Lampasas Hillacious

Lampasas Hillacious Bike Tour

Lampasas, Texas

April 8, 2017 

This was the 3rd annual Lampasas ride. I would estimate 150 riders showed up even though the forecast was for high winds--which was accurate.

Christine in the back of the line up. Note the bike. Last week she received her Trek XM700 + Low Step electric assist bike. Suddenly, she can line up in the back knowing that she will not finish last. Her bike is as "fast" as my Giant, but the Trek comes with just a 400 watt battery, so she chose the 34 mile route to be safe, although the control panel indicates she can go 62 miles.

It was a little chilly for me so I donned my arm warmers. Wish Christine had gotten more of my bike as I am so pleased with it. I lined up with the 49 mile group knowing nothing about the ride other than it's called Hillacious. As one will see, they aptly named the ride. Sometimes it was Hellacious, and then add a 15-20 mph wind. But hey, with my great pedal assist, quit complaining. Whine, whine, with the hills and the last 20 miles into the wind, it slowed me down to a 17.5 mph average. : )

Before we even got out of town, this was thrown in our face. My Garmin indicated it was a 11% climb.

Out of town, we continued to climb.

For every downhill, there awaits another up.

To be fair, I did want to show a few downhills.

And, there were occasional flat stretches. (But a good climb is off in the distance).

Up. My Garmin indicated several 11-13% grades with numerous 4-8%.

Not sure if any of the posted pictures were the steep grades, but they were certainly on the route.

At this point, we were in a cross wind. Note the flags.

One may have noticed that there appeared to be few riders on the road. Well, the hotshots doing the 69 mile route were way up there, and the rest of the crowd way back there. The guy in this shot was a friendly local, so we rode together quite a ways. When we hit this downhill, the wind was finally to our backs. I was going 26-28 mph and could not catch up to him.

Surprise. Another climb coming up.

We traveled a short way on a major highway but the shoulder was nice and wide.

We turned off the highway onto another quiet country road. Little traffic the whole ride.

Nearing the end of the ride and back into town.

After the ride, the sponsors provided riders with hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, and drinks. The volunteers were outstanding at the rest stops as well as the finish line. Thanks Lampasas.

To top off the visit, we were impressed by the County Courthouse. Lampasas is a nice community, has friendly people, and one heck of a ride. Will we return? You bet.