Hottern Hell Hundred 2010 and other wanderings

On the last Friday in August we headed for Wichita Falls and the H3 bicycle rally, we got in early and almost did not get a place to park the RV. It was another record attendance year with cooler than normal temperatures predicted, we were also glad the Tandem and recumbents got to start in front of the main rally.

In the picture above we are lined up in the first row of the tandem/bent group, starting shortly after the race starts. The group just in front of us each paid $150 each to ride with support like a tour de France ride, team cars, domestiques to get you food and drink from the support vehicles and if you start to drop off they would even push you back up to the group with a hand on your back and a lot of effort.

We had a great ride and a very fast start with a 24.3 mph average at mile 30, but it was not to last. we went to hard early and paid the price. We finished slower than we had wanted but had 2 flats and Michele had a little overheating we had to stop for so we took it easy after that and had a fun ride. Michele recovered quick and we were able to visit the Wichita Falls Vineyard and Winery for a tasting and to replenish the Wichita Red supply. We stayed camped through Sunday afternoon and watched all the races and runs and the little RV worked perfectly.

We had nice bicycle rides on Saturday, 65 miles, Sunday 25 miles and were going sailing Labor Day Afternoon but 30 mph winds put an end to that, we could sail in that kind of wind and have done so, but it is not fun and is very hard on the rig and sails.

We have seen but never visited the Arbor Hill Nature Preserve, so we spent Labor Day Morning hiking the trails with Sprocket. This is a nice little 200 acre escape in the middle of the Metroplex.

On this holiday morning we had a lot of company, but most of them walked and ran on the paved trails and the perimeter dirt trails were shady, quiet and not at all crowded, we are still hiking every chance we get in preparation for our trip to the Grand Canyon.

We are getting some much needed rain Today and for the next several days it is forecast to continue, not yet sure what the weekend will bring, another RV trip, dinner with the starving cyclist face book group, a hike in the LBJ National Grassland about 65 miles away, or nothing at all.

Cedar Ridge Preserve / Melon Patch Rally and a trip to a farm.

The last couple of weeks Michele and I have been able to get out to a place we just found and get some good hikes early in the morning, Cedar Ridge Preserve just south of Dallas is a nice hiking and birdwatching spot with 9 miles of trails. To break in our new boots and get ready for our Grand Canyon trip we have been doing 4 or 5 mile loops on the more difficult trails, while you will not be alone it is nice, clean, dog friendly and for foot traffic only.

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The little lagoon I fish has been producing some big Perch and small Bass, this lagoon is about 4 miles from the house but I have discovered a way to incorporate it into my runs. I found a way to get there on foot in less than 2 miles, so a stashed rod and reel gives me a 2 mile run 20 minutes of fishing recovery and another 2 miles (or more) home.

We went to Deleon Texas and rode in the Melon Patch Tour Bicycle Rally and did 72 miles of hard rolling hills, a big bonus was when we were invited to spend the weekend on a nice 160 acre farm about 12 miles from the Rally. This was a nice ride on the tandem, due to chipseal it might be a little rough on a road bike but the rest stops and Boy Scouts made it fun, great HHH training.

Michele also made some new friends at the farm, these donkeys were pets and a lot of fun. When we went walking or for a ride in the Jeep they went with us, always following a little ways back.

Lake Mineral Wells Trailway Ride

Michele and I had planned a trip to ride the Lake Mineral Wells Trailway on Saturday the 17th, the weather forecast was for hot, hot, hot, and we were glad when Marla and Rick accepted our invitation to ride with us. We met at the trail head to find the gate locked even though the sign on the gate said open sunrise to sunset. We noticed another cyclist parked at the city park about a block away and going under the gate with his bike, he told us the Weatherford end is opened by the local police when they get around to it. We followed his lead and did as he had done.

At the halfway point we passed through the town of Garner and posed at this cool sign, there is also a convenience store with a diner, we kept going and stopped there on the return trip for cold drinks. Above left to right Dennis, Michele, Marla, Rick, the intrepid cyclists training for the hotter than hell rally at the end of August.

This was an over the shoulder shot going down the trail, some areas are open and some are like a tunnel of green with welcome shade on a hot summer day. We saw fewer than a dozen people on our round trip of 40 miles, we did assist two women with changing a flat tire.

Along the way we stopped several times to snack on wild grapes growing along the side of the trail.

This is not a good picture but we also stopped and snacked on wild plums like these that were so plentiful they are bending the trees down. The plums were just getting ripe , the ones not fully ripe are bitter while the ripe ones are sweet. In about a week they will be great.

We really enjoyed this ride and hope to do it again soon, we would like to once again camp in the new RV at the State Park and combine this with some hiking and fishing to prepare for our upcoming Grand Canyon hikes.

