, we only had enough energy (and daylight) left for a shower and a bowl of pasta before going to bed. The ride is undeway, but today made us realise just how tough it may turn out to be!
- DAY 2: Tuesday 1st March 2022 – Pedernales Falls State Park, TX to Johnson City, TX
- Distance: 22km
- Elevation gain: 305m
- Accomodation: Roadrunner RV Park
A very short day today, but we needed it after yesterday. We started by retracing our last 6km from yesterday, mostly uphill, before getting on the road to Johnson City (apparently the birthplace of President Lyndon B Johnson, although we didn’t have time to visit the historical park dedicated to him). The road carried on in the same way as yesterday with lots of ups and downs, but we only had a short distance to cover. We were very happy to discover that the RV park in town welcomed tents and even had a grassy area at the back for them. A Dollar General store right next to the site was ideal to pick up some dinner and celebratory beers (not that we really earned them today!)
- DAY 3: Wednesday 2nd March 2022 – Johnson City, TX to Fredericksburg, TX
- Distance: 62km
- Elevation gain: 650m
- Accomodation: Peach Tree Inn Motel
Another long (for us) day today following back roads to Fredericksburg. Google Maps claimed that the route was ‘mostly flat’ which seemed unlikely – we have long learned that Google tends to underestimate height gains in its elevation profiles, but today was a spectacular fail even by Google Maps standards. The road generally went up but plunged downhill again every time we crossed a stream or creek (which was often). This landscape seems to be very typical of the Texas Hill Country. It was also very hot with little shade. We had a couple of coffee stops and a couple of bottles of cold water given to us by a guy passing in a truck, which was very welcome.
Arriving in Fredericksburg, we loved the hotel that we had booked for the night – so happy that we immediately booked a second night and decided to have a rest day – the complimentary bottle of wine in the room may have also influenced this decision. Judy’s liquor store provided a few beers to supplement the wine and a quick trip to Dollar General added a couple of cheap pizzas – everthing needed for a relaxing evening before a rest day tomorrow.
- DAY 4: Thursday 3rd March 2022 – Rest Day in Fredericksburg, TX
- Distance: 0
- Elevation gain: 0
- Accomodation: Peach Tree Inn Motel
We spent the morning wandering along Main Street exploring the town. Apparently it was established in 1846 by German settlers and the town still has a very German feel to it. The downtown area was very pleasant to wander around, very unlike most US cities that seem so unfriendly to pedestrians. The town’s most famous former resident is Admiral Nimitz, commander of the Pacific Fleet in WWII and there is a musuem about the Pacific war in the town. The highlight though was just wandering through the old buildings along Main Street.
In the afternoon, we did a little forward planning and booked some accomodation for the next few days of heading further west through Texas.
Useful Links
https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/pedernales-falls
Paul and Siona's travels 
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