Bicycle Bill Rides Again!

The Hotter 'n Hell Lives Up to its Name

2011-09-04T22:58:00.001-05:00

When my older son TJ and our friend Michael Freeman rolled into Finish Line Village at Wichita Falls, Texas this year, it was 105 degrees, with a surface temperature over 120! The temperature eventually reached 109, a record heat for the HHH.

We camped out again this year, and it proved to be a big mistake! It was far too hot to sleep when we finally turned in for the night. I estimate that it was about 2am when it finally cooled off enough to sleep, and even then, sleep was fitful. When the alarm went off at 4:45, I don't think any of the four of us had slept more than an hour or so. There were supposed to be five of us this year, but my younger son Josh's wife London had to cancel her plans to ride because their daughter was ill.

Josh and I rode the 25 mile route again this year, just as we did last year. The photo above was taken in front of a C130 transport plane at Shepherd AFB, which all of the shorter routes travel through. It is really a highlight of the trip, with a great rest stop where the voluteers hold our bikes while we refresh ourselves with sports drinks, water, and cookies.

Josh and I happily finished!

While TJ and Michael made excellent time on the 100 mile route, Josh and I beat our time from last year, and Josh had a much easer time of it. He has pledged to do the 100k next year. I'm already in training for it. Why don't you come join us? By the way, we are planning on air conditioned accomodations next year!

Vacation on the Katy Trail, Missouri, part 2 of 2

2011-09-03T18:24:00.002-05:00

We were very impressed with the condition of the trail. The crushed limestone surface was flat and smooth. Being a converted railroad bed, one would not expect much in the way of elevation changes. The trail from St. Charles to Defiance closely bordered the Missouri River on our left, with mostly hills and cliffs on our right. Trees lined both sides of the trail, often meeting one another over the trail producing abundant shade.

We met several cyclists and a few walkers and joggers along the way. At one trailhead we stopped and visited with some locals that ride up and down the Katy Trail frequently, but as avid cyclists, have also traveled to trails in Florida and the New England area. They traveled on ahead of us, but we met up with them again as they were taking a break under a highway bridge at about the 10 mile mark. We visited with them again for a few minutes there, and the conversation turned to the weather, as clouds had begun to gather and a light sprinkle of rain was starting. The gentleman said they were turning back towards home, and asked if we planned to get wet. I told him we knew there was a chance, and we had brought rain gear along.

It was time to move on for the last 10 miles of our journey for the day. We bade our new friends farewell, but had not gone more than 500 yards when we encountered significant thunder, lightning, rain, small hail, and a quickening wind. I told Rhonda we should turn back and wait this out under the bridge, but no sooner had we started to backtrack than we came upon a huge tree that had been blown down and blocked the entire trail. The tree appeared impassable. We felt we had no choice but to turn back to the West and travel on to Defiance in the storm.

Soon we met another cyclist who was traveling East. He said we should turn back, because it looked like a tornado had hit the trail behind him, and he had encountered several trees across the trail. We told him about the large tree that we had found impassable behind us. He said he had been able to get through, around, or over the trees he had come upon, so we still felt we had no choice but to travel on towards our destination.

Over the next 8 miles, we probably had to portage over 10 trees. We were soaked to the skin from the rain, and often had to unload the bikes and carry the luggage through the obstacles and then the bikes. Rhonda often had to lead the way while we were riding because my sunglasses with the prescription inserts were so fogged up that her billowing blue poncho was much easier to see than the limbs that covered our path.

At one particularly large blockage, we met two cyclists coming towards us. We helped each other through and over the trees, all of us obviously wishing for a more positive journey.

With about two miles to go before Defiance, the rain began to taper off and the sky got a little brighter. The path looked clearer ahead, and we thought it would be smooth sailing (pedaling) the rest of the way.

I had a flat on my rear tire. Of course it was the rear tire. It is always the rear tire.

I had a spare tube and was able to change it relatively quickly. Rhonda fanned the mosquitoes that had come out to enjoy the humidity from me the best she could. We reloaded the luggage on my bike and took off again, then I noticed the tread was separating from my front tire. We do not carry spare tires, and luckily it held air for the rest of the ride into Defiance. I knew I would have to replace it before we could ride further, but I sure was glad to be off the trail for the rest of this day!

The storm had knocked the power out in Defiance, but Norm from The Parson's House had provided us with the access code to his battery operated secure door, so we were able to enter this beautiful old home. The Parson Family had purchased 13000 acres of land here in the 1860's and built this 3 story, brick home. Norm told us the construction took six years.

We did not know what room was reserved for us, but we raided Norm's refrigerator and spent a couple of hours on the sun porch playing cribbage. Later we walked into town and grabbed a bite to eat at a local tavern that Norm told us about. The food was good and the people were very friendly and consoling about our day's bike ride during the storm.

Norm, the owner and our host at The Parson's House also works for a utility company and the storm kept him working til about 7PM. He let us pick our room, and said after we had a chance to clean up from our adventure, he would share a bottle of wine with us. Norm was one of the most hospitable hosts that we encountered staying at 5 different B&B's on this trip to Missouri. We probably stayed up much later than we should have considering the day we had just experienced and knowing we had another 20 miles to ride the next day. We were very tired by the time we turned in, but it was that good kind of tired where you know you will sleep well through the night.

Our host had informed us that he would not see us in the morning as he would have to be at work early, but his friend Ruby would come by to make breakfast. Ruby prepared a breakfast casserole that was an old family recipe from Norm's family. The food was delicious, and if I've learned anything on this trip, it is that you never leave a B&B hungry. We found that a light lunch would be more than sufficient every day.

