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.

Hamilton Hill-Aceous 100

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Hamilton, Texas

Hamilton Hill-Aceous 100/ The Family-Friendliest Bike Ride in Texas.

 "What a hometown should be" reads the welcome-to-Hamilton sign, population a little under 3,000. "What a bike tour should be" would be a good motto for the Hamilton General Hospital sponsors. The roads were very good, the traffic was very light, the routes were varied: 10K; 20, 30, 41 miles; 100K; and 79 miles. The Hamilton tour was a breath of fresh air in several respects. Every once in a while one wants a tour that has home town hospitality, a quaint town, a unique start/finish area, a good variety of route choices, a ride with plenty of hills but yet not a "Hammerfest," and scenery that Norman Rockwell would appreciate. That almost summed up the "Hamilton Hill-Aceous 100" tour, and if I were not so loquacious, I would stop here. However, as a picture is worth 1,000 words, I probably took an equivalent  gazillion words of pictures to illustrate the summary. No summary would be complete without praising the ride staff and volunteers. Lee Ann Lee of the Hamilton Wellness Center was very helpful and deserves our gratitude. And to Christine's embarrassment, two of the rest stops' volunteers went out of their way to take care of us. The first time, Christine left her sun glasses at the rest stop. (Editor's note: Hey, it was overcast.) The staff jumped into a vehicle and chased her down to return them. (Getting tired Chris??). And next, she left her Camelbak after filling it up. (Editor's note: Guess I was getting tired.) Again she was chased down, and they politely asked if she would like them to take it to the finish line or would she like it now? So very accommodating. 

  

Assembly point was the Hamilton Airport.

Runway

Airport hangers

 Airline fueling station

One of the many pretty homes in this historic town.

Pecan Creek Park near downtown

Hamilton County Courthouse under renovation

Finally the morning of the ride. Charlie Davis from Abilene was the only person we knew before the ride.

 Becky Davis accompanied Charlie and was her usual cheerful self.

Rain all over most of Texas with the forecast of scattered thunderstorms kept the participants to about 90 riders. It is only about the 6th annual Hamilton ride, and as the word spreads of this neat ride, and given fair weather, it is anticipated the line-up will increase dramatically. 

 

And off we went. I show this picture as an example of the early part of the ride. The mist was just enough to fog my glasses/sunglasses.

The mist did not detract from the scenery.

The first part of the ride had gentle rollers. By this time the different routes had split and Charlie had decided to go on the 40 mile ride. It went left and Christine and I went right to ride the 61 mile route.

Still early in the ride. Christine was dressed for chilly but not cold temperatures.

One might decern that in the distance, the rollers became a little longer and steeper. Again, not complaining, as I don't think anyone on the ride had to walk up any hill.

If anyone really had to walk, they would not have minded because they would have seen the country side more closely rather than riding past and hoping that the pictures turned out.

The Indian blankets were as profuse as the dozens of kinds of yellow and white flowers.

Sometimes the road side just called for a close up shot. As we were touring and not racing, completion time was not relavant, so "enjoy the moment."

  

On one leg of the ride, we turned into the wind. It was only a 10-12 mph wind. I found some new friends from the Metroplex, and we took turns pulling for each other.   They were really friendly, but unfortunately I didn't catch their names. The gentleman did talk about the Fort Davis Cyclefest in September, so maybe we will see them again. The baby longhorns caused Christine to lose us. She always slows to be a tourist.

Once out of the wind, I was distracted again.

More Indian blankets. Soon the ride was over.

Waiting for us at the finish line were bratwurst and two kinds of sausage wraps. And there were samples of a new, great tasting recovery drink made from milk and honey. It may compete with my favorite recovery drink of chocolate milk!!

The ride was outstanding. "Let's do it again next year."