Pedal Power Wildflower

Pedal Power Wildflower
Stonewall, Texas
April 4, 2009
By Roy and Christine Jones

We had heard about Power Pedal Wildflower for the last two years from David and Donna. Donna had once stated that it was among her favorite rides. And what a ride! Add a little more rain in the early spring and Pedal Power could easily become one of our favorite rides. There were very few wildflowers this year. The weather was great in comparison to the last two years. We had a 61 degree start with a SSW wind at about 12 miles per hour as compared with the previous week’s start from Stonewall LBJ 100 by Christy Compeau with 39 degrees and a 40 mile an hour wind. Christy said they never had the wind to their back. Eat your heart out Christy; the wind was to our back as we started out and stayed that way for about 30 miles, or half our distance. Wind was in our face on the return, but, in a sense, the wind was the least of our problems as we hit THE HILL on Willow City Loop. (Click on pictures to enlarge)




But first: Pedal Power is the first weekend in April each year and attracts about 750riders. It is a short distance from San Antonio/Austin, but if anyone from San Angelo has the time to going up on Friday to tour the area it is well worth the trip. We toured Fredericksburg, Luckenbach, Stonewall, LBJ State Park and National Park, and Christine finally was able to tour the Sauer-Beckman Farm. The farm is a living history farm as if in the early 1900’s. Park interpreters wear period clothing, do the farm and household chores as they were done at that time, and also conduct tours for the visitors. We watched as they turned clabber milk into cheese, fed their cows and pigs, and children were able to go into the chicken coop and get an egg from the nest.






Sauer-Beckman Family Living Farm

As the area was settled by German immigrant farmers, there were quite a few old Lutheran Churches scattered about the region.






The State Park, similar to the San Angelo State Park, had Longhorn cattle and bison.



Pedal Power started at 9 am from the LBJ State Park. Registration was at the Visitor Center and breakfast was served at the dining facility which was across the street from the Start/Finish line.

The 60 and 36 mile riders lined up first and had a staggered group start so that everyone would not hit the first rest at the same time. Later, the 12 and 23 mile riders were started. There are two big advantages to one of the shorter routes. First, after the ride(s), the Hill Country Children’s Advocacy Center serves an outstanding spaghetti lunch so one gets back early enough to just eat at one’s leisure—plus the sodas are still cold. The other advantage involves food also which is important if one is watching the waist line. There are fewer rest stops on the shorter routes and therefore less opportunity to pig out and gain weight while on the ride. For example, the first rest stop had wrapped sausages, cheese, crackers, chips, bananas, three kinds of pickles, and four types of cookies. I just remember three of them, Oreo, chocolate chip, and sandy pecan. And the other rest stops did their best to make sure you don’t run out of energy foods and peanut butter nut energy bars. Without revealing too much of my intake versus calories burned, I think I was about 1,000 calories ahead when I sat down for the spaghetti lunch. But hey- Spoil me. I can burn calories on Burma Road if that’s my goal.
First Rest Stop

"Second Rest Stop"

"Third Rest Stop"


The ride ranged from looong rolling hills to “what in the heck was that?” hills. As stated earlier, there were few wild flowers. But the countryside was country. One lane paved paths through farm and ranch land for miles.

There were so many cattle guard crossings that my jaws were tired from clenching so that I wouldn’t chip a tooth bouncing on the crossings.

I saw two patches of blue bonnets. (Chris also saw two wine cups. Had there been rain we were assured entire fields would have been blanketed with color.) Both were on hills and very inconvenient to stop and take pictures. The first one was on SH 16 on a downhill that was worth the trip. It was long and fast. When I saw the patch of blue bonnets, I glanced down and was going 38 mph, so no way was I going to stop. The next batch was going up a hill—pay back time. When I saw the patch of blue bonnets, I glanced down and was hitting 3.9 mph. No way was I going to stop. It is just too hard to start back up again if you are struggling that much anyway.

Three point nine was not my record that day. Donna had told us about a hill that goes up and up and—and just when you think you have crested, you go around a bend and it goes up again. Well, two records for me. First I made it up the hill pedaling. Second, I hit a new low speed and stayed upright. Just as I was whizzing past a person walking up the hill, I glanced down and saw that I was going a big 2.9. I didn’t know you could stay upright going that slowly, but I did. As always, you take a picture to document the stupendous accomplishment and the picture makes it look like an ant hill. Well, on one of the pictures, those little ants were bicyclists going up the hill.


