Tankersley

The destination was Tankersley, Texas. If you have never heard of Tankersley, you must live beyond 50 miles from San Angelo. Seven of us saddled up Saturday to visit the town and look around. You know we were curious as it was cloudy, misting, forcasted winds of 20 mph; but the temperature was a nice 72 at 8 a.m.

Liz, Christine (back ground), Chad, Raun, Brian, and Velma

Cycling. The sport that women do not mind showing up in identical clothing. Liz and Christine in one of their favorite jerseys.

This picture illustrates three stories. The overcast day, road kill being cleaned up by our sanitation department helper (may have to click on picture to see the buzzard), and the third--I got caught riding down the middle of the highway.

As I was approaching the above field, I saw trees in neat rows and thought I was coming upon pecan orchards which are plentiful in this area. As I came more closely, the neat lines of trees were MESQUITE trees. Only in Texas would one have a mesquite orchard.

This portion of the ride would have been great had the wind not been in our faces. From San Angelo to Knickerbocker is a favorite route for some of the fast riders as it has fairly good roads with low traffic.

The one-time-town of Knickerbocker was our first re-group stop. Christine and Liz rolled in at their Sunday stroll pace. Why waste a ride going so fast that the country side is a blur?

 

As a matter of fact, no one looked like he's in a big hurry. Re-group allowed for some nice chats, fluids, and snacks.

While at Knickerbocker, we were entertained by a peacock. It was being harrassed by the two below rascals.

The peacock was honking away at the dogs. And as soon as I left their "territory," they went back to harrassing the bird. It finally had had enough, and flew to another yard across the road.

Spring Creek is not too far from Highway 67 and has a nice park. We marked the location as a stop on our return from Tankersley, Texas.

The wind was finally at our back, and off the group sailed.

BUT

We got to the intersection of 2235 and highway 67 and there was no town, no marker, no visible sign of a road that might lead to a village or even a ghost town. I asked where Tankersley was. I was told "Right there!" I looked at where they were pointing (it was Velma who was spoofing me) and there was just a stand of mesquite trees. I had looked at the map before the ride was called, and Tankersley was supposed to be at this spot. Everyone assured me that Tankersley did exist and they set out to prove it.

OK. The joke is on me. There really is a Tankersley as proven by the Texas Highway Department.

Even when Tankersley was a real town, it was never very big. A little history that was dug up about the town is as follows.

According to the Handbook of Texas, the land for the town was donated by R. F. Tankersley in 1864. A post office was granted in 1910, although it was discontinued in 1963. Tankersley's zenith was reached in 1946 with 75 persons. Increased mobility drastically reduced the town to only 20 by 1953.

R. F. Tankersley

On the way back, we pulled into the Spring Creek Park.

While at the Park, it was only natural to sit under the shade trees and

HAVE A BIKER'S PICNIC!!

After the picnic of energy bars, trail mix, nuts, a banana, sports drinks--and social hour, we pedaled off only to stop again at Knickerbocker.

(Did I catch Christine snacking again?)

Checking their watches not believing the laid back ride. Once back on the road, everyone made up for down time.

Wind was to our back once again and I was stopped in the road. Christine and Liz came up wondering what was wrong.

Nothing was wrong. I had spotted some more flowers along the road that I wanted a picture of before all the flowers fade.

One more small hill to go.

And across the equalization dam back to the beach to end our 40 mile ride.