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Riding Bastrop-to-Buescher
I pedaled the undulating road linking Bastrop and Buescher state parks on Sunday. Have you ridden there?
The road dips and climbs for 12 miles through the pine forests connecting the two parks. Shade covers nearly the entire route, which makes it a good one for summer, which definitely has kicked in. The route is hilly, but the hills are relatively short. Just when your quads start screaming for mercy, it’s time for a lovely, holler-with-glee downhill.
I’ve ridden the route a dozen or so times, but this time (for the first time ever) we belly flopped into the swimming pool at Bastrop State Park to cool off afterward.
And that pool! It took us a couple of hours to ride to Buescher State Park and back, and we’d worked up a good sweat by the time we finished. We shucked off our bike clothes, yanked on swimsuits (never leave home without one!) and plopped into the pool, which is shaped like an enormous bowl. It’s deep in the middle, too — 8 feet at maximum depth. We paddled around until our core temperatures dropped enough that we wouldn’t melt the seats in our truck, then dragged ourselves out of the water.
It takes about an hour to get to Bastrop State Park from Austin. Admission to the park is $4 a person, but I’ve got a State Park Pass. The $60 annual pass gets you into all Texas state parks for free, so it’s well worth it for me and my husband. It’s $4 to get into the pool for adults, but you get $2 off per person with the pass.
Bastrop always feels like a mini vacation to me, because the scenery is so absolutely un-Austin-like, with all the pine cones and needles. I’ve been going there since I was a kid.
Then it was on to the Roadhouse, just outside the gates of the park, for a late lunch. They’ve got great burgers, but our waitress forgot to turn in our order. Ack! We nearly gnawed off our fingers waiting an hour (!!!) for our lunch to appear. Thumbs down for service, thumbs up for ambiance and food.
(That’s me and Chris above, post bike ride.)
And thumbs up for another great Austin day trip.
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By mrunner
June 9, 2009 12:59 PM | Link to this
Pam, Is the route between the parks run-able, too, or is that route best left to vehicles? Thanks!
By Pam LeBlanc
June 9, 2009 1:22 PM | Link to this
Mrunner, Pretty good for running, I’d say. I’ve run the 4-mile loop around Bastrop State Park but not the road between the parks. Traffic is fairly light but but it is narrow so you have to pay attention. Good running hills!