hurronnicane

A couple of Texas authors: Rick Riordan has a handful of detective/private eye books set in San Antonio. Joe R. Lansdale has written a shit-ton of books in many genres with some great names (Honky Tonk Samarai, Bad Chili, The Two-Bear Mambo, Mucho Mojo)…

On Tuesday we went to Shaffer Bend for the first time. As we were driving into the park my wife realized that she had forgotten her riding clothes. It turns out that a sports bra can be made out of five bandannas. And to replace the padded shorts she wrapped her seat with a sheepskin seat belt cover and a bike cleaning rag. We ended up riding for an hour and a half and she said it was not bad.

Shaffer Bend yesterday. Not a great mountain bike destination for the riding. But, the wildflowers were great and there were a metric shit-ton of birds.

The Very Large Array?

In previous years I was getting headaches after any longish-duration effort during the heat. They seemed to have lessened but as I say that I am dealing with a headache from today’s ride. Of course I worked in the yard for almost an hour before the ride and burned a brush pile after the ride so there is that.

In the continuing quest to hydrate during the oppressive Texas heat I tried my old school Jandd double water bottle pack today. This was state of the art for longer rides before hydration packs. It allowed me to carry two bottles of ice water in the pack and one on the frame. When I got to my trail network I left it at a central hub and just swapped out new ones as I ran out. Probably poured 30% or 40% over my head. I’m loving riding without the camelback when it is so damned hot.

No. Though we did pick some Chanterelles in our backyard just a few days ago!

The late morning ride had its own highlights.

Post-ride fallout after a humid early morning venture today.

The road between Cloudcroft and Ruidoso? Yes, really beautiful!

You cannot know what is enough until you know what is too much.

Cloudcroft was our original mountain bike destination back in the late 80s. We camped a few miles outside of town near Weed (there is no such thing as a coincidence) and rode Forest Service roads and ATV trails. My wife and I spent a few days in and around Ruidoso last year about this time and had a good time.

Yes. Grindstone Lake is good fun. Also, the Cedar Creek/Perk Canyon trails are great!

Ruidoso has a well-developed trail system right in town. Plenty to do for a day.

He’s not big on swimming but loves splashing in shallow water!

During the gas crisis of the 70s my dad went out and bought a diesel VW Rabbit (50 mpg). But that wasn’t good enough so he started filling up 5 gallon cans of diesel and would bring them home and pour it into 55 gallon drums. He had several full by the time the crisis ended. I don’t remember ever pulling any of that diesel out of the drums.

Exploratory ride.

The heat was temporarily turned off. Had a great 3-hour ride at Pedernales Falls today and when we finished about noon, it was just 72 degrees!

We are 100% rainwater dependent at our house (no well, no public water supply) so I couldn’t be happier about the rain! All our tanks are full.

Rode some of the Southern Walnut Creek Trail for the first time with my wife on Tuesday.

What is the consensus about riding your primary mountain bike on the beach? Or I guess my question is whether the salt and sand is too damaging to make it worth it. Sedona and Moab sand both seem to do a number on drivetrains and moving parts in general but few people shy away from riding there because of it.

The ice storm created some serious havoc at our place. This represents about half the firewood we’ve cut so far from downed Live Oak trees/limbs. My guess is we are only about 10% of the way through cleaning up our property. There is as much or more Juniper down as well. In addition to the effort of cutting up firewood and stacking it, the ends of the branches represents even more time and effort to manage.

After 25 years living in Dripping Springs my wife and I did our first ride “in town”. Not sure we will ever do it again, but we did see the namesake springs for Dripping. If only it easily connected to the mtb trails at Ranch Park....

Yesterday was a good day to be on a bike. Taken on a dirt road near my house in Dripping Springs. Today is pretty great as well.