We would have to address the issue of my front tire before we could leave Defiance. Fortunately, Defiance, Missouri has a bike shop that equals or exceeds any I have ever been in, with the exception of the huge Richardson Bike Mart in Richardson, Tx. Our new friend at the bike shop had to search pretty hard to find the tire I needed. I chose our vintage bikes for this trip, never considering that 27 inch tires are a little harder to find these days, but I sure never thought I would need one, either.

While at the bike shop, I decided to go ahead and invest in new racks and panniers for both bikes. I had thought about buying them before we left on the trip, but never got around to it, and reasoned that we were traveling light enough that seatpost racks with our luggage bungied on would be okay. The new racks and panniers made a world of difference in the stability and handling of the bikes. I was very glad to have them on the bikes. So glad in fact that we "donated" our seatpost racks and old luggage to the bike shop. There was no way I was going to add the additional weight to the bikes to get them back home.

Of course these changes and repairs delayed the start of our journey from Defiance to Marthasville by about three hours, but it was a beautiful day for a bike ride! We encountered only one downed tree over the 20 miles, and all we had to do was walk our bikes around it. Rhonda rode like the wind to get there. There was a chance of storms in the forecast, and she really did not want to go through that again!

Much of the distance from Defiance to Marthasville is open farm land, as opposed to the tree lined (and strewn) path we had been on the previous day. The sun was shining brightly, the trail was smooth, and we made the 20 miles in less than two hours, including a stop along the trail for lunch at a brew pub in Augusta. I had a great bratwurst with kraut, and Rhonda had a grilled chicken wrap. They really hit the spot, and contributed to the pleasure of this ride the second day on the Katy Trail.

We rolled into Marthasville around 2PM. We stayed at the trailhead for about 30 minutes drinking water and visiting with a young man that was going east on the trail and had just paused to rest for a few minutes.

We were not expected at our B&B in Marthasville for a while so we entered the only establishment that we found to get a soft drink and kill a little time. It was a locally owned pizza restaurant that had only been open a short time, but we were impressed with the cleanliness of the restaurant, the modern equipment, and the friendliness of the staff. We even found out they delivered to our B&B, so guess what we had for supper? Pizza!

Our accommodations for the night were at Monnette's Cabin, which was actually about 4 miles out of town, and uphill all the way! Fortunately, our hosts' policy was to come pickup their guests in town with their pickup truck, and we were more that happy to have the ride.

Monnette's Cabin is far from rustic. It was built several years ago as a dream home for the current owner's grandmother, and is a beautiful, two story, three bedroom home with all of the modern conveniences, including an outdoor jacuzzi. It sits high on a hill overlooking a farming valley below. If it was mine, I think I would spend a lot of time rocking on the front porch.

We were the only guests in the Cabin, so we could choose which bedroom we wanted, so we chose the big one! Have you figured out that even though we were on a bicycle vacation, we really had no intentions of "roughing it". Breakfast the next morning was fabulous (again!), with quiche that was baked in a large stoneware cup without crust that rose like a soufflé, fruit parfaits, and delicious sticky buns. I'm hoping the bike riding offset the calories. Probably not.

The weather forecast was foreboding. Storms were predicted along the trail, and there were indications that part of the trail might be closed. Although we hated to admit it, is was becoming clear that if we were to really enjoy the rest of our vacation in Missouri without another "adventure" like we had from St. Charles to Defiance, we had better choose motorized transportation for the rest of our trip.

We hitched a ride for the next 28 mile leg of our journey with our Marthasville hosts. They drove us and our bikes to our next B&B in Rhineland, and added a brief tour of Herrman, Missouri. Herrman is a really interesting looking town that we would probably want to spend some time in on our next trip to the Katy Trail.

There was a great flood from the Missouri River at Rhineland in 1993, and afterwards they basically relocated the town up the hill from the river. All of the homes were moved to higher ground, with the exception of one house owned by the Doll family. They just said "we ain't moving", and didn't. So our accommodations in Rhineland, The Doll House Bed and Breakfast, is the only house that remains in the flood plain near the river.

Rhonda and I stored our bikes under the front porch of The Doll House and were sitting on the porch above them playing cribbage when a tornado siren sounded about 40 feet from us. It was so loud that we could not stay on the porch, and of course we thought it best to see what the TV weathermen were saying anyway. The television screen was covered in red and dark green, with tornado warnings and watches all over the area. We had made a good decision to not ride that day. There was another couple coming from the west on the trail scheduled to stay at The Doll House that evening, and they called from another town along the trail to say that the sirens were blaring there also, and they eventually found motorized transportation there also.

Our host showed us the basement "just in case", but we never felt compelled to go down there.

The room at this B&B had just been remodeled. It was formed from the attic of the house, and had a huge bathroom with a big hot tub. We had another great nights sleep and woke up to another great breakfast. We had scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon, and french toast with strawberries, cream, and chocolate. Wow!

Amanda owns The Doll House, and agreed to take us to Jefferson City after breakfast. Her small car just barely allowed for us and the bicycles, but we were very happy to have the ride. Before we left Rhineland she drove by her home and Rhonda took pictures of her pretty roosters. She drove us all the way to the front step of Cliff Manor Bed and Breakfast in Jefferson City.

Since it was too early to check in at the B&B, we took the luggage off the bikes and rode up to the capital building. We were bicycle tourists, chaining our bikes to a light pole and going into the capital and the governor's mansion wearing our bright bicycle jackets. We ate lunch at a nice restaurant called Mcallister's in downtown Jefferson City, then checked into Cliff Manor.

It seemed that each place we stayed got a little fancier, and Cliff Manor was no exception. Our suite had a big king size bed and the sheets had to have the highest thread count I've ever slept on. Besides the bedroom and bath, there was another huge room with a hot tub, wet bar, sitting area with double overstuffed chair, and a cafe table. From this room we also had a private sun porch, and there was a stairway that lead down to another outdoor patio.