My Turn

Roy generally gets to write the first draft of an article, and then I translate it into English. But this time I want to talk also. The Sauer-Beckman Living Farm is worth the trip alone. I have been wanting to visit the farm for some time. I grew up on a farm in Illinois, and some of the sights, sounds, and smells brought back fond memories.





The area was settled in the 1800's by German farmers and thus there were a lot of Lutheran churches. One was close to the Sauer-Beckman farm and is shown in the picture below.


Another Lutheran church was at the first rest stop on the ride. Picture below.


There were wineries everywhere but we didn’t have the time to stop in and sample the fruit of the vine. All the more reason to return for another Pedal Power ride in the future.

The tour was another great ride. It’s amazing how you think of Texas as being flat until you buy a bicycle. Suddenly, there are hills everywhere.






Pedal Power had some tough hills for me as I am still not strong enough to make it up the steep, hard hills, but I was in the company of a lot younger biker-walkers.


But for every uphill there were some great downhills. Broadly speaking, the first half of the ride is going from the low elevation of the Pedernales River area to some pretty impressive hills and then back down (but not without some more ups) to the river.
Pedernales River

Two were memorable. The first one was on Highway 16--a long downhill. It started at about an elevation of 1823 and rolled down to 1254. I hit 45.1 mph and loved it. The other was just opposite. It was the hill that Roy spoke of pedaling 2.9 mph. Just as we crossed a creek bed, we looked up and saw the winding hill that seemed to go forever. About half way up, we could see bikers, but they looked like ants crawling up the hill.


The incline started at about 1176 feet and crested at 1672. Ha. There was a slightly level place in the road situated at a left bend, and as you could guess, it started going up again. When it crested at last we were at about 1741. The organizers had pity upon us and had a rest stop at the top of the climb. This was one stop nobody passed up.

One more picture--braking optional

Steam-N-Wheels 2009

Starting Line Up

Steam N Wheels
March 21, 2009
Abilene, Texas
By Roy and Christine Jones

Steam N Wheels is an annual Race-Tour sponsored by the City of Abilene Recreation Division and the Abilene Bicycling Club. It features a kid ride, 21 mile, 32 mile, and a 48 mile race or tour route. Awards were given for the first three places in each division of the men’s, women’s, and tandem bike categories. The announcer stated that almost 250 riders were registered. The course was rolling hill country with some flat roads. Excellent traffic control support was provided by police and volunteers, and the rest stations were stocked with drinks, bananas, cookies and friendly volunteers.

Seven riders (whom I saw) from San Angelo showed up; David and Donna Durbin, Marlon Miller, Christy Compeau, Lucy Jochum, Roy and Christine Jones. Lucy had been grounded by her doctor for a while so she rode the 21 mile route--smart lady as the wind was 20 mph in your face for the first 25 miles of the 48 mile route. My (Roy’s) “grounding” by my doctor had just been lifted so I was going to test the waters. If the going was rough, I could make a turn and go the 32 mile route. Well, the going was rough but stubbornness over-rides brilliance and I made the turn to go 48 instead of the 32. The other San Angelo riders did not know my decision until the next rest stop. Why? They were so far ahead of me that I think I was even out of telephone range. But, as their routine, everyone patiently waited at each rest stop until I got there. They were definitely on tour mode as I slowed them down completely. As a matter of fact, If Christy Compeau hadn’t waited with the others for me; she would have placed in the top three of her category.

For David, Donna, and Christy, it seemed that it was, “Wind, what wind”? And Marlon, he left us at the starting point never to be seen again. But as I found out later in the ride, the wind was taking a toll on Christine. Probably about 20 miles into the ride, Karen Woodcox from Brownwood and I started taking turns drafting off each other, and that is how I at least made it. About 35 miles, I saw a familiar figure on a bike ahead of Karen and me, and I told her it looked as if we had caught up to my wife. Sure enough, Christine was plugging up a hill as we over-took her so we all drafted on each other until the last rest stop.

At the last rest stop, we finally turned with the wind. EVERYONE--but one--got his second wind and flew to the last turn into the park. As we left the last rest stop, Karen and I saw Christine and David disappearing over the horizon. Karen said, “Let’s go catch them.” I said, “YOU go catch them and tell them I will be along later.” And I was alone again but at least the wind was to my back. David held up at the turn to make sure none of us over-shot the turn. As such, you can not tell from the official race results what he really did. That goes for the entire group which waited on me throughout the ride. But really everyone seemed to have come to the ride for the enjoyment, not a trophy so all in all, it was an unforgettable experience in a lot of ways. As the event is within easy driving distance from San Angelo, it is hoped that next year a good turn out from San Angelo will occur and some of our riders will get the winners’ prize mugs.



