Spokes N Spurs: The Ride

As Saturday morning rolled around, so did a thick fog.

Tent for the meal after the ride.

Old storage shed. Behind it is the registration and packet pick up tents.

The ride is held at Spirit Reins, an equine assisted psychotherapy ranch to help children with emotional and behaviorial problems.

Christine thought this was the best invention of the decade. It has a soap dispenser and you pump water with the foot pedal on the bottom. It has a towel dispenser. A nice self-contained sanitation station.

Line up time. Spokes 'N' Spurs for the first time this year held a 62 mile race in conjunction with the tour.

I estimated the attendance to be between 500-700 riders.

Christine all set to go.

About the only time I was ahead of Christine that day.

After the racers left, the rest of us could take off.

I wondered how long it would take for the sun to burn off the fog.

As expected, a little after 10 the fog was gone.

Again, Brian Backlund was patiently waiting for us at rest stop 2.

The ride was pleasant and had scenic roads.

And the wild flowers added to the enjoyment.

Spokes 'N' Spurs is one roller after the other.

Note that the rollers are long. Tends to wear one down after a while.

But the roadside beauty made up for the rollers.

One of the highlights of the day was to go through Oatmeal, Texas, population 20. It is unclear if the name came from a Mr. Othneil--the area's first gristmill owner, or a translation of the name Habermill (Haber being a German dialect word for Hafer, "oats". As often is the case, the post office settled the question and in 1853 named it Oatmeal.

Side note: San Angelo at first was named Santa Angela after a founding father's wife Carolina Angela. Later the town was called San Angela probably because Texans don't like multisyllabic words. But, in 1883, someone at the national post office knew that the male adjective "san" did not agree with the female noun "Angela" and fixed the grammer error naming the town San Angelo. Thus, the post office named Oatmeal and San Angelo.

If one squints his eyes, in the top left one can see a cylindrical structure and something that looks like a shed off to the right.

The cylinder announces the annual Oatmeal Festival. In 1978, the town was about to be taken off the maps and fade into oblivion. A local person decided to organize a festival as a spoof to all the chili cook-offs in Texas. So he got National Oats, the maker of 3 Minute Oats, to sponsor a festival. The meals are served at the shed. The town stayed on the map. The festival is held annually and is the only festival that, instead of a beauty queen, touts Ms. Bag who must be over 55.

As unique as Oatmeal, Texas was this gentleman and his baby. The poodle has a University of Texas jersey (as did the dad), and--look closely--spandex riding shorts.

Baby got a front seat tour of the ride. On the man's bike was a platform over the top tube for the (dare I say dog?) child to ride on. She was secured to her owner by a harness that prevented her from falling off the bike.

We were well fed at the rest stops as can be discerned by Brian and Christine's smiles.

And the smiles continue as we pass by more scenic countryside.

 Jerry, we did not forget you. Sixteen of the "rollers" were 5% or more. Many, like the one above would go up, give you a short breather, and go up again.

But every once in a while just to keep it interesting, they would throw in a 9% hill. The only clue to the hill above is the riders pushing their bikes up. It may not look it, but my Garmin registered 14%. Christine made it all the way up!

Ah, the food tent.

There were after-ride activities for the children.

Demonstrations of horse obedience by a horse trainer.

And good food. Choice of beef or chicken tacos as well as the fixings to go with them.

The after-ride lunch was well received...

especially by Christine as each person had two tickets for an after-ride recovery drink.

Spokes N Spurs; Getting There

We have mentioned before that going early to a ride location allows us to explore and experience the flavor of the area. Getting to and arrival at Liberty Hill, Texas was a great experience.

First, just traveling to Liberty Hill was a delight. The wildflowers are plentiful this year, and we found ourselves stopping every few miles to take pictures of the countryside and flowers. And we were in good company. Half of the other motorists were doing the same thing.

 There were plenty of patches of bluebonnets along the highway, but this whole field was just too good to pass up.

 Note that a trucker had the same idea.

 Bluebonnets have a light, sweet fragrance.

Bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush

Prickly poppy

In between Llano and Burnett, Texas is a pair of bald eagles that people travel for miles to observe.

This is their current nest. A previous nest is about 100 yards down the road. The area is so popular that the Department of Transportation paved a parking place for the traffic. For some unknown reason, the eagles moved their nest to the current location in a pecan tree along side the Llano River. The new roadside area is well worn but yet to be paved.

We were lucky. The couple arrives in October and leaves mid-March depending upon the eaglet's maturity. As the youngster is still in the nest, we were able to watch the family in late March.

The big deal? West Texas is not known for bald eagles, so they are a rarity.

And, due to last year's drought and parched land, we were afraid that our wildflowers would become a rarity. However, with more rain in the first quarter than in all of last year, the flowers are thriving.

We just love bluebonnets...can you tell?

Arrival at Liberty Hill turned out to be a unique, delightful experience. We generally stay at a major chain hotel and thus have never stayed at a Bed and Breakfast.

We chose Liberty House (http://libertyhousebandb.com/index.html) run by Vinton and Michele Stanfield. We were ever so pleasantly greeted by their friendliness and hospitality. Even their Airedale terriers, Gus and Gabby, respectfully and politely introduced themselves. Gabby smiled--yes, smiled--when meeting us. Their website states "Come as a Guest and Leave as a Friend!" And it is NOT false advertising.

We were talking about the patches of wildflowers on the way and that we were going to scout out the ride location as it was on a ranch out in the country.

Vinton stated that there was a place nearby covering more than a patch. He suggested to Michele that they show us the blue bonnets, and since they know the area better, they would drive us to the ranch to make it easier for us the next morning. We piled into their car and set out.

As "advertised," the nearby field was just acre after acre of fragrant bluebonnets. Vinton and Michele then showed us the best way to get to Spirit Reins, the start/finish of the ride.

Returning to Liberty House, we sat in a living room listening to one great story after another of their interesting life. We will not reveal too much as all are encouraged to stay there and find out for themselves.

We were going to eat dinner in nearby Georgetown. Before we left, Vinton and Michele invited us to a "vinegar tasting" with them upon our return. Taste vinegar? This was going to be a new experience as I had never heard of such. World-wise Christine knew a bit of what they were talking about, but I, being a Texas country-boy, was only aware of vinegar being used in some foods and that was it, so I'll turn this over to Christine:

What I learned is that the ordinary balsamic vinegar and even that aged for 12 years which we can buy in our stores taste like vinegar. Then we tasted balsamic vinegar aged for 50 years! Hmmm. I think I'll lick the spoon clean. Then we were treated to balsamic vinegar aged 70 years. Seventy years. Three and a half generations of Italians lovingly caring for this brew. Usually this thick, dark, precious, mildly aromatic sauce is presented to dignitaries in small bottles finely boxed. What an experience. It was sweet, but not too sweet, traditionally served on fruit. Thank you, Michele and Vin, for sharing one of your many Italian adventures with us.

The above is an example of how the really special, aged balsamic vinegar would be presented to really special visitors.

Michele, Vinton, Gabby, and Gus. The Stanfield's website was correct, we felt as if we had left as friends. We look forward to next year's ride and more time with these delightful raconteurs.

But it was time to move on. The previous evening Christine prepared for the ride with her favorite power drink. So,

cheers to you, Jerry!

Sorry you couldn't make it. We looked at the Liberty House Italian room where you and Cindy would have stayed. You missed a treat at the B & B, but we will let you know in the next installment the grade of the hills you missed!