Miscellaneous cycling Spring 2016

January 23 Southland Loop

view going down the caprock in January on the Southland ride

3 sisters on February Third Saturday Southland Loop (Feb 20)

Very warm February day

First Southland Loop ride on the new mountain bike (Feb 27)

We had to cancel our Big Bend trip at the last minute due to Rickey's father passing away, but we were able to take a day trip to Palo Duro Canyon for our first mountain bike ride on the PDC trails

Vince joined us for the day at PDC

PDC view

Southland Loop with Rick on March 5

March 5 ride with Rick

Cool and drizzly Southland Loop with Rick and Vince on March 12

Rails to Trails 50 mile (day after) birthday ride on March 26

Group pic with part of the group at the tunnel

Easter Sunday in Benjamin with the family near our old farm

Rick and Vince are horsing around

Those cows apparently don't see too many cyclists

nice day for a ride

First Wednesday club gravel ride of the year (April 6)

Pic after Rickey, Randy and I rode 68 miles on April 10 (my first dirt ride of over around 50 miles)

Third Saturday Southland Loop on April 16

Crossing the Brazos

steep hill climb on the highway segment

cool bridge in the middle of nowhere during our 83 mile sandy Super Southland plus training ride (April 30)

group pic on the bridge--all of us (plus one more) are training for Dirty Kanza

Rick and I after completing McDonald Road in Garza County

Got to get back to work--not even half way finished in this picture

group pic in a sandy area on McDonald Road

Just finished 83 miles in 7 hours of riding and 8 hours out on the bike--tired isn't even the word.  Dirty Kanza will be 17 miles longer and possibly 2 hours longer!!

April 25, 2016

Finally found Bluff Springs waterfall after all these years.  We rode on Rio Penasco and Russia Canyon Roads.

Bluff Springs waterfall off Rio Penasco Road during a 36 mile ride on Friday with Rick 

Just Rick and me this time.  "The usual" at the Western on Friday afternoon after the ride.

Pre-race pic on Sunday

Starting line for the Cat 2 men at the High Altitude Classic

First place Cat 3 women (50+).  Note the very swollen and blue right hand/fingers from my endo into a tree while pre-riding the course on Saturday.

Second place Cat 3 men (50+).  We both had a good race.

Castell Grind: April 2, 2016

The Wildflower Farm in Fredericksburg

a chilly Friday afternoon in Luckenbach

Friday evening packet pickup in Castell with chickens roaming freely in the streets

Some of the group at packet pickup

Friday evening pizza

It was a bit chilly on Saturday morning before the race

Woohoo, made the podium!  Fourth place in the 75K

Post-ride pic after Rick finally made it in from doing 100K on the 75K race

Vince looks like he's enjoying the pain meds after a trip to the Llano ER for a broken scapula after a crash with a car near the end of the race

JD & Jill at the Altdorf

Sunday morning at the Wildflower Farm

March 20, 2016

St. Patrick's Day at the Western with Rick and Sandra 

A herd of wild mustangs on the Friday afternoon ride with Rick, Vince and Sandra

Sandra's first proper mountain bike ride on the new mountain bike

Vince on the back roads

Sandra climbing out from a back road adventure

The crew on a perfect day

Rest stop during a 6 mile/2000' climb up La Luz Canyon road on Saturday 

We made it

The road back down

New sign at the Western

The daffodils started opening while we were there

February 14, 2016

Still lots of snow at the top of the James Ridge area on the Friday afternoon ride with Rick and Vince

Four crashes, but three into deep snow

Hmmm....

The best place to spend a Friday night

La Luz Canyon Road on Saturday

La Luz Canyon Road was a little warmer and a lot drier

View of the area looking back toward Cloudcroft from an unknown side road

The side road

Pat & Robert were in town and joined us at the Western on Saturday afternoon after the ride

Toby by the fire