Today an easy ride back to DFW airport. I will now be in the Dallas area for three nights before flying to Amsterdam.

Slept in a little since I didn’t have far to ride today, and I was hoping for some of the rush hour to subside. My motel room looked over I-35W and there were a lot of commuters on their way to work. South winds continued today, so last four days have been mostly tailwinds. I cycled up to the next freeway exit and then turned east for 10 miles on FM1167. Moderate traffic, and gentle grades. Also some trees to shield the strong cross winds. At mile 11 I reached US 287 business again and now turned north on Cooper Road. Six lanes of traffic but it was all mostly well behaved (poor driver of the day award goes to a silver SUV with Texas license plate: 923-TJL).

At mile 19, I saw a AAA office listed on my AAA map, and stopped in for a more detailed map of Dallas as well as some overview maps of Europe. Despite not having an automobile, I’ve generally gotten my membership from hotel discounts and from maps. While in the AAA office, we had some light showers. After this I crossed I-20 and some miles later I-30. From here left Arlington (population 360,000) into Fort Worth (population 540,000) and then Euless.

Cycled along the Euless main street and then into DFW airport from the side.

I rented a minivan for a few days of errands here in the Dallas area. My bicycle is scheduled to be serviced tomorrow and I’ll also pick up the gear I left behind. Good chance to stop in the laundromat and also see what things I might really take with me and which ones to mail back to Colorado. Otherwise, a somewhat relaxing time in the last English speaking country for a while. 37 miles cycling today. I also met my goal of doing 1000 practice miles riding in Texas.

Posted by mev as Texas at 2:52 PM EDT

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Good ride today with busy traffic. Skies continued overcast, with southeast winds. Hence, it was mostly a cross wind today. I started with the same pattern of departure just before sunrise. It must have been very close to time the high school started as quite a few cars & buses out and about until just past the high school. After that it became quieter as I cycled over gentle hills on 220. Without too much trouble, reached US 67 at 14 miles.

Lots of truck traffic from here on in. Still a lot of these gravel trucks, oil drilling trucks and also half a dozen different places with some level of road construction. The shoulder was a bit bumpy but mostly there. Climbed over the hill at Chalk Mountain and then some winding gentle hills to come into Glen Rose for a late breakfast at 27 miles. From Glen Rose, lots more truck traffic. Just past the Brazos River, a several mile gentle climb. Hmmm… I don’t remember descending this. Nevertheless, fairly quick cycling against the cross wind. At this point, I decided to take the business route into the town of Cleburne. Good place to stop for lunch here and determine the next steps. I didn’t quite want to stop here for the day - but also didn’t want to go the ~30 miles I expected until the next motel on 917. So, instead decided to turn north (downwind) and follow 174.

This route went a little quicker. It was mostly 4 or 6 lanes of busy traffic, passing through one or two urban areas. There was a fair amount of debris on the shoulder. Otherwise straightforward cycling. TX 174 ends at I-35 and I was hoping to find some motels at the end point, as well as a frontage road along the interstate. Before I knew it, I was on a ramp with two choices: “I-35W southbound” and “I-35W northbound”. The normal frontage road exit was closed due to construction. So, I got off the bike and walked the bike across and through some of the construction zone to pick my way to nearby frontage road. Yeah! Not much further here were two motels. The first was busy, but second had room.

67 miles today. Today is first day of spring, so after this longer days going further north.

Posted by mev as Texas at 4:13 PM EDT

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Nice cycling weather today. Overcast, cool and with tailwinds. I think this is likely also the nicest part of the highway (except for stretch of 220 coming up tomorrow) with one lane of traffic, good shoulders and not yet having the different oil field trucks. Left Lampasas a little before sunrise, enjoy getting out on the road right at start of the day. The first few miles were busy through town with an occasional light, but then US 183 split off and at five miles, just past the airport it changed to a single lane.

Today had a number of gentle rises over a hill and then down the other side. I stopped briefly in Adamsville at place above left, named “The Store”. The proprietor remembered me from the trip down. He said, “hope to see you again” - to which I replied, “no offense intended but if I am by here again, something has likely gone very wrong”. Some more gentle climbs and descents to come into Evant at 31 miles. I stopped in the grocery store here.

After Evant it was a straightforward ride to Hamilton at mile 47. I passed the motel I had stayed before and stopped briefly in town for lunch. I had a good tailwind, though not quite as strong as the day before. From here a nice straightforward ride into Hico. I was curious if I would find internet but as photo bottom left shows, they also had a banner for “free wireless internet”. I can’t get cell phone service here but can get the internet. It was early enough that I could have continued, but decided to stop in and visit this town for a change. Overall, a nice easy ride today. It threatened to rain once or twice but kept dry. I’m expected slightly more showers over the next two days cycling into Dallas.

