I am on the fourth day of a 6 day riding jaunt in the Texas Hill Country. The bluebonnets, indian paintbrush, goat weed and other wild flowers are lovely, there is still a lot of green spring grass and the trees are all almost fully leafed out. The weather has been in the high 70's and low 80's with a mix of overcast and sun. That's the nice part.

The bad part is the headwinds which started out on day one in the 15 mph range and topped out yesterday with 25 mph with gusts up to 35. I am here to say that riding a 12% grade uphill, no matter how short is a *****. Yesterday was another 60 mile day with two fierce climbs one a long 8% grade going into Enchanted rock from the willow city loop and the other was a shorter 9-10% grade leaving Enchanted rock followed by a 20 mile stretch of rollers into the headwinds. How bad were the headwinds? can you say pedaling downhill to maintain momentum?

All the moaning aside, if you are ever in Fredricksburg, Texas, take the time to drive the 20 miles north to willow city and drive or ride the willow city loop. It is incredibly gorgeous. It is a cut between two sets of hills almost like mesa lands or plateaus with deep gullies coming down filled with scattered juniper trees and range grass. This year we have had a lot of rain and so the gullies and fields are filled with bluebonnets, as far as the eye can see. in the distance it looks like a blue haze on the ground and they are solid blocks of blooms along the roadside. The perfume in delicious and the sight is incredible. Your ride will be enlivened by the occasional herd of range cattle or the vagrant road runner.

So far we have ridden 56 miles of hills between boerne and waverly, 60 miles of hills between waverly and fredricksburg, 66 miles on the fredricksburg, willow city, enchanted rock fredricksburg loop, 36 miles between fredricksburg and kerrville. The last two days of the ride will be some easier although we have at least one more hill that is rated at a 12-15 % grade, at least the distances are shorter at 42 and 35 miles from kerrville to bandera and then back to boerne.

Maybe there will be some tailwinds one of those days.

Much as I don't llike the Houston area where I live, I have to admit spring in the texas hills when the wildflowers are blooming isn't half bad.

marni