Cliff Manor recommends an Irish Pub in downtown Jefferson City for supper. We enjoyed it immensley, Rhonda had fish and chips and I had the bangers and mash.

After another great night's rest, we had our most elegant breakfast of the trip. We were able to choose what we wanted from a small menu, and we both chose "egg blossoms" because we had no idea what it was. The egg blossoms were filo dough that was put in a muffin cup, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, then the egg is dropped in, sprinkled with chives, and baked. The egg is similar to a poached egg, the flavor was great, and the presentation really made it. There was also sausage and delicious blueberry scones.

After breakfast, we packed our bags and our host took us to the train station for the ride back to St. Louis. We could just roll the bikes on the train for this part of the trip, then when we got to St. Louis we put them in boxes for the ride back to Dallas. We had a few hours to kill in St. Louis before our connection back to Dallas, so we took the metro bus service up to the famous St. Louis arch and then downtown to look around and have supper. In no time we were back on the train to Dallas.

The Wabash Cannon Ball!

Rhonda getting on "The Katy".

Our daughter Kelly met us at Union Station in Dallas. The first thing we noticed was the heat! It was in the 50's when we left Jefferson City, and nearly 100 in Dallas. This week Rhonda and I celebrated 35 years together, and for our anniversary Kelly took us to El Fenix before the drive back to Ennis. What a great way to end a vacation!

Vacation on the Katy Trail, Missouri, Part 1 of 2

2011-09-03T16:53:00.001-05:00

On Saturday, May 21st we removed the pedals and loosened the handlebars on our bikes at Union Station in Dallas so we could box them up for the ride to St. Louis.

Some trains allow bikes to be rolled aboard, but from Dallas to St. Louis, bikes are considered checked baggage. It really was not too much trouble, as Amtrak sells the boxes at the station and provides the tape to seal the box with. Also, the baggage department in St. Louis agreed to store the boxes for us while we were on the trail, so we did not have to purchase them again for the return trip.

The conductor's final "all aboard!" was at 3:40pm, and we were on our way!

Having seen the coach chairs on the Amtrak website, we felt like we would be comfortable sleeping in them because we carried small pillows and the train provided additional ones, and the chairs reclined with leg rests. In hind site, having slept in coach on a train, I would have to say it was "okay" for one night, but on the return trip we tried to book a sleeping car to be more comfortable. None were available this time, but the next time we ride a train overnight, I'm pretty sure we will upgrade our accommodations. There will definitely be a next time. The seats are large and much more comfortable than any airplane or bus. The dining car and club car were both very good and easy to get to. Prices for food were similar to a chain restaurant, and we enjoyed both of the meals we ate on the train.

The trip to St. Louis from Dallas by train is about 15 hours. We arrived in St. Louis early Sunday morning, unpacked the bikes, reattached the pedals, tightened the handle bars, loaded our luggage on seatpost racks with bungee cords, and began wheeling our way to St. Charles.

St. Charles is at the top right portion of the map shown above, and it is about 30 miles from downtown St. Louis. I had printed a Google Bicycle Route Map to follow to get us to the Katy Trail just north of St. Charles.

The trip to St. Charles was somewhat difficult. I had hoped to purchase proper racks and panniers for the bikes before we left, but just never got around to it, and really felt like small overnight bags attached to seatpost racks would be okay. I was wrong. The bikes were top heavy and rather difficult to control with this setup. Several times along the way we had to stop to adjust the load or tighten the bungee cords. I was also carrying a full size floor pump that caused some additional difficulty, not only securing it to the bike, but it was also a problem swinging my leg over it to mount the bike.

Our Google Map kept us off of high traffic roads for the most part, and being Sunday morning, we initially encountered very little traffic. Neither of us had any prior knowledge of St. Louis, and the map took us through some areas that made us glad it was Sunday morning rather that Saturday night. Also, the map had us making turns about every half mile. I'm sure there were much more direct routes. We lost our way a couple of times and had to backtrack after going a mile or so out of our way, and once even had a police officer lead us (lights flashing!) to get us back on the correct road.

The last three miles of the road to St. Charles were harrowing! Following our Google Map, we found ourself on a narrow (though nicely paved) two lane road with no shoulder, and significant traffic traveling at 60 miles per hour. We hugged the white line, occasionally holding up traffic on curves and hills until we could find a place to pull off and let the cars pass. We were well frazzled by the end of this road only to find there were worse things yet to come.

The map showed a right turn down the "service road" of a major six lane highway towards the Missouri River. The road became a small path that curved back under the highway near the river and back up the other side. I approached a local man who appeared to be about to dump some trash along the path about where we might cross the river on our bikes, and he just pointed up at the highway bridge. I was sure he had misunderstood me. I reiterated that we wanted to cross the river on bicycles. His only answer was the highway bridge shoulder, or another similar bridge a few miles away.

We had been 30 miles and were pretty tired. It was a very steep hill up from the path to the highway, and by the time we got to the top, Rhonda announced that she did not want to ride across the bridge, so we walked the bikes. Traffic was flying by at 70 mph, 3 lanes each way, and we had the shoulder. It was a l-o-n-g way across the bridge pushing the bikes, but we thank God we made it safely. I had prayed a lot over those last three miles.

Finally! Our real initial destination, The Katy Trail was right in front of us. After a brief water break, we rolled into the beautiful town of St. Charles and found the Boone's Lick Trail Inn, our first of 5 Bed and Breakfast's for the trip.