68 miles today.

Posted by mev as Texas at 3:45 PM EDT

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Now time to cycle back to Dallas after Fredericksburg. After the headwinds on the way down, I was hoping for tailwinds today and wasn’t disappointed. Got some good winds to blow me along, particularly to Lampasas.

Last night caught up with Shanna Armstrong over dinner. Shanna is an impressive athlete who has done quite a bit of endurance cycling including competing (and winning) two Race Across America bike races. We met at Gator Hell Week a few years ago, and overlapped a few times since (e.g. when we were cycling/hiking to top of Mauna Kea, Shanna was competing, and winning, the Ultraman event - essentially a 320 mile triathalon). Shanna is currently training for Gigathalon, a five sport event (road biking, mountain biking, inline skating, running and swimming). If you are looking for someone to cheer on this summer (or even better send a few $ to help sponsor her racing or help the Lubbock Boys and Girls Club), check out Shanna’s website.

This morning I loaded everything on the bike and set off a little before sunrise. The bike was noticeably heavier, though still handled well.
In general, I noticed the roads I was cycling were considerably flatter than the Texas Hell Week rides, so I was making good progress. I was a little wary of the roughness of US 290, but with loaded panniers, the roughness seemed to get smoothed out a bit. A brief pause at Stonewell at mile 14 and then at Hye at mile 20. They had a big scale outside the post office. I stood on it, and best could tell, still roughly the same weight as I set off two weeks ago. From here a few winding hills before coming through Johnson City at mile 31.

From Johnson City, the cross winds changed over to tailwinds. Hooray! Made sure not to cheer too soon as there were some gentle slopes to cross over. At mile 42, a brief stop in Round Mountain where I met a local cyclist who had also cycled some of the Hell Week rides. From here some gentle ups and downs and into Marble Falls at mile 53 for lunch. Overall, on this part and other routes today I was on a four lane highway with moderate amounts of traffic and not much for (smooth) shoulders. I’m glad I made it to Lampasas since I remember the road getting better from here.

After lunch a slow steady climb up the hill and into Burnet. This had been my initial stop for the day, but it wasn’t too late and I had some good tailwinds, so decided to continue another 22 miles to Lampasas. Found a hotel with wireless internet. There isn’t much of a real center to this town. All a bit spread out, so walked around and then came back to update the web site. Happy to have tailwinds!

87 miles today.

Posted by mev as Texas at 5:50 PM EDT

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Today an easy ride that was a partial repeat from yesterday. However, with winds from the south instead of the north.

Bert and Jean left early today. I headed over for the 9am group start and there were fewer folks there as well, some are already on their way home. Today I did the B ride with a short-cut at the very end. We cycled together in a big group heading southbound on Texas 16. After 6 miles we turned onto smaller roads and river road. This took us briefly on US 87 and then via backroads again. Here some gentle climbs to reach the Tunnel Wildlife Management area again.  Too early for lunch, so took a quick break before cycling back by way of Luckenbach.  We went through the town loop and there were many motorcycles out and about.  Also a big sign about one motorcycle being raffled.

From Luckenbach took the side roads back to US 290.  Here I took the more direct road along 290 and then into the side roads back to the Super 8 motel.  I stopped briefly on the way in because my right toe strap had  worn through, so replaced the strap and then finished the day.  Tomorrow, I’ll ride loaded again, so took an easier day today.

Overall, I’ve enjoyed the Hell Week cycling.  It is a bit different of an event with a “base camp” that lets you unpack everything into one motel room and get situated for the week.  Once again, Nick did a great job with cue sheets.  There are a surprising variety of small roads here and this allows for a sequence of A, B and C rides each day.  People often also do slight variations of the rides.  There are a good set of strong riders here and if your goal was training for next triathlon or cycling racing season, then Hell Week would be a good place to get in quite a few miles.  For my touring training, it also worked well.

49 miles today.

Posted by mev as Texas at 2:29 PM EDT

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A good solid ride today. Sorry no photos as I forgot my camera this morning. As I read the cue sheet, I had some concerns reading “very cool route, with hardly any flat moments”. Often I am just as happy with those flat moments as the really short choppy hills. While there was both hills and wind today, it felt like a good solid ride. I walked a hill or two, but overall it was a fun ride.

We left under partly cloudy skies and cooler temperatures. This morning had a 300km brevet departing at 6am for the real strong riders. Supposedly, 11 of them rode. I was there with many of the other riders at 9am. Once again, I picked the B route, posted for 66 miles. We cut across town on our standard routes and then out in the country. A brief stretch of 290 at 9 miles before taking 1376 south. This was a small road and as advertised we had some good hills to climb over as we rode this road for 20+ miles. We also had tailwinds which helped. It was still overcast and never really warmed much today. The last few miles into Sisterdale had a fun downhill. Zoom, despite the hills we were making good time. The hoard of hungry cyclists had consumed most of the good stuff at the store, but there was still one chocolate bar left. Myself and fellow cyclists wondered how much headwinds we would get from here.

The next 7 miles was mostly cross wind and some gentle hills. From here we turned north on old county road #9. This was nice quiet country road and mostly followed a water drainage with gentle hills. After 8 miles there was a steep climb up to the Old Tunnel State Wildlife Area. The wildlife area was named for a 920 foot long railroad tunnel that had been dug underneath the hill (too bad cyclists couldn’t use it). It had been abandoned in the 1940s but now this area was home to more than 3 million bats. Starting in April, there were evening viewings where you could come watch the bats take to the skies. Also nearby was a small cafe with very tasty burgers. That made for a good lunch.

After lunch, some more gentle riding into the wind, though more downhill this time. We then zigzagged through country roads for 8 miles or so, before the last 4 miles into the wind on Texas 16. I felt pretty slow into the last headwind, but overall am feeling like I’ve been riding stronger than 10 days ago. A fun Texas Hell Week ride today.

68 miles today.

Posted by mev as Texas at 5:11 PM EDT

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Today a nice ride to the northwest to small settlement of Doss. The first part of the ride was heavy fog and mist. After that it cleared up and became warm and sunny. It was nice to not have rain for a change. Once again, I chose to do the B ride. I headed over to the Sunset Inn for the 9am start. Some people there, though also expect others had started earlier on their own. Still fun to be part of the group start. Within a few miles, the group split between A, B and C rides. My glasses had gotten misted over by the fog, so I stopped to clear them several times.
We headed roughly northbound on US87 and then also via old Mason Road. These smaller roads are often smoother and definitely quieter. At 13 miles turned left again via at the Hilltop Restaurant. This next section had some winding bits, but was relatively flat for this area. The heavy mist continued as we went through the trees. There were one or two sharp steep bits including one hill where I walked up.

At 27 miles the route brought us to the Doss Store. The store was filled with cyclists as the A riders looped around to this point as well. Nice place for a break. Also good chance to put on sunscreen after this point the sun came out for real. From Doss, we took smaller roads back southbound through winding areas. Some of these roads we’d done a few days before on trip from Harper. This included Old Harper Road. The photo above right was our one water crossing where cyclists carefully got off and walked. The water isn’t necessarily deep, but the hazard is if moss or other slippery stuff has grown. Without too much difficulty, circled around south and then back on TX 16 for ride back to town.

This afternoon the Nimitz Museum was free if you came wearing a Texas Hell Week shirt. I took advantage of the promotion and walked through the museum. It has a well done chronology of the entire pacific war with major battles and other points. It also has one entire building with the life story of Chester Nimitz, the CINCPAC (commander in chief pacific) selected in WWII just after Pearl Harbor to take over from Admiral Kimmel who held the post through Pearl Harbor. The Nimitz family had settled here in Texas and young Chester found a military academy a more interesting career than hotel tending.

Also outside was a hall of presidents, showing how 10 US presidents - starting with Roosevelt and ending with George Bush Sr. had some form of service associated with world war II. It was a fun museum to wander through.

62 miles today.

Posted by mev as Texas at 5:40 PM EDT

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An easy ride today. Today was a day with two official sets of rides. One set started 60 miles south in Bandera and included the infamous “Leakey Death Ride”. Others were around here. Skies were overcast and forecasts called for intermittent showers in the morning with improving weather in the afternoon. I decided to take an easy ride on the C ride starting from Fredericksburg. The ride itself was to Harry’s BBQ. I rode with Jean and Bert today, but they did the ride as a relay. Jean rode to Harry’s and Bert rode back.

Last night was time for the Texas Hell Week Banquet. Nice chance to see everyone together, eat some bbq, and get together after the rain. We were tightly packed into the Nimitz hotel, a local museum here dedicated to the Nimitz family and also the WWII pacific theater war. The dinner was fun. Nick had me say a few words about my trip. Not quite sure what to say, but told about the overall plans and the road across Russia.

This morning a smaller group than normal. Most of those in town were doing the B ride to Blanco. Jean and I headed out of town to the North and East and through some winding roads. It got quieter as we got out of town. Without much difficulty we reached Harry’s at mile 22. Unfortunately left my camera back, but Harry’s was a fun Texas type bbq house. Jukebox was playing loud music. Inside were a collection of different memorabilia and folksy signs (e.g. “Only out of town cheques accepted” or “Shoes and Shirt required but bras and panties optional”. All throughout the inside, people had signed names and dates of their visit. A few small framed editions of reviews of Harry’s as a Texas institution were also present. Not too far from here is “the loop” a supposedly very scenic road going through wildflower areas and overlooking some nice drop offs.

After a nice big BBQ sandwich, Bert and I continued on smaller roads to the west. At mile 31 we turned south on Lower Cranapple drive. This road wound its way through the countryside and across a few sharp hills before coming back into town. A slight detour past supermarket before end to an easy cycling day. 46 miles today.

Posted by mev as Texas at 4:16 PM EDT

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Today a ride back to Dauna’s in Harper. Skies were overcast with forecast of thundershowers later in the day. Today had three choices again. The C ride went to Harper and back (65 miles). From Harper there were two optional loops. Ride both for an A ride and ride one loop for a B ride. Bert and Jean joined on the ride as well today.

Left town under overcast skies and gentle ups and downs as we rode back roads to 290. A few miles on 290 before turning to the right and taking smaller roads. These smaller roads are smoother with smaller chips than the rough chip seal on 290. Also some smaller shorter hills. Circled back end ended up on the “Old Harper Road” to reach Harper at 34 miles. Bert and Jean had taken a more direct road so were already there. Also as photo above shows a number of other cyclists - some of whom had cycled one of the loops already. I stopped and had a nice lunch and then question was whether to do one of the B loops or to return back.

Decided I would do an extra loop of 15 miles heading to the south. Some smaller roads and not too many hills so it was a nice loop to finish at 49 miles. On return it was starting to sprinkle and the skies to the west looked darker and more ominous. Cyclists were starting to anticipate the ride back and how wet it might be. Another brief stop before returning via Old Harper Road. Along this road the rain became much heavier. It started to thunder and lightning and the rain started to pour. I was kept going on slowly.

At 61 miles, I was back to US 290 and rain was coming down in buckets. As I was slowly cycling along the road, a pickup slowed and stopped. Normally, I might wave the first one or two on, but rain was heavy enough and there was enough lightning that I opted for a ride. Thanks! Had a nice ride until the outskirts of Fredricksburg. A last few miles cycling into town. Guess I did one loop too many - if I’d ridden the C ride, I likely would have made it before the worst rain. 64 miles today.

Posted by mev as Texas at 4:48 PM EDT

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Today the weather became nicer and nicer as the second part of todays ride had many small short steep hills. It was a beautiful day for a ride. Overnight we could hear the rain coming down, but by morning it was overcast but not raining anymore. Today had four different choices: a 200km brevet, an A ride (101 miles), B ride (72 miles) and C ride (48 miles). Once again I decided to try the B ride today. One thing I’ve noticed is that it seems like few do exactly one of the choices but typically vary things just a bit as in “we did the A ride but then decided to short-cut back” or “we started the B and then got lost and came back on the C”. It seems like variations are much more common than purely one choice or another. I did hear that the brevet had 12 riders. There were fewer than 300 there to start, perhaps a reflection of the mix-match approach people take on the bike rides.

The first eight miles were along the major route 16. From here we turned off onto smaller roads. The back roads go via a series of “ranches”. Some of them with quite high fences to keep livestock either in or out. There are still a good share of cattle grades along the way as well. It stayed dry in the morning and over time the skies began to clear more. A few short steep hills but also some flatter pieces along the way. At 23 miles turned right onto 763 and headed north to Harper. I think I had been on this road back in 2001 when I cycled across the USA.

Dauna’s store was at mile 35 in Harper. Many cyclists stopped here as this was the one store along the way. The photo below shows one cyclist who had troubles with his pedals. Helpful friends had worked through things by helping to duct tape his shoe to the pedal. This meant he would need to stay on the bike, even through the tough hills ahead.

After a nice lunch at Dauna’s I went north on the scenic but more hill portion of the ride. There were one or two places where the road crossed a small stream. It was recommended to walk across these crossings. At one of them some workmen were busy clearing the channel. Apparently, the stream had been dry yesterday but they had 4 inches of rain locally in spots here and now water flowing. Also, apparently, someone had fallen and broken a hip last year. So I walked carefully.

I walked once or twice after that. However, it was mostly because the grade quickly changed to a sharp upturn. I didn’t see a lot of value to quickly shift into a low gear when I could walk up the hill almost as fast. It was beautiful scenic area with many short little hills and small windy road through them. At 62 miles I came into US 87 and more major road. A brief side road here and then off downhills to Fredericksburg. A fun ride today with more hills than before and steadily improving weather. 72 miles today.

Posted by mev as Texas at 6:06 PM EDT

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