Susan Peak Saturday Ride

Saturday morning local tour. Lined up at the beginning: Rick and Velma Ogan, Gary Walker, Eddie Trevino, Brian Backlund, Connie Dunagan, Dan Willson, Dorothy Langdon, and Roy Jones.

It was a chilly (for us Texans), overcast day, temp at 61 degrees, and wind from the NE at 10 mph.

Shortly into the ride, we made an unofficial re-group stop. Never leave a man (or woman) behind.  

Rick surrounded by freshly planted cotton fields. Lately we had a few good showers so the fields were still muddy.

First official stop some 11 miles into the ride. Liz Rappe' and Donna Durbin were waiting for us at the "rest stop" and joined us to do the 36 out and back of the hilly part.

Connie wanted to do the 14-mile route so had already left the group. Riders at this stage: Gary, Rick, Liz Rappe', Dorothy, Donna Durbin, Eddie, Roy, Velma, Brian, and Dan.

Still quite overcast and at times we wondered if we were going to be rained upon. It brought back memories of getting caught in our best rain of the year last August.

Destination: The hills way off on the horizon.

Rocking Chair ranch marks mile 17 of the ride and the beginning of some good hills (for us flatlanders).

 But first, we stopped to fix Liz's flat. At least Rick and Gary did. David Durbin met us with Donna at the Walling Pecan intersection and volunteered to be one of the SAG's. Lucky for us he had a pump in his truck making inflation easy.

 Rick (left) is always a gentleman fixing other people's flats and mechanical malfunctions. Beyond the call of duty: notice the vest Liz is wearing to ward off the chill? If one "rewinds" to the first pictures, one would notice that Rick was wearing that vest. What do you expect from one of our men in blue? (police department). 

 Christine was also a SAG for the ride and raced on up one of the hills for some action shots. Rick climbed this hill easily as he has now twice completed the 17% climbing race of Mount Lock at Fort Davis.

 Liz: I show this picture not to embarrass you but to point out that I had already demonstrated what would happen if you forgot to shift out of the big chain ring on a hill. (Beginners Page 9 1/2, "Do As I Say, Not As I Do").

 I, being a show out, shifted early enough to complete the hill. Thank goodness Christine was not at the top of the 11% climb taking pictures, I don't remember smiling at the top.

 Brian Backlund.

Dan Willson, military student, recently joined in on the Monday/Wednesday rides as well as the Saturday ones.

Eddie Trevino followed closely by Velma.

 

 And Gary--"What hill"?

 Christine raced to the end of the ride to catch Donna's completing the last incline before the road's dead end.

 Dorothy still looks fresh and in good spirits.

 The end of the road had two long easy climbs like this one. 

 Well earned rest stop. The turn around point was at mile 30. The top of the hill with the northern wind was rather chilly--for all except Velma (shielded from the wind by the trunk of the car-and wrapped in jackets). David brought Ella to accompany him as he SAGed for us. She made the rounds asking for some of the snack food to be shared with her, however, David had brought special treats for her rest stop.

 As everyone packed up and started on the return trip, Christine had to take a few more pictures of our wild flowers as they are beginning to be at their season's end. 

Yellow coneflower

Mexican hat

 Even our cactus was enjoying the recent rains.

 As well as the Texas thistle.

Mountain pink

 The return trip idyllic and without incident? Not quite.  

 Some time back I had the local bike shop install tube protectors to stop flats "for all time." I chose Rhinodillos because of their guarantee that if something punctures the protector strip, return the strip and tube and they will replace them free. Back when Rick and Gary were fixing Liz's flat, I was smug as neither Christine nor I had had a flat since installing the protectors. 

 But, there is no guarantee against blow outs. This was about 5 miles into the return trip. The tire and tube blew but did not damage the strip. The SAG vehicle (Christine) was close behind and stopped. I thought I was going to have to SAG in, but Gary remembered he had put a spare tire in the car before we left this morning. Hooray! I would be able to finish the ride.

Accident waiting to happen. This is the inside of another split on the tire that had not blown through yet. If one doesn't get you, the other will.

But after the changed tire and tube, the rest of the ride was a pleasant end of a great ride with a great bunch of people. 

