Easter Weekend Rides

Friday morning ride.

On Easter weekend, many had 3-4 days off from work. Liz was off Friday and invited us for a leisurely ride in the country near her home.

The road called Mineral Wells starts off easily enough. The countryside is still green with plenty of wildflowers still blooming.

Then the roads become a little more interesting. Christine and I are about to tackle this hill.

It was just a 6% grade so we easily (although maybe slowly) made it up.

Christine and Roy. Some of the bluebonnets had just passed their prime. Another rain shower is needed.

Liz posing in the bluebonnets.

Christine enjoying the flowers.

Liz and Christine. I said a LEISURELY ride.

It would seem a shame to ride past such scenery at 20 miles an hour. We can do that AFTER the flowers fade.

The little hills still gave us a workout so we had the best of two worlds.

We came upon a field with about 14 horses in it. This one saw us and started moving toward us and the fence.

He had been there before. He had cleared the wild oats beyond the fence previously.

So Christine decided to help him out.

Liz joined in. The horse did not mind two feeding him.

Time to move on. Not sure if the horse was unhappy to see us go or just inviting us back soon.

Back to the workout part of the ride. Hard to see but the road was still lined with various flowers.

Which enticed us to stop once more. These pom pom-like flowers are called fragrant gaillardia.

Again, hard to see but the green mass at the curve is water lilies covering this part of  the South Concho River. I have learned to snap a shot at this spot and then place both hands on the handle bars. The centrifugal force of going downhill on a curve can get interesting if one is not in complete control of one's bike.

Then we went down the way a little to a road called Green Oaks.

Green Oaks was covered with bluebonnets.

Nice views, nice ride. It indeed was a Good Friday.

Friday evening ride.

Friday evening was a completely different ride. Rick was going to lead us on a moonlight ride in the San Angelo State Park.

As this was the first moonlight ride of the season, Rick took us on the paved roads. Only he and Marlon Miller were seasoned night riders so Rick wanted to start us newcomers out easily and to ensure that our various lights would safely guide us. Next ride will be off-road.

Rick's light was a really good one. I may have to invest in one like it. As one can see, my light was about one-fourth the brightness of Rick's.

Shown: David Busker, Rick, and Marlon. We had just come up Wink Hill which is a 12% grade, so Rick was briefing us on going back down it. There is a sharp curve right at the base of this hill. Hit it right or hit the dirt--and mesquite branches and prickly pear cactus and who knows what else. 

Saturday morning ride.

Saturday morning a group of us met at the start of Burma Road for a 9 mile out and back. Burma Road is the location for two pre-and-post season time trials. It is just one hill after the other with a 5% and a short breather, 8% and a short breather, then a 13% climb right after the turn-around point.

The majority of the ride is a series of 5-8% grade hills.

The scenery may look bleak to you, but last year it was completely brown or charred from wild fires. We are revelling in our beloved state's verdancy.

I am always leery of organized rides that advertise a series of gently rolling hills. Many times they turn out to be 60 miles of "Burma Road". However, that is just I. The riders on the time trials traverse the 18 miles of hills well under 1 hour. Do the math. That is why so many of my pictures do not show riders in front of me. They are "over the hill."

Monday evening ride.

We have a routine Monday evening ride that we all enjoy. We had a few more to show up than normal since some still had the day off.

This ride was special. Center: Christine playing hostess.

The occasion: Donna Durbin (left) just had a birthday.

So it was cupcakes and wishing Donna many more birthdays.

With the Easter weekend over, we have gone back to routine rides--with fewer stops and refreshments.

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.