Mission Reach: from the shore

Our visits to Missions San José and Concepción just before Christmas were connected by an enjoyable, if somewhat strenuous, bicycle ride along the Mission Reach Trail.

After some logistical issues regarding the fitting of my trusty bike into a vehicle, everything went smoothly. My compatriots got their rides through our local Bcycle program, which offers many stands along this trail. Here are Sally and Travis choosing their new steeds at the Mission Concepción station:

Getting a new bike (or the same one again) is not only something you need to do here because it's best to park before touring the grounds (see the sign at the right). But because of the way the Bcycle program works, you can save a not unsubstantial amount of rental cash by checking in your bike in and out periodically.

You have to buy a daily pass, but there are additional charges if you keep a bike out over 30 minutes. However, each time to you check it in, the clock starts over. So, if you're careful, you'll only need to spend the money for the pass.

And it's easy to be this careful along the Mission Reach, because there are lots of stations, and most are conveniently located next to tourist sites like the Missions, or by parking areas along the trail.

Because we didn't want to take two vehicles, we needed to end up where we started. And since we wanted to have lunch halfway through our excursion, we set up the Blue Star complex, home to a family favorite brew-pub, as our mid-point. There's plenty of parking at San José, where the national park visitor center is, so that was our start and end point.

crossing a bridge near Blue Star

I took most of my pictures around Blue Star, partly because a good bit of the rest of our ride involved huffing and puffing up small hills, and [carefully] careening down them. It's a little flatter as you get closer to town.

I was also super impressed (in a good or a bad way?—not sure about that!) with the multitudes of new apartment buildings going up near the arts complex. Gee whiz! There are going to be a lot of people living along the river when these are done!

that bridge from further upstream

I wonder what they're going to use those old silos for? If they were going to take them down, it seems like they'd already have done that, doesn't it?

But I did snap a florally-framed portrait of the San Antonio River Tunnel's outflow gates, near the old Lone Star Brewery. Follow the link to a newspaper story about this engineering marvel that keeps the touristy part of the Riverwalk downtown from washing away in our occasional big floods.

Next up: some of this same real estate as seen from the river.