St. Charles was the first capital of Missouri, but it was later moved to Jefferson City. The entire main street is paved with red bricks, and there are a lot of very old inns and pubs along the street. We really did not have a chance to enjoy this quaint little town, as we were bushed from the ride over. Our innkeeper was not available when we arrived, so we just parked the bikes and walked across the street to a nice pub/restaurant for lunch. The picture the waiter took shows our accommodations in the background.

We enjoyed our evening meal at a nice restaurant that had a third floor balcony. There was a nice breeze up there, and the view was great with the Missouri River in the background.

Sleep came easy that night, and after a great breakfast casserole with fruit and assorted pastries, we packed the bikes and started down the Katy Trail a 20 mile ride to The Parson's House Bed and Breakfast in Defiance, Missouri. What an eventful day this would prove to be!

Bicycle and Train Vacation?

2011-01-30T08:31:00.003-06:00

This picture is of sunrise along the Katy Trail near Marthasville, Missouri. Mrs. Bicycle Bill and I are planning a vacation to Missouri for sometime in May that will include riding a train to St. Louis and riding about 100 miles along the the Katy Trail by bicycle. We'll stop at a different town about every 25 miles and stay the nights in a different Bed and Breakfast at each stop along the way.

The Katy Trail is an old railroad bed that was made into a trail for hiking and biking. Since it was an railroad bed it is relatively flat, and the surface is crushed limestone, so it should be relatively smooth. We won't be in any hurry from town to town along the trail, and there are a number of historic sites and other things to see and visit along the way.

The train trip is overnight, and with four days along the trail, we'll be gone for about a week. Why don't you dust off your old bike and come along?

ON TRACK, SO FAR!

2011-01-08T14:25:00.002-06:00

Eight days into the new year and a there are a little over 86 miles on the bikes. I hoped to get a little further ahead this week with the weather about to turn really bad for a few days, but maybe I can bundle up enough to stay with the program.

Today I rode 20 miles on Tonto. It was a little chilly, but it is such a joy to ride this road bike after riding heavier bikes on the early morning rides and on the commute during the week. Tonto seems to not even notice the hills!

I have seen several people out walking this week on the early morning rides, and there were some out there this afternoon. Keep those new year resolutions going, my friends!

What I Should Have Done

2011-01-02T17:39:00.002-06:00

I think I can be where I want to be if I can average about 10 miles a day on the bike. Today I rode Old Sam about 8 miles. I had to squeeze the ride in before the Cowboy game started...but as I sit here watching the game, I wish I had stayed on the bike longer. It looks like a pre-season game; though it is the final game of the year for the Cowboys. Philadelphia has many of their starters out of the game, protecting them for the playoffs, and Dallas is down to their third string quarterback due to injuries.

I should have known better...next time I'll just ride.

MY VERY FIRST BIKE RIDE...of the year!

2011-01-01T19:28:00.004-06:00

I don't remember the first time I ever rode a bicycle. I do remember my sisters helping me learn, running along, holding on, turning loose, watching me fall, and helping me get up again. Eventually I kept pedalling away, and I "got it". Today was nothing like that, but the first ride of the new year is significant, because I set the odometers on all three bikes to "00000" to get a fresh start recording the miles for 2011.

I chose to ride my road bike "Tonto" today because it was cold with a north wind, and Tonto has lots of gears to make the riding easier. This is the bike I ride at rallies of 30 miles or more. Today I rode a little over 11 miles.

We (Tonto and I) paused after about 8 miles at the park at the end of Baldridge Street for a drink of water before making our way back home. From the picture you can see I had some extra clothing on today, ear muffs, fleece gloves, a wool jersey and a light windbreaker. The cold wind obviously dried out my skin, making me look older than my 55 years, deepening the wrinkles. Or perhaps I'm just getting old.

Nah!

BICYCLE BILL'S LAST RIDE (of 2010) !

2010-12-31T17:50:00.009-06:00

"Old Bicycle Bill"

"Old Sam"

I did not want the day or year to end without a ride, so I took Old Sam out for about 11 miles today, then put a couple more on the grocery bike to close out the year. Except for a stiff wind out of the north, it was a perfect day to ride, sunny and about 60 degrees. Old Sam is the bike that I started my serious riding on and I'm very comfortable riding this bike. I took the big chainring off the front so it just has six gears, but that's more than enough for riding around town.

We (Old Sam and I) rode much of my usual exercise route in town. I mentioned the north wind, and had to take a couple of pictures of Old Glory painting that northerly breeze.

I don't usually ride down Red Oak street, but I'm glad I did today. The street is obviously aptley named, and is a real picture of how autumn has passed and winter is upon us. Texas weather changes daily, and as nice and warm as it was today, it will be in the 30's tonight and the 20's tomorrow night.

"The Grocery Bike"

I put a couple of miles on this bike today, and this picture shows what it is best for; that is, bringing home the bacon, or in this case, the pizza! That's my New Years Eve dinner!

I put about 2900 miles on the bikes this year, and while I hope to ride more next year, it is not a New Year's Resolution. I resolved to ride as much as I can a couple of years ago, and have pretty much stayed with it. I actually was hoping to make about 3500 this year, I guess the heart attack in June set me back a mile or two.

So what about 2011? Well I don't know what the future holds. It doesn't really matter, as long as we know who holds the future, and I do. I hope I'm still here updating my blog at this time next year, but if I'm not, the world will go on, and I'm really okay with that. That's the main thing I learned about myself while I was lying on that hospital table this year. As hard as it might be to understand, the heart attack was a positive thing because of what I learned from it.

God bless you and yours for a prosperous new year.

"His eye is on the sparrow, and I KNOW he watches me."

