We went car camping at Stephen F. Austin State Park, outside of Houston, Texas. It is adjacent to San Felipe, Texas which was founded by Stephen F. Austin. It’s a substantial park, there were lots of families, many boy scouts, and golfers run amok. There are nice rural roads nearby for road biking and trails for mountain biking, complete with a bike/dog/child washing station.
After we arrived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, we went on a bike trail called the Santa Fe Rail Trail. We picked up the trail from somewhere along Rodeo Road, where it turns to dirt. The trail itself is pretty smooth, with some gullying and mild ups and downs. I rode my commuter bike, not the best bike for the job, but with the exception of a few spots, it was smooth biking. It was a nice ride that paralleled the train tracks, all the way to the train depot at Lamy, where we found picnic tables. We were disappointed to find out that the train doesn’t run into Santa Fe, given the historical importance of the railroad to Santa Fe. There is a shuttle, but you have to have a train ticket to get a ride to Santa Fe. Based on the map, it looks like the train is available for special events. When we pulled in we were lucky to find a train full of tourists arriving and more importantly, a catered meal served just in time! The best map I could find on it is at www.bikenm.org/news/030607_trailsday.jpg.
Santa Rosa Lake State Park was a great stop for hiking and biking. There was plenty of road, not much traffic and beautiful countryside. The following photo is a panorama of the lake.
We went camping at Mother Neff State Park, the first state park in Texas. It’s a nice little park, with a couple limestone structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It’s close to Waco. We liked spot #12 the best. Area roads made for fine bicycle riding, with little traffic. I even ran into some folks biking from Temple.
There’s a nice site that uses a Google maps mashup for sharing bike routes from all over the world, it’s www.bikely.com. Check it out!
Ten years after retiring from professional bike racing, “Fast” Freddy Markham covered 53.43 miles in one hour in a recumbent bike. More at www.easyracers.com.
A few years ago, my annual physical revealed that I had problems with high cholesterol and high blood pressure. If it didn’t improve through changes in diet and exercise, they recommended medication. I didn’t want to start taking medication for high blood pressure for the rest of my life, so I resolved to make some changes. I was able to reduce my cholesterol levels to acceptable levels within a few months primarily through dietary changes. More then a year later, my blood pressure has now stabilized at normal levels. Here’s what I did:
I’m going deeper. I’m doing my first organized quasi athletic event since elementary school. The Tour d’Organics is a bike ride with rides of varying lengths held in several U.S. cities including Austin, Texas. The ride includes several options from a 100-mile ride to a 25-mile ride. I’m doing the 100 kilometer (~62 miles). I’m working my way up to doing 100 miles in a day, but wanted to try something shorter first. I’m really looking forward to getting to know some new places to bike and visiting some local organic farms.
The bike geek transformation continues. I’ve already got click in shoes. Today, I got the padded spandex bike shorts. The purpose of wearing spandex–which I never would have guessed in the 80’s–is to wick moisture away from the body to the surface of the material where it can transpire. It also helps that they’re skin tight. They’re clothes for you to sweat in. I still felt like an errant super hero looking for a gig.
As of today, I’m a bike geek. You may have seen bike geeks decked out head to toe in Gear. In the past, whenever I saw someone wearing your general-issue cycling uniform (i.e. the spandex-or-whatever shorts and a jersey) I figured it was more for show then for real. After all, we Americans love our gear. Now I know better. After logging nearly 2000 miles wearing street-issue, I now wear Gear. I have cycling shoes, shoes that attach your feet to special pedals made just for the purpose. You put them on, they feel like regular shoes, except with a stiffer sole. Once you get on your bike, you roughly align the clips and clip into the pedals by exerting a little pressure. It’s easy–until you have to stop.
Not wanting to embarrass myself, I’d gone out the night I’d gotten them, clipping and unclipping, first with just one shoe, then with both. I didn’t fall off and felt pretty confident that I had it down. When I started my ride to work the next morning, I clipped in without too much trouble and was able to unclip at the first stop I had. I clipped back in and went for about a mile. I was on a sidewalk when I hit my first long light. There were a bunch of cars to my left, in the right turn lane. Ordinarily, I would let them pass in front of me, then take a right and a left into a parking lot to get past the light. That morning, when I reached a dead stop, I suddenly realized that my feet were attached to the pedals and I couldn’t put my foot down to hold myself up. I just fell over. It must have looked odd to the people in the cars to my left–nobody moved for a long time. I skinned my knee and the palm of my hand. I haven’t fallen off since.
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