Near Frisco CO, you can cycle this paved, car-free bike trail
through awesome mountain scenery to famous ski resorts
like Vail, Copper Mountain, Breckenridge and Keystone.
Five Great
Places For A Bicycle Adventure Vacation
--within 1-2 days drive of Kerrville,
or less.
Ever thought of taking a vacation on your bicycle, like spending a week on a tour through the Colorado Rockies, or the Texas Hill Country, or the mountainous Big Bend region of West Texas? Norman Ford's Do-It-Yourself Bicycle Touring website was specifically designed to help self-reliant cyclists plan and carry out their own independent bicycle tours, and be their own tour guides, and go where and when they want to go at the pace they prefer, and with companions of their own choosing.
To give you an idea of touring possibilities within two days drive of Kerrville, here are thumbnail outlines of five Do-It-Yourself Vacation Tours, each followed by a link to Ford's Bicycle Touring website for an in-depth description of the itinerary and how to ride it on your own or with a group of friends--and with every night in a comfortable budget motel (or you can tent camp if you prefer).
DIY Adventure Bike Tour Number One: Best of the Colorado Rockies
Near Frisco CO, you can cycle this paved, car-free bike trail
through awesome mountain scenery to famous ski resorts
like Vail, Copper Mountain, Breckenridge and Keystone.
Your first 3 days are spent at Frisco, at 9,100 feet, cycling a 100-mile
complex of paved, car-free bike trails--that wind through rugged scenery
that rivals the Alps--to famous ski resorts like Vail, Copper Mountain,
Breckenridge and Keystone. Other paved rides take you to historic
mining towns like Georgetown and Silver Plume, both full of Victorian charm.
Then you can stay overnight at Idaho Springs and spend a day cycling up
North America's highest paved road to the summit of Mount Evans,
at 14,260 feet. With a mountain bike (rentals available),
you can take awesome rides on abandoned railroad beds to Boreas Pass (11,400')
or to McClellan Mountain (13,000'). And for a change of pace--and
some upper body fitness exercise--rent a kayak and paddle around mountain-rimmed
Dillon Lake. Fairly Strenuous!
Most people drive from Kerrville to Frisco in two days and you can
spend 10-12 days taking in all the rides.
For full Colorado Tour report,
CLICK HERE (www.tourvelo.org/frisco.html).
Part of the Colorado Vacation includes cycling up America's
highest paved road to the summit of Mount Evans,
14,260 feet above sea level.
Pedaling up Colorado's Mount Evans in spring,
with snow still beside the road, is a real Adventure Ride.
DIY Adventure Bike Tour Number Two: Cycling Texas' rugged Big Bend Country
_
The Texas Big Bend Vacation takes you soaring high on River Road
(upper left) hundreds of sheer feet above the deep Rio Grande Gorge
(lower right).
Starting and ending at Alpine TX--just a day's drive from Kerrville--this is a strenuous but extremely rewarding tour on a unique world class route that takes you via a dozen colorful frontier towns to two of Texas' most famous ghost towns, then on to mountaintop McDonald Observatory, and over 3 of the West's most spectacular roads--the Davis Mountains Loop, the Rio Grande River Road, and to remote Chisos Basin--on a wildly scenic bicycle adventure that is unequalled elsewhere in America. 7 Days.
For full Big Bend Tour report, click here
http://www.tourvelo.org/wintex.html#Quatorce
DIY Adventure Bike Tour Number Three: Touring the Texas Hill Country
It's hard to find a boring mile on this exciting 9-day itinerary
that takes you pedaling over many of the highest and most spectacular roads
in the Texas Hill Country. Skirting limestone cliffs and gorges,
and winding along high ridges, this route takes you the full length of
the famous 100 Mile Mountain Loop, with overnights at Laekey, Camp Wood,
Rock Springs, Junction and Fredericksburg (your base for day rides to Enchanted
Rock and the Willow City Loop).
Nine Days, 425 Miles, Fairly Strenuous.
For full Texas Hill Country Tour Report, click here
http://www.tourvelo.org/txhills.html#HILLS
DIY Adventure Bike Tour Number Four: Touring Missouri's Katy Trail
For 225 flat and easy miles, this former bed of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad takes you cycling from Clinton MO to St. Charles MO through a 19th Century world of Railroad Americana. Quaint villages like Hermann and Rocheport mingle with glimpses of the Missouri River and near St.Charles you ride a Wine Road bordered by vineyards. Most Americans can drive from Kerrville to Clinton in two days. Katy Trail is unpaved but car-free and probably OK for Fitness-Oriented Families.
For full Katy Trail Tour Report, click on link
below-- then scroll down to Katy Trail.
http://www.tourvelo.org/rails.html
DIY Adventure Bike Tour Number Five: Cycling The Natchez Trace Parkway
Most people can drive in two days from Kerrville to historic Natchez, MS, starting point for a 450-Mile bike tour on the Natchez Trace Parkway, a two-lane ribbon of pavement that cuts through a wilderness of tall trees and takes you past split-rail fences and Indian mounds in Mississippi, then winds, climbs, dips and twists through the steep hollows and forested ridges of Alabama and Tennessee. Though the Trace is a National Park Highway, and is a designated National Bike Route, it has no shoulders and is not traffic-free. But traffic is light most of the time, commercial trucks are banned, and there are no stop signs, billboards, or traffic lights and only a single gas station. Most cyclists use a support vehicle, and bike the entire 450-mile distance in 7-8 days.
For full Natchez Trace Tour Report, click here
http://tourvelo.org/trace.html