Jon, Ross and I have been planning a weekend getaway to Colorado Bend State Park for some time now. Texas has a lot of rich, lush campsites, all within riding distance of Austin. Bend, TX was an obvious choice, due to the distance and route it would require us to do in a day. I knew it would be about 120 miles each way and depending on our route, between 5,000′ and 8,000′ in climbing. In the end, we opted out of the extra 3,000′ of climbing, which was a smart move.

We left first thing Friday morning, around 6am and headed out through the neighborhoods to Bee Caves, where we split off on 71. From there, we hit 281 and finally, CR 580, all the way into Bend. While some of the roads were peaceful country roads, a lot of the day was spent on highway shoulders. I brought my Woodville, Ross was on his Sachs and Jon, his Icarus. Since I was the only one who had a touring bike, I carried the food, my supplies, tent and Jon’s tarps, which he planned on making a shelter out of.

The guys carefully selected their goods and we set off. I shot 4 rolls of color film (Portra 800 and 400), as well as a waterproof, disposable camera. The following image gallery is from the entire weekend of camping, swimming and the rides to and from the park. The ride out came in at 117 miles and 4,500′, the ride back was 116 and 4,100′.

This gallery is massive, with over 100 photos and each have a brief description, so don’t forget to read the captions.

Check out the Gallery by clicking the photo above, or click here to open a new tab.