'08 Space Race

Another week flys by and here we are at the Space Race. I'm still feeling under the weather but managed a couple of short rides during the week but, just the same, I stick with the metric century so not to tear myself up. Colin and I drove down to LaMarque where we met up with Raf' and Irene. We just had to mess with Raf'. He didn't know we were there yet so when he went to the latrine Colin grabbed just one of his shoes and hid it in the truck. Boy, poor Raf' was at wits end telling us how he was certain that he had put both of his shoes in the truck when he left home. Even the guys in the vehicles around us were laughing. We gave him his shoe and he had a few choice words for us.

It was a beautiful, sunny day with a breeze out of the Southeast. I was enjoying being with friends and watching all of the other riders. It's hard to get excited about a ride that covers the roads that you ride on a regular basis but it was a good feeling knowing what roads you could cut back on if you needed to shorten up the ride.

We rode out at 18mph and managed it all day taking turns pulling when heading into the wind. At the 60-100 split Raf' took off for the full century and we picked up Brian, who is a former Marine. I felt good right up to the last 10 miles then I don't know what happened. My back was really hurting bad and the pain was radiating down my quads. I was also getting really bad shooting pains and cramps in my hamstrings. At one point I fell off the back and tooled along at 11mph. I felt bad when Colin came back to pull me up while Brian and Irene waited for me around the corner. I started feeling a little better and we upped it right back to 18. I held on 'til the last 3 miles when 12 to 14 was all I could manage.

After a couple of micky d's hamburgers, a pie, 2 bags of cookies and a coke at the finish we loaded up and headed for home anticipating our next ride. There are only a couple of pics until Raf' sends me the ones he took.


by TXPeddler

'08 Bluebonnet Express

After laying around a couple weeks like so much dirty laundry I went on another trip. Rafael and I drove up to Waller and camped overnight at Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park...no kidding. I should have known by the name that it would be crawling with kids. It was probably a great park for kids but it was too cramped and over crowded for me. Seven years of being a Park Ranger gives me a different perspective on campgrounds. Personally, I leave the city to get away from noise, tv's, phones and traffic all of which were abundant at Jellystone. I was still a bit under the weather and being tired bagged out around 2100hrs. Unfortunately, the campground didn't care. The movie was in full blare until after 2300hrs and there were kids zooming around tripping over tent pegs 'til after zero hour their parents hollering at them from the other side of the park. I think I must have gotten about 4 or 5 hours sleep when my alarm went off at 0545hrs.

We got up, packed up, drank down a mt. dew, ate an oatmeal bar, choked down a handfull of pills with another mt. dew and headed over to Prairieview A&M for the ride start. I began to think I'd made a grievous error in judgement when the first 15 miles headed right into the wind on chip-seal pavement chocked full of pot holes and patches. The couch sure sounded good for a while. It was just then that the route swung north heading with the wind and onto a nice, smooth blacktop road. We immediately went from pushing hard just to make 12mph to flying along like there wasn't even a chain on the bike at 25mph. Oh, it was good. Then Raf' peeled off and headed for the 80-mile route. I rode the last 35 miles chatting with those around me and taking turns pulling on lines I came across along the way. The last 10 miles were like some fricken narrative out of the old testament. The route swung back around into the wind, which had picked up quite a bit and carried with it storm clouds and scattered showers. Adding insult to injury I managed to flat three times in the last 8 miles. Having only two CO2 cartridges I put what I had left in the front tire, which amounted to about 24psi, and shifted my weight to the rivets in an effort to keep from tearing up my rim. The Fulcrum Race 1's are about two grand a set and the last thing I wanted to do was chew up a rim. I managed it thus way for the last 6 miles to the start/finish line where I borrowed a pump.

The post-ride festivities included FOOD, music and conversation with other riders while waiting for Raf'. It wasn't long before he showed up as I had wasted about 45 minutes fooling around with flat tires. Funny, the whole Soldier Ride clean across Central Texas and no flats. At any rate, it was a good ride and I enjoyed myself.


by TXPeddler

WWP Soldier Ride

Well where do I start... where I'm at... where I've been... where I want to go...

My intention was to update my blog daily on my journey with the Wounded Warrior Project. Unfortunately, that proved to be more than I wanted, or could maintain. In fact, I've been so damn depressed since my return that I really haven't had the energy or drive to do a damn thing. It was a tough month. During my trip I felt bad physically with aches, cold sweats, cramps, stuffy head. Turns out I was carrying a rather nasty little virus and apparently all of the tequilla I ingested wasn't enough to kill it. The doc gave me a couple of shots and 10 days worth of anti-biotics. I had been sick the week before we left and thought I had kicked it. Then it crept back in on my trip and I spent two weeks laying on the couch when I got home. I guess being physically ill opened the door for my psyche to wander down a dead end road. It was an entire week before I could even muster the energy to talk to my wife and kids.

Even being sick I had a great time on Soldier Ride. I met some truely courageous individuals. Their stories are amazing... gut wrenching. These are the young Americans who put themselves in harms way every day in iraq, afghanistan and other parts of the world. I felt kind of funny driving back from San Antonio. We spent the first day just shooting the breeze and getting to know each other. By the end of the second day we were establishing bonds of friendship and it felt like we were just getting started when it all came to an end. Woody invited me to Soldier Ride, Las Vegas this fall and I'm looking forward to it with great anticipation.


by TXPeddler


by TXPeddler