Bike at Work

2010-11-18T20:03:00.002-06:00

One of the "issues" some potential bike commuters use for not being bike commuters is where to secure the bike at work. If you look at some of the bike commuter web sites and commuter specific blogs www.bikecommuters.com cycledallas.blogspot.com dfwptp.blogspot.com www.commutebybike.com , you'll find lots of ideas and creative ways to manage this potential problem. I am fortunate to have access to a nice storage room, so the bike is out of the weather, waiting patiently for the end of the workday. My commuter bike, Kato and I look forward to the short ride home every day. If you've never tried bike commuting, give it a shot. You'll be more alert when you get to work, and have something to look forward to at the when the whistle blows!

Freedom to Ride a Bike

2010-11-13T15:54:00.011-06:00

Today was a beautiful, sunny day with a sometimes brisk north wind, and I could think of nothing better to do than pull out Old Sam and go for a bike ride. Old Sam is the 1983 Trek 510 that is smooth, basic transportation. The all steel frame seems to absorb the bumps in the road better than any of my other bikes. I took the big ring off the front so it just has seven gears, but that is just right for rambling around Ennis.

I had no plans for this ride other than to just enjoy it. It was not long before I realized the Veterans’ Day flags that the Rotary Club puts up all over town were still out, and I took several shots of Old Glory painting the breeze. It turned into a 15 mile ride, and seeing all the flags and thinking of Veterans Day made me think fondly of my favorite veteran.

Thanks again, Dad.

The Cargo Bike from Masden Cycles

2010-11-10T21:27:00.001-06:00

Well I have four bikes in the stable right now, this sure would make a GREAT fifth!

Saturday Coffee, Breakfast, and More Coffee

2010-10-30T13:29:00.002-05:00

It was cool this morning when Mrs. Bicycle Bill agreed to ride to Whataburger for breakfast with me. It is about a mile and a half ride over there, so we ate a light breakfast and figured we’d burned some of those breakfast calories off on the ride back home. I really enjoy riding in the cool weather. All one needs to stay comfortable is a pair of full finger gloves and a light jacket to break the wind.

After we got home an old friend called and asked if we could meet for coffee. Dan Haynes lived here for years and now lives in Ruidoso, New Mexico. We have seen each other on Facebook recently, and Dan comes to Ennis every few weeks to visit with his father. We had a nice visit over coffee at Starbucks. Dan is a fine Christian man that really loves Jesus. We had a nice visit about Christian literature and the Bible Studies we have been active in, along with catching up on our respective families.

Dan has been a cowboy for as long as I have known him, working on ranches and such. He works with computers now. Of course I’ve tried to convince him to get off the horse and onto a bicycle. You have to feed a horse to make it go. To make my bike go, I only have to feed me, and I was probably going to do that anyway! Happy trails, friend.

Ennis FFA Lion Pride Bike Ride 2010

2010-10-26T17:38:00.002-05:00

The third annual Ennis FFA Lion Pride Bike Ride left from the Ennis High School parking lot at 9am, Saturday, October 23rd. The weather was cloudy and drizzly, with a little southerly breeze that made the first rolling hills a little tougher when we made the first turn to the south from Hwy 34.

TJ and I were planning to ride the 35 mile route because we both needed to be finished around 11am, and I thought the ride started at 8am instead of 9am. Since it started at 9am, we opted for the 20 mile route, and went straight through without pausing at the 10 mile rest stop.

There was a railroad crossing about 5 miles into the ride that proved hazardous in its rain-slickened condition, as a rider fell just before we got there. He was okay and continued on, but ride representatives hung around warning the riders about the slick tracks. We all know we should be more cautious in the rain, and things like rail road tracks, storm grates, and even painted road surfaces command an extra level of care.

The smooth roads with little chip seal and the outstanding organization of this rally make it one of the best ones we attend all year. I hope participation continues to improve as the years go by. The FFA works very hard to make this a great rally, and the hamburgers at the end of the ride were great. I will participate in this rally for as long as they continue to offer it.

On a very sad note, one of the participants in the rally this year collapsed about 15 miles into the ride, and he did not survive. One report said he had left the road complaining of chest pain, and collapsed when assistance arrived. My sincere condolences and heartfelt prayers go out to his family and loved ones.

Hill Climbing

2010-09-25T19:16:00.002-05:00

Today was my grandaughter Atalie's second birthday party in Tyler, Tx. I took my road bike with me, because I knew I wanted to go for a brief ride.

About 4 years ago, not long after I started riding, I tried to climb a steep hill in Tyler and could not make the top without getting off and walking. I've climbed a lot of hills in the past 4 years, but none as steep and long as the one in Tyler. If you know Tyler, the hill is Dulse Street near Green Acres Baptist Church.

My road bike has 27 gears, but to make the hill, I only needed one...the lowest one. I almost NEVER stand on the pedals, but I made it up the hill standing on that lowest gear. I did not have my bike computer on the bike. I do not know how slow one can actually go without falling over for lack of speed, but I would estimate that I crested the hill at 3MPH!

Next week is the Paluxy Pedal at Glen Rose. I hear they have a hill on that ride that only about 10% of the riders make it up. I'll let you know....

2010 Hotter N Hell Hundred Bike Rally

2010-08-29T21:01:00.008-05:00

What a great time we had at the 29th annual Hotter N Hell Hundred bike rally in Wichita Falls Texas this weekend. Since my little heart problem a couple of months ago, I thought it best to ride only 25 miles this year, but it was still a very fun and memorable event.
Both of my sons, TJ and Josh went with me this year. TJ did the 100 miles. That distance on a bicycle is a tremendous test of your endurance. It helps a lot to have a buddy with you to talk to during the ride, and to share the pain with, if you will. To do it alone would be even tougher. TJ is pretty tough.
Josh was my buddy on the 25 mile ride. I really did not want to ride alone, and I am so glad Josh was able to go with me. It was his first bike rally, and the first time he has ridden his bike over about 10 miles at a time. It takes a while to get used to riding long distances on a bike, and I know Josh suffered more than he let on, but I also know he really enjoyed completing his first bike rally.