Dennis

First trip and the Peach Pedal

We took the first trip in the new RV and drove to Weatherford to ride in the Peach Pedal bicycle rally. We drove through some of the hardest rain I have ever seen on the way but arrived at the Serenity Ranch as the storms ended. We spent the full weekend here as did several other campers that were riding the rally. Everything worked out well in the RV, it pulls great and we were dry and comfortable.

The morning of the rally was dry and cool for this time of year and we had a great 62 miles of rolling hills and beautiful country side, we followed up the rally by taking the free shuttle to the Peach festival. As the day progressed it got hot at the festival and with the record turnout it was a little to much for me, I think I enjoyed last year more.

Sunday we took a nice long 4 mile hike on the Mineral Wells trail way, it was like a tunnel of green in some areas and is a great summer morning hike. We plan on taking the mountain bikes back this weekend for a day trip and to ride the full 40 miles (20 out and 20 back).

Bobby called me Tuesday night and told me it was going to cloudy and breezy Wednesday morning and with no arm twisting we decided to meet at 7:30 am to go sailing, what a nice way to spend half of a day. We had gusty winds a 3 ft swell running and the lake to ourselves, with the clouds keeping it cool and filtering the sunlight we hove to for a lunch beak and called it a day

Last night I drove out to watch some of my friends race in the Thursday night crits in Sunnyvale, my riding buddy and sometimes personnel trainer Heath Lambert won the cat 4/5 in only his 3rd race. Well its back to work for me with the summer heat turned back on 98 to 101 for the next 5 days.

Ready to ride the trail

Dennis

New addition to the family

The month of June has been hot, averaging 10 degree's above normal and almost no rain. The heat has caused my business to be good and I have had little time for sailing with Bobby or even riding the bike. When I got to ride it was a sweat fest.

July has arrived and with it cooler than normal temperatures and rain, a much welcomed relief from the temperature and from work. The garden has responded well and I have undertaken a new project to make room for our new toy.

When we bought this house it had a 40 year old 30 ft wide carport that was in bad shape and it would not allow anything tall to be parked in the driveway. It did have some nice benefits but we decided it had to go.


One piece at a time we took it down and saved the pieces for a friend who wants build a small one from the parts, the job went faster than planned and we were done in about five hours.
Well, now that we can park larger items and the cooler weather has allowed me to shop, look what I brought home.

This our new to us Surveyor SVT210 travel trailer. This trailer is a 2006 model that was very lightly used and everything works perfectly, it also fits nicely in our driveway.

We now plan on setting things up to our liking and planning some short trips, more to come as we move in.

Dennis

New wheels for the Tandem

Since we bought our tandem the wheels have been an area of concern, the front wheel was warped and the manufacturing weld was a problem area causing a bad pulsing when applying the brakes.
We bought this bike used and it had been stored for many of its years in unknown positions, this may have caused some of the trouble with the wheels being out of true.
We purchased this set of custom wheels made by a friend of ours, and I think they look good and from the little I have ridden them they also seem to perform. The most important gain is they are true and smooth and greatly improve our stopping power, not to mention they are 2 lbs 10 ounces lighter than our old ones and are tandem specific wheels.

The search for a nice small travel trailer continues, we find them available but we have been unable to strike a deal I am happy with. With the continued heat I have been busy with work and would not have time to camp anyway, but come fall that should change.

Dennis

The Garden/ The Wall/ No camper

The garden is going great guns, however we are in an extreme heat wave for this time of year, and very dry. The rain barrel is empty and the garden cries for more water.It is still yielding green beans, potato's, lettuce, spinach and squash as well as peppers. The snow peas are done in this heat and the leaf crops are now just about toast also, we love our fresh food.

This morning, Memorial day I went on a nice little run and visited the traveling wall of the Vietnam Memorial. This was a moving experience as people placed flowers with name tags and traced the names of lost loved ones. I was fortunate to be born just late enough for the draft to be over, I did have to register but there was no active draft. Today I thank all of our veterans for their sacrifices and service to allow me the freedom I have.

Saturday we went to Liberty Fest in our little town of Farmers Branch where 20 thousand people listened to a band from my youth, REO Speedwagon as we celebrated our liberty here in the USA.

As for the no camper situation, we sold the pop up and are now shopping for a nice fairly small hard sided travel trailer. We have looked at new and used ones and today we found the one we wanted and I negotiated a very nice price. This deal never happened, when I asked about the title before putting down a deposit it was signed and ready to go except the seller was not the person named on the title. You have to be very careful about these things and I demand a drivers license for proof, well they did not match and out pours a long story about his friend who signed it over to him and does not want to be involved in the transaction, nor do I. This could be the truth but I am not willing to gamble with that kind of money.

Still looking

Dennis