Hamilton Hill-Aceous

I remember now why Hamilton calls its ride "Hill-Aceous." And as their t-shirt depicts, they are not even apologetic!

So why did one of their largest turn-outs show up on a hot, windy day in May? The ride is "fun," volunteers are great, proceeds are for a worthy cause, and the roads are some of the best around. I put "fun" in quotation marks. People pay good money to ride on roller coasters don't they? We just rode the roller coasters on our bikes. 

Example of some of the smaller hills. But I get ahead of my story.

Part of the fun of a ride is to go to new places, see new things, and to experience a little of the local flavor.

Christine loves to find a good place to eat to obtain her pre-ride steak. (It may not be the traditional pre-ride carb dinner, but a happy rider rides best).

So Brian and Esmeralda Backlund, Christine, and I headed toward Circle T Ranch's Crossfire Cafe and Steakhouse just outside of Hamilton. 

Circle T Ranch has a private club (backdrop of above picture), a steakhouse as mentioned, a hotel, and

an in-door rodeo arena.

Cowboys were practicing team roping for an upcoming championship roping contest.

Besides a pre-ride steak, as Jerry can attest, Christine really enjoys her carb filled pre-ride beverage. But her biggest delight of the night was being CARDED as she ordered!! That made her day, and I know we will go back to that place on our next visit.

Ride time. Brian and I posed for a pre-ride picture. Fresh, eager, and un-suspecting of the wind and hills that awaited us.

The Hamilton ride started from the local municipal airport.

 This is hanger #1.

 This is the aviation fueling area.

And this is the terminal where one may board a flight from Gate 1.

 Hamilton had a ride for everyone. This was from the back of the start up line, and the kids could ride the 10K route. "Larger" kids could ride a 20 or 30 mile route. For the big kids, there was the 46 mile ride. Christine chose this one. For the grown-ups, there was the choice of 61 or 79 mile route. Brian and I chose the 61 mile ride letting the big boys tough out the 79 miles.

 Wind was a mere 10 mph in our face. Piece of cake.

Soon we started our climbs.

 But with pretty scenery, it took some of the edge off the hills.

Close up view of the Indian Blanket wildflowers.

We skipped rest stop #1, so this is #2. It had all one needed. A first aid tent, a refreshment tent, and a refreshment hut.

I mentioned that Christine took the 46 mile route. It went counter-clockwise to us, so we met each other coming and going.

I told Brian that I bet the pictures of the hills would look wimpy.

I was right. They may look wimpy, but I think Hamilton and the Department of Transportation had an agreement that they would change the color of the road at each point a cycler should change gears. They were right, and it worked out well.

Another wimpy 8% climb.

"You still there?" Brian checked on me as he had been pulling me most of the ride. Of course, my excuse is that I drop back in order to take a photo of something. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Around Hamilton is good cattle country. This herd was showing its contempt of the riders. (I will let you study the picture to understand why I said that).

This photo is not added to show a hill. The shrubbery on the left gives one an idea of the crosswind we were in.

And the flowers, while pretty, demonstrated the wind. It had picked up to its predicted 20 mph from the N, S, E, and a good cross wind from the West.

 Mexican Hat wildflowers.

Fairy Dusters, I think.

Fields of Indian Blanket.

 Just had to show you that in this part of Texas the drought may have broken. The stock tanks are full; the grass is green. However, there is a wildfire in our Davis Mountains again. 

Yellow cone flowers, typical of prairie vegetation.

If anyone knows what the lavender flowers are I'd be grateful if you'd inform me.

I've no idea what these delicate things are.

 Christine spotted a turtle in the middle of the road. She took it to the stock tank toward which it was probably heading and wished it good luck.

Some time back I had mentioned that this was good cattle country. Try to
imagine no fences, and this would give you a good idea of what Charles Goodnight would have seen as he rounded up longhorns in 1866 to drive to Colorado.

This was the final stretch before arriving back at the airport. An appropriate gentle slope to slow down the roller coaster before it stops.

We finished and could still smile. Thanks, Brian, for pulling me, coaching, and encouraging me. Wrapped sausage awaited us at the registration tent.

Last but not least. We met up with Cowboy (Mark Robinson) after the ride. It was good seeing him again and hope to run across him at more of the rides around Texas.