As you can see in the pictures, we camped out again this year. One does not really get as much sleep as you’d like in a tent surrounded by many other tents, with bright lights shining in the adjacent parking lot, but its all part of the experience.

The bicycle expo had lots of exhibits, and some real bargains if you needed a new jersey (not the state), or gloves or some other biking accessory. We partook of the spaghetti supper on Friday night and the pancake breakfast on Saturday morning.

The rest stops along the route were fabulous. The volunteers are so friendly, and the refreshments are always just what the riders need.

Taking one of the shorter routes this year allowed us to ride through Sheppard Air Force Base for the first time. It is so nice that they mark a course for us to ride through on. They have planes on display, and the airmen and women are out in numbers to cheer and give high fives as we pass through. They man a rest stop, and actually hold our bikes as we get refreshments. God bless our military!
Josh met TJ at the finish line. TJ had been out in the heat for over 9 hours, and really needed a coke!

We had a wonderful time at the 2010 Hotter N Hell Hundred. Next year is the 30th anniversary of this great rally. Start riding a little now, build up some endurance, and go with us next year! You’ll love it!

Ready for the HHH

2010-08-24T12:05:00.002-05:00

In 2008 and 2009, I rode 100 miles at the Hotter n Hell Hundred at Wichita Falls with my son TJ, and 12,000 - 14,000 other cyclists. This year, TJ is still going for the 100 miles, while my younger son Josh and I will be riding the 25 mile route. This will be Josh's first bike rally, and 25 miles will be a good distance for him, and it will be a good distance for me as I recover from my littel mishap on my last rally.

I've been riding about 10 miles every morning before commuting by bike to work, and Sunday afternoon TJ and I rode 15 miles to Palmer and back in the 105 degree heat. There is a cold front rapidly approaching, and we expect the high at the HHH to be in the mid nineties. Josh and I will be finished by mid-morning. TJ will be out in the heat, but probably not as long as 2008 and 2009 when he was having to wait on DAD!

I'm already making plans to do the 100 next year...perhaps both of the sons...and maybe a daughter and daughter-in-law or two...will join us? Stay tuned!

Riding with the Mrs.

2010-08-17T08:48:00.002-05:00

It has been fun riding in the dark mornings for the past few weeks because Mrs. Bicycle Bill has been getting up with me at 5:30AM to ride. We both have lights on the bikes, and in town the streetlights help a lot.

Today we rode especially hard, as we got a good, early start and I thought we could get 10 miles in. We almost made it, as my odometer showed 9.8 when we locked the bikes back up. We also averaged almost 13 miles per hour, which is pretty good for in town with traffic and stop signs and such, although in the early mornings we actually see very few automobiles. We can find a number of small hills to climb on our early morning rides, and today I think we found all of them! We are both feeling them a little, but she actually thinks that is a good thing!

Macho Bicycle Bill

2010-07-26T19:49:00.007-05:00

Last Saturday, I went to the local hardware store to purchase some U-bolts to attach a front rack to my commuter bike. Tim “The Toolman” Taylor from the sitcom Home Improvement made it especially cool for guys to go to the hardware store. There’s so much stuff to look at, projects to dream of, tools to lust after….(insert barking sounds here).

Unfortunately, I failed to take pictures of the trip to the hardware store. However, my daughter came in from Hawaii (vacation, she doesn’t LIVE there) and offered to buy a pedicure for me. At this point I should probably lie and say I’ve never had a pedicure before, and I only went because I had not seen my daughter in a while and she BEGGED me to go. That would not be honest. I’ve had several pedicures, the first was on a cruise about four years ago.

Frankly, I really enjoy having a pedicure. My feet have never felt better, and after they finish with the toes, they massage your feet and legs…(insert barking sounds here)…and I did take pictures at the nail salon.

So here is Bicycle Bill's daughter, Mrs. Bicycle Bill, and Mrs. Bicycle Bill's mom. Who sang that song "Macho, Macho, Man"?

Fat Tires

2010-07-26T19:25:00.002-05:00

If you go back and read the early history on this blog that tells about my first foray into bike riding since I was a kid, you’ll see that I started out with a mountain bike. After a couple of long rides on the mountain bike, I soon desired a road bike for the long rides, and maybe became a bit of a bike snob about it, because I had been told that the mountain bikes were “wrong” for the rallies, even though I had done away with the knobby tires in favor of road slicks.

Well I haven’t exactly abandoned the skinny tires, but I have fallen in love with my hybrid bike in just a few weeks of riding it on my morning 7 to 10 mile rides in town and for commuting and errands. It is not just the width of the tires, though that is part of it. It is more the lower tire pressure that the wider tires require. I generally run 100 psi in the skinny tires on my road bike. That tire pressure is necessary for a clydesdale rider like me to avoid pinch flats and possible rim damage from hitting pot holes and other road hazards in town.

The wider tires run about 70 psi, so they absorb more of he bumps in the road. If someone asks me what kind of bike I’d recommend they consider for their first time back on a bike in a while, I’d probably suggest a hybrid today. If they really want to get into riding long distances at rallies and such, then the road bike is the way to go, but if most of their riding will be done in the city, I’d have to say the hybrid is the bike of choice.

Mrs. Bicycle Bill's Birthday Bike Ride!

