The Trail Warrior Project took a group bikepacking on a 3 day, 157 mile trip through Central Texas on the Trail Warrior DR. Pepper Ride. The route is about 80% nice gravel roads and goes through some beautiful countryside with long gradual climbs that wear out the legs. We normally don't have support on our adventures, but this time we had the opportunity to have 2 vehicles provide support. They made the event so much nicer, providing water and food during the event and even going to pizza and beer one night while camping!
The first day started south of Eastland and headed down to Dublin, where we arrived just in time for lunch at Granny Clark's cafe. Upon arriving in the parking lot, I knew it was going to be good because there was barely enough room for bicycles due to the amount of cars there for lunch. Several people came out and they all said "get the blue plate special", which was the best advice I had all day! The food was amazing and with only 10 miles to Lake Proctor for camp, we got to take a break from the late October heat and enjoy the air conditioning. The campsite was great and well maintained. We all hung out and a few even went swimming to cool off.
Day two started out nice and easy on county roads for about 20 miles to Comanche, where we stopped and grabbed a quick lunch before heading to Brownwood. By the time we got to Brownwood, everyone was starving and I had personally been looking forward to Underwood's BBQ all day. Everyone seemed to eat a ton of food and we all paid for it on the way to camp. The 5 mile climb seemed just a little bit harder than it should have with all of the BBQ and peach cobbler in my gut. The Sandy beach RV park was a welcome site. They welcomed us with open arms and gave us a special spot since we were veterans. The property manager stated her dad was in the Army and she took great care of us!
The final day started out on pavement heading toward May, Gorman and finally back to the starting point at Desdemona. After May, it turned to gravel and stayed that way for about 50 miles. The roads were a little rougher, but still great and not sandy like here in the Permian Basin. We finally got to Gorman and it was hot. We stopped under a shade tree and cooled off before doing the last 15 miles to the finish. With Desdemona in our sights, we all re-grouped and cruised into town together. It was a tough 3 days, with a lot of climbing and hot in the afternoons, but it was so rewarding to know you made the adventure!
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