Cycling in Texas

It’s been three weeks; wow, what a long time since my last post. I’m having a hard time remembering places I’ve been, things I’ve done and people I’ve met.

I began riding again with renewed vigor. I’m looking forward to going to this year’s IMBA's World Conference, being held in Augusta, GA, early next month. I’m flying over there, renting a car and will visit with my mother and check on the house in Skylake.

I arrived at Xtreme Paint and Graphics to get the needed bulkhead repair. James and the guys did a professional job. The coach has never ridden so smoothly. Kudos to them. I really thought this was going to be a major deal, however, they put my mind to rest. They told me to go mess around in town and come back later in the day. No, I watched and detailed their every move. Another guy I know had the same problem and is going to attempt the job himself. I took photos and emailed him blow by blow action. He shouldn’t have any problems with his repair. The guys did not finish till 9pm that night which meant it was a 12-hour job. I left James two days later and he’s very happy with the results (he even throws in a full coach wash.) His rates are reasonable; under $1000. I didn’t think a foretravel owner could leave the Nacadooches city limits paying less than $2500 without penalty of law. If you ever need paint body work done on any coach, this is the place to go.

I then traveled north to St. Joe, Texas and spent a cold, wet 5 nights at “The Breaks” at Bar H ranch. They probably have the most challenging trails I have ridden in Texas. Built on the ridge and valley of the Red river, there’s some great flow and some aren’t as great. With the awful, rainy weather, I was only able to ride 2 of the six days which allowed me time to clean and do maintenance work on the RV. When I come back next month, I plan on visiting them again. I promised them some trail payback time and hopefully will complete Devil's backbone without walking most of it. On my way out, I had to stop at the casino across the river in Oklahoma. I wanted to make sure I still sucked at playing poker. I do. There were free hookups at the casino, well not exactly free but after that I made my way down to the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

I stayed at the Elk's Lodge in Lewisville, Texas located down the road from the Northshore bike trail. This trail is maintained by the members of DORBA which is a total of 19 miles out and back, much of which is a loop system. Quick and technical. The Elk’s have a great RV parking area and since I didn’t plug in, they didn’t charge.

I made it up, though, with the bar tab. I can always find a couple things to eat wherever I go but I was there for Casserole Night. Wheeee Doggies.

I camped at a marina for a couple of nights, adjacent to the trailhead. Lake Lewisville and its marina remind me of Kincaid Lake in Murphysboro. Party marina and crowd! Very good fish tacos. I visited with Paul and his friend Brian Keller from Denver. They were some of the artist's showing their work at the Southlake spring festival. We had a nice time and went out for pizza after the park closed. As a potter, Paul hooked me up with one of the coffee cups he makes. It’s from one of his T2R (time2ride) lines. You can find his stuff on line at Pauluhlpottery.com. Lucky for me the place was right across the street from the Fresh Market. I was able to restock my larder with all the veggie items I needed.

Saturday and Sunday were spent on another private ranch, owned by a true biker. Mack plotted and built an 8.1-mile trail system on his 80 acre spread. This was the second sweetest private trail I’ve ridden. Last weekend he was hosting a Texas State Championship series race. Over 475 riders came out for the ride. Paul's kids were representing the Smithville area. Kristen took 4th in the Mens pro and his daughter, Kara, who just came back from a butt kicking at Sea Otter took 1st in her class! I didn’t plan on racing but I was already in the area and wanted to test myself. I put in a good lap and came in 3rd. I was only 1 minute behind the winner. I love racing in the senior division. They still have their weight weenies. Sixty year old, 155 lbs people racing on $5000.00 bikes! Still, I was only 1 minute back! LOL


Just down the road, from Mack's Solvaca ranch was a beautiful Texas State Park. Every pasture was full of blue-bonnets. It seems I’ve been following the wild flowers of Texas, since they started blooming, just south of San Antonio a few weeks ago.

The last couple of days I’ve been riding the trails of Dinosaur Valley State Park. Located across the Paluxy River the trail system is the first place I’ve ever ridden where you had to carry your bike on your shoulder, while traversing through mid-thigh high currents. The trails were challenging with great technical downhill sections. The White trail with some blue and a little orange make for about a 8 mile loop. I did two laps in the morning and 1 in the afternoon. I’m definitely feeling stronger. I want to give a shout out to Rick and the guys at Sage Cycles in San Antonio. They did the work on my fork and tuned everything perfectly. Thanks.

Last night was very nice. I parked next to the Comfort Suites parking lot. They have a well equipped gym with a lap pool and jacuzzi hot tubs. They also provide large towels. No, I didn’t take the robe. The breakfast was great and I would highly recommend them, however, I cannot vouch for the rooms. if your ever in Glen Rose, Texas, it felt like a scene out of the weeding crashers. LOL.

Today I’m heading back to Dallas to find a place to park during my trip to Atlanta. I stopped at Cleburne State Park. They have 9 miles of pure single track. I broke my chain 3 miles in and me with no mechanic on the ride turned it into a nice hike.

More of Texas

Albert, Texas. I set up camp in the middle of a pecan orchard, which was one of the highlights of the week. I met John who told me about a pickin parlor and which had a field to camp on, not to far from Luckenback. The sky was so bright with the full moon, very peaceful. I did not attend the Ray Wylie Hubbard festival this weekend. They had been sold out for weeks and could not find a ticket, to some of you, this will come as a shock, but I could not get past the gates without a ticket.

Cruised into Austin for a couple of nights, stayed behind the whole foods. They do not get as much money from me, ever since I quit buying their processed and/or frozen foods. Restocked on most of the bulk/dry items I could not find at the local HEB's. Went dancing a couple of times this week, my 2 step is getting better, but I still have a hard time with the turns. Texas is full of honky tonks live music and everybody dances. I also attended a Cross Canadian Ragweed concert. They are a great rockabilly group. I then headed down to San Antonio for a couple of days. Overnighted in a out of the way town, Floresville, which is best known for developing a particular type of peanut,which is grown in this county. The statue is very cool. It's plaque did not say what was so special about the nut, so I guessed maybe they came up with the peanut which has 3 nuts instead of 2 inside it.

Riding thru Texas country. My drive today was beautiful. The wildflowers are in full bloom. Pastures and road mediums are full of spring color. No pictures of course. duh!

Drove back to Smithville, going to ride Rocky Hill Ranch for a few days. I am in Riverbend City Park where the rates are great. $9.00 for seniors, this is the first time I have found where the age of 50 is considered to be a senior. I will get all my laundry done and fully charge the batteries. The solar panels and batteries have worked flawlessly. It is easier to plug into a powered location, to run the washer and dryer.

The community recreation center is great draw for me. When I was here last fall, I started working out, attending a step and stretching class. I am going to park behind the fitness center, which has a big lot. Resetting my goals. I hope to lose 18 more pounds and add more weight lifting to the program. This is a very aggressive goal, but with the better cooking and nutrition, which I have ongoing, I think I can get there.

My appointment to get the RV bulkhead repair is still set for 12APR10. I will drive to Nacadoochees next Sunday.