2010-07-21T20:08:00.004-05:00

Today is Mrs. Bicycle Bill's Birthday! She did not HAVE to ride her bike to her birthday dinner, but she wanted to! Plus, she wanted to get a few miles in before we stopped to eat, so we road North from home, then back South to Don Jose's for delicious Mexican Food. We try to eat light on bike rides, but that's kinda hard at Don Jose's. We made a total of about 8 miles, had a wonderful time, and no, I don't think we broke any speed limits on the way home!

Road ID

2010-07-13T20:02:00.002-05:00

I would be remiss if I did not tell you about one very important piece of "equipment" that I always have when I'm on my bicycle, and, since my recent experience, I have it all the time. It's called a Road ID, and it gave the doctors in the emergency room my wife's and son's phone numbers so they could get in touch with them while I was having my recent heart attack. I think the picture speaks for itself. Click on the picture to make it bigger if you want to read what I have engraved on mine. You can get one at www.roadid.com.

Spinning and Coasting

2010-07-10T14:46:00.004-05:00

Back on the bike again two weeks after the heart attack.

Two weeks ago, I left the Cow Creek Country Classic Bike Rally in this helicopter for a quick, ten minute ride to Baylor Hospital in Dallas.

Spinning on the bike refers to staying in a low, easy gear and spinning the pedals rather than hammering down in a high gear. Everyone knows what coasting is, and so went my ride today for the first ride of any distance since the heart attack two weeks ago.

Early this morning, while the streets were still damp from the rain, I “spun and coasted” to Starbucks for the typical breakfast of oatmeal and and bold, black coffee. I stayed there for a while and worked on tomorrow’s Sunday School lesson, then leisurely rode home.

Hey! I’ve got a new old bike! I purchased this bike just to get the 700C wheels for the Trek 510 that I recently rebuilt, but the bike is so relaxed and comfortable, I put my fenders and rack on it and plan to use it for my commuter and errand bike. It is a 1993 Trek 700 Multitrack. This bike has wide tires that are very comfortable, although it would not have been considered a “high end” bike when it was new. It has a very basic 18 speed drive train with twist grip shifters. I’ll never ride it 100 miles in one day, but for commuting and errands, I really like it.

I left the house again around 11:30 to get a little more spinning and coasting in.

It was good to get back on these two local streets, Preston and Sleepy Hollow. I've ridden on them so much, they seem like old friends. Dirty, wet, bumpy old friends!

Today was humid, but not unbearably so, and the cloud cover is keeping the temperature tolerable.

I put in another 7 miles, stopping for lunch after about 5 miles at Los Aztecas Market. I had the chicken quesadillas with rice and beans, and it was muy bueno! Mrs. Bicycle Bill and I have stopped there to eat several times, and we have never been disappointed.

So I'm feeling great! I have a followup visit with my cardiologist in early August, and I expect him to order a stress test to see how the old ticker ticks, but as far as I am concerned today, Bicycle Bill is BACK!

The Cow Creek Country Classic Heart Attack

2010-06-27T12:06:00.003-05:00

Several folks have asked "what happened?", so here it is!

It was a really beautiful start to the Cow Creek Country Classic Bike Ride. With a 7:30 am starting time, the weather was still pleasant. Rhonda went with me to ride the 19 mile course with our friend Jenny Vidrine, and my son TJ and friend Joe Vidrine were riding with me on the 36 mile course.

I've never felt better on my bike than I did at the beginning of this rally. TJ rides faster than Joe and I so he wasn't always right with us, but would allow us old guys to catch up from time to time, and I knew we'd see him at the rest stops. Joe and I have not known each other long, but had a lot to talk about...much about bikes, but other stuff, too. The first ten miles seemed to fly by...very few hills to climb, and the wind was mostly at our backs.

Just as we left the 10 mile rest stop, I got a flat on my rear tire. (Of course it was the rear tire, it's ALWAYS the rear tire!) While I was fumbling around wasting two co2 cartridges, some guys from Mad Duck Sports stopped and repaired it. Bicycle shops are represented at almost all of the rallies, and what a great assistance they are. I was back on the road in no time!

The next 10 miles had more hills and was more into the wind, but I still felt GREAT! Maybe it was the nice conversation with Joe that made this ride seem so easy, but it really was never a struggle, until....

At 19 miles we passed a bike car wash, and I thought maybe it was also our next rest stop, but there were not a lot of bikes there, so we rolled on by. Sometime during the next mile I began experiencing some chest discomfort. I felt like if I could rest for just a few minutes, it would pass (it has always done so before), but we still needed to make it to the next rest stop. The discomfort was bad enough that I began to get concerned that the car wash had actually been a rest stop, so there would not be another one until another 10 miles passed. I told Joe that I needed to stop so I could check the map, so we rode on to the top of the next hill and pulled off the road.

Neither Joe nor I will ever be known as cartographers. I'm still not sure where we were, but Joe was pretty sure the next rest stop was close, so we pressed on. It was only about a mile or so to the next rest stop, but it was a long way for me, The "discomfort" in my chest was moving towards "pain". When we got to the rest stop (it was about 12 miles from the previous one), rather than head straight for the water and sports drink as I usually do, I laid down in the first shade I could find. It was the shade of the port-a-potties, but still shade!

Joe had told TJ that I was not feeling well, and when TJ checked on me, the pain was going through my chest to my back. I have never failed to finished a ride like this, and it was a hard decision to make, but after TJ gave me some Gatorade, I told him to let Joe know that I was gong to SAG on to the finish, and TJ loaded my bike in the back of the SAG truck.

I actually felt bad about dropping out. I figured that after I was in the truck for a few minutes, the pain would subside, and I would regret my decision. I REALLY like to ride my bike. The pain did not subside, and actually intensified, so I had Rob Cagle, the SAG driver, take me to the hospital ER.

A LOT of stuff happened there, but in summary, there was an elephant on my chest that needed to get off! They asked me on a scale of 1-10 how intense the pain was, and I chose "8" most of the time. I figured it was at least two steps short of having a baby.

It seemed like a long time before the pain subsided, but probably was a lot less time than it seemed to me. I had three nitroglycerin pills, one aspirin, three shots of morphine (gotta love that stuff) plus some other stuff that I don't know what was. Eventually, they gave me the "clot buster" and it worked., By the time the helicopter came to fly me to Baylor Hospital in Dallas, the pain was gone.

It only takes 10 minutes to get to Dallas by helicopter, and since I was feeling okay, I looked out the window like a tourist. The flight was smooth with very little turbulence, so aside from being strapped to a gurney, I enjoyed it.

I can not say enough about the care I got at Baylor Waxahachie and from the care flight team. I thank God for them.

I also have to thank my beautiful wife, Rhonda for the strength and encouragement she gave while I was in the ER, and TJ for "riding like the wind" to get to he hospital. He got the call that I was in the ER and was probably 7 miles away. He looked for a SAG vehicle to carry him, but there wasn't one, so he raced to the hospital on the big chain ring and little sprocket all the way! You'd have to be a cyclist to know what that means, but it means a LOT to me. Some other riders were following him, thinking he was just racing for the finish line...he had to stop and tell them he was headed for the hospital. Sure hope those guys aren't still lost in Waxahachie.

I can't say enough about how our friends Joe and Jenny dropped everything to help us out. They took care of Rhonda and the bikes, plus got the prayers started for me.
I had not been in my hospital room 5 minutes before Doug and Pam Stokes arrived, and soon after, my room was overflowing with friends and family. My prognosis is good...I'll have a heart catheter on Monday to check it out, but I don't expect them to find anything. Thanks to all of the professionals, friends and family, I'll be back on the bike in no time. Thank you all for your continued prayers.

Preston Street Garage Sale Saturday

2010-06-06T18:48:00.012-05:00

This beautiful, tree lined street is one of the main thoroughfares from North Ennis to downtown. There are beaufiful homes on either side of the street that comprise the Templeton McCanless Historic District, where many of the homes were constructed in the early 1900's. We live on just North of the historic district, and our house was built in 1945. For the past several years, neighbors along Preston have held simultaneous yard sales during the first weekend in June.Although the temperature would eventually reach the century mark for the first time this year today, the morning was perfect for two wheeling around town. I started at Starbucks for my most common breakfast of loaded oatmeal and strong black coffee.

These pictures show just a couple of the sales. Baylor Baptist Church had a sale on their vacant lot that benefited the children's ministry. At another sale, I saw a heavy duty bike rack for sale for $200.00. That's a pretty high ticket item for a yard sale, but I sure would like to see some racks like that installed around town.

Most folks I know don't take the time to read the historic markers in their own hometown. Ennis started out as a railroad town and both my father and grandfather worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Ennis has a really nice railroad museum, really worth going to see. My father also used to tell me about Miss Katie Daffan. Apparently she was somewhat of a local character, but a brilliant lady who made significant contributions to the state's literature and journalism.

I rode out to Braums for lunch, not EXACTLY on my low cholesterol diet, but maybe I rode enough to cycle through the extra calories!

After lunch I rode out to the hospital to visit a friend. Ennis is very fortunate to have this medical facility in our community, and it took a significant effort by the city and the hospital in partership to have this beautiful new building as part of our town.

I spent several hours on and off the bike today, from about 7AM til 2PM. The weather was great, and from a bicycle, you get to interact with so much more than you can in an automobile. I posted this last picture to show the newest addition to the bike I rebuilt as my commuter bike...fenders! They aren't too important on a day like today, although they did keep water from splashing up on me when I went through the Baylor street railroad underpass that was still holding water from the last rain.

Til next time...tailwinds!

Rebuild and Repaint an Old Bicycle

2010-05-02T20:44:00.012-05:00

After the rim on the real wheel on my commuter bike cracked, I decided to upgrade it to a more modern wheels. I put the 700C wheels from my Fuji road bike on just to make sure the brakes would reach, and noticed some popping coming from the bottom bracket, so I thought it should be overhauled. I had previously noticed a small amount of rust occurring around the braze ons on the top tube that the rear brake cable runs though, so while I was going to be "almost" down to the frame anyway, I decided to take it on down to just the frame and fork and repaint!

This is what the bike looked like when I started. It is a 1983 Trek 510 that I have had for about 3 years and have really enjoyed. I rode it on the first Hotter 'N Hell 100 at Wichita Falls, and now I use it as my main commuter bike.

Mrs. Bicycle Bill came out and took this photo. Perhaps you can tell...I REALLY enjoy doing this!

I painted the frame with black semi-gloss automotive paint.

In case you've never seen one, this is what the parts inside an old bottom bracket look like. There is more to the disassembly than meets the eye, but it is really not too difficult with the proper tools.

Here is is, all greased and back together in the frame.

With everything off the bike, it was a good time to clean all the parts that are hard to clean. This is the dirty chainrings. I cleaned them both, but only put the smaller ring back on, because I seldom use the large ring for riding around town, and also decided to remove the front derailleur.

Dirty rear derailleur.

Rear derailleur all cleaned up and back on the frame!

Here it is, all back together! I had enough shifter cable to replace it. When I get the new wheels, I will also get new brake cables and housing, and probably some new fenders. This will be just like a having a new bike...I feel like a kid in a candy store. I'm really looking forward to riding this one again!

Bad Day to Bicycle

2010-04-27T20:26:00.005-05:00

It has been a bad week on the bike! Monday I had a flat on the commuter bike as I left the office, but I put the spare tube in and was good to go, but there was a "clicking" noise that I could not identify on the way home