Previous Week Celebration


Why David was so fast at Steam-N-Wheels (secret energy food)

Pedal Through The Pines

Pedal Through The Pines
Bastrop, Texas
March 9, 2009
Christine Jones

It was a nice day to fly a kite—a huge kite. Instead, approximately 1,500 of us lined up to go 16, 27, 50, or 65 miles. There were over 1400 of us lined up for the two longer rides. Roy said that it took 9 minutes for all of us to clear the driveway. Roy, being grounded by his doctor for most of March, stood on the sidelines and counted (he was really bored out of his mind) about 350 riders as they passed by for the 16 and 27 mile rides.

I was lined up "close" to the front. Line-up stretched around a driveway and back to the high school parking lots.




I chose the 50-mile route this year out of deference to the wind. Good thing, too, because I’d forgotten that I hadn’t properly trained for the hills last year either. The wind was out of the south at 20-25 mph with impressive gusts every once in a while. I was hoping that the 50-mile would mostly be a cross wind, whereas the 65 would have at least 10 miles or so straight into the wind and some additional miles almost into the wind. Well, this is Texas and it is straight into your face for three out of the four directions.

This year marked the 7th annual ride in support of the Family Crisis Center of Bastrop. The tour has plenty of volunteers; excellent support from the Police, Sheriff, and Fire Departments; and attentive ride marshals and SAG trucks. Because of the recent wild fires near Bastrop, some of the Fire Department and emergency crews were still occupied with the remaining fires and clean up. It was estimated that 85% of the fire was out and posed no danger for the riders. There was caution that some smoke might be blown across the ride, but as Roy said, it was blowing past so fast you couldn’t get a whiff of it. Only on one part of the return ride on Highway 71 could you see burned houses, businesses, or pastures.

This ride is superb, although it may not be the best one on which to start out a season, especially if your training rides consisted of Middle Concho Park, Loop Group route, or the gentle incline of 277. The website best sums up the first part of the ride, “Many riders find the route challenging because of the hills through the state parks. The route is through probably the most challenging part of the BP MS150, and the first 14 miles are very hilly. Riders have to climb two steep hills in the first 4 miles of the ride that many find challenging. For the next 10 miles there are several short, but steep hills that quite a few riders need to walk up. After the first rest stop in Buescher State Park, the ride is much easier, although on the two longer routes there is a hill about 2 miles after you leave Buescher. If you can't make it up a hill riding straight up, please pull to the right side of the road and walk up.” The thrill of the downhill makes the agony of the uphill so worth it.

I confess to walking up some of the hills. But I was in good company as I have pictorial proof (see below). The most embarrassing event I saw (embarrassing to them) on the state park’s wicked hills was when two athletic, young girls riding side by side in the middle of the road simultaneously stalled. One fell to the left, one fell to the right. Bicycle jam.





One of the times that I had to walk up, the words of Stephanie Plum came to mind, “It wasn’t my fault!” A rider in front of me stalled out, the bike stopped, and there she stood. Of course I had to stop to avoid running into her. Momentum was shot. Oh well, there were plenty of other hills to challenge me. I have learned “excusitorial” rationalization and justification from the master but I will not mention his name. I did not count the number of people who fell on the HC hills as I was too busy just trying to keep myself upright. I also had to walk up the hill that was mentioned “about two miles after you leave Buescher.”

Two Miles After Buescher Hill

On the 50-mile route there were three rest stops. Each one was well-supplied with PB&J sandwiches, energy-type bars, bananas, oranges, water, Gatorade, bottled water, and ice. It was impressive that at each rest stop was a bicycle repairman. Everyone rests after 14 ½ miles at the first gigantic stop in the state park because most of that mileage was hills. People were laid out everywhere trying to recuperate.



At around mile 25 one comes to cute, little Winchester. I think the whole town comes out to help. They even supplied us with sunscreen. Most impressive.



The final rest stop is Alum Creek at 40 miles. Great, only four or five more big rollers till the finish.

One of the things I like about tours is that everyone has something in common, so there are no strangers. (One avid, local cyclist says we’re all insane.) The conversations that you get into at rest stops while standing in line for the port-o-potties or just riding along with another person are memorable. And on a tour, there is no competition. If you come in first, nice; if you come in last, so what, you made it! And if a person has a flat or some mechanical problem, someone or lots of people will stop and assist. The goal is the finish line, not who beats whom.