This posting made from Dallas airport. I’ve used the future posts feature to hopefully post this when I am underway. The word “hopefully” has snuck in there since my Chicago bound flight has a sign “delayed ???”. Appparently there are storms in Chicago delaying us at least two hours in departure, and my connecting flight as well.

I packaged up my bike and gear. It weighed in at 57 pounds for gear. Yikes!, though actually not a lot different from when I departed LA to Australia six years ago. I’ll see about shedding some gear on the way though.

Update: reached Amsterdam - uneventful flight and only an hour delay.  More later.

Posted by mev as Texas at 10:00 PM EDT

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Shipped 22 pounds back to Colorado. Still lots of pounds to carry on the bicycle. Otherwise got ready to travel to Amsterdam.

Posted by mev as Texas at 4:07 PM EDT

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Where are the bicycles? This area has quite a few major expressways - typically six lane divided highways with curb and gutter. There is a lot of high speed traffic on these throughways, but I only saw two bicyclists riding today. Perhaps on smaller roads.

I did stop in at the largest bike shop I’ve seen: Richardson Bikemart. It is essentially a super-market sized bicycle shop with claims to be the worlds largest bike shop. Several of the bike mechanics at Texas Hell Week had been associated with the store and so I made an appointment to have my bike checked over. Along the way, I also had the chain and brake pads replaced. These are replaced ahead of time, but rather do these preventively in advance. I also stopped at the laundromat, and several local shops (Barnes & Noble, REI, Frys Electronics,…) and otherwise had a restful day. I also picked up my extra stuff I had left behind. Tomorrow the task will be to sort through everything and perhaps mail a few more things back to Colorado.

Posted by mev as Texas at 7:43 PM EDT

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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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