Texas State Park Overnight
Nothing like pushing the limit.
Word of advice: plan ahead. Ending a wonderful Friday with adventure to the east, we headed out. Arriving at Tyler State Park, we encountreed quite a few other people had the same idea about getting outdoors. We were kicked out of our campsite selections on two different occasions, all post 9:30PM. We had reservations for campsite, just not a designated site yet. As the sun rose, packing with headaches and discovering our stoves didn’t work up to par, breakfast burritos were the start for any trip. Now it was time to hit the road.
Leaving the truck behind at the park, the first couple of rolling hills evoke splendid joy. This was our first attempt to break the 50mi. mark and fully loaded bikes. We made it, but it was grueling. East Texas hills almost ate us alive. The last 15mi. were the toughest into Lake Bob Sandlin’ State Park. Arriving was bitter sweet, with the ever escaping air from my back tire, the soda from the main office took the edge off knowing I was going to play “fix-a-flat”. Deep into the evening, we nodded off early, I turned over in my sleeping bag and scared my adventure buddy right out of his bag. At the end of the commotion, I was thankful I did not leave with a black eye.
Sunday morning was a bit colder and wetter than the previous day. During the night, we had rolling thunder storms pass over us dampening the earth. We adjusted our route to accommodate. The route back was nice (see below), but there was a bit more traffic. The upside, there was plenty of places to stop for food and water. Remember those hills? I sure didn’t. Coming out of Tyler, we clocked our max speed around 30mph. That means we had to climb that heading back. This was almost a back breaker of a hill. Arriving back into Tyler, there was a sense of joy. We were done. Let’s get food.
Route notes:
There is a whopper of a hill on FM14 on your way out of the park. Traveling out there has a couple of spots to refill water, but pack plenty of capacity. If you are fond of dogs, there are quite a few along the way that do like to chase you. We didn’t have any bites or knock offs, but it sure got the heart pumping. There are some fun county roads that get some cross action for you, be prepared for gravel/sand/mud. You might encounter some interesting wild life deep in the county roads – we encountered a pack of wild pigs. Coming back from Lake Bob, this is a much more traveled road. For the most part, there is a good shoulder to ride 2×1 but it will narrow down in certain spots. Large stops along the way that allow you to refill or stop and eat. Lake Bob State Park has some of the nicest Rangers working there. The park is well kept and a over all a pleasant experience.
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