Two Rides, One Day, Both Ways

The hills that rise east of Austin called me this morning, and I answered without too much of a struggle. Today's Hill Country Ride for AIDS led us around Decker Lake, a part of the Colorado River created when the Lower Colorado River Authority dammed up the river both west and east of the city. Decker flows from Lake Long, which is fed by Town Lake (in downtown). Further upstream are (in order) Lake Austin, Lake Travis, Inks Lake, Lake LBJ, Lake Marble Falls and Lake Buchanan. When you're north of Buchanan you're in bald eagle country.

The baddest hill on the Decker Lake ride lifts out of the Decker Creek watershed. It's one of those double-trouble hills, where you do some serious climbing only to find there's an even bigger hill waiting for you once you get to the crest. Today this was 10th gear work, the easiest in the middle ring. Gears 9-1 live on the little ring, which I was afraid I might need again after using it on the way to back to Dripping Springs a few weeks ago. Didn't need it.

Later in the afternoon I did another ride in another direction, out north along Brushy Creek, one of my favorites. What's not to like? No big hills, pretty scenery, 10 minutes from the house, lots of rest stop possibilities, good mileage. I enjoyed it all with Abby. She's back in the saddle after more than a week off, travelling to Philadelphia and back. She looked good out there on the roads, chirping out "Car Back" over and over to warn me of cars ready to pass us on the two-lane Brushy Creek and Sam Bass Roads. I'm happy to have her back after a week of bachelor living. I'm also glad to get two ride sessions into a single day. That's the kind of pace we'll both need to keep for the HCRA ride: A series of 14-to-19-mile rides with pit stops, stretching and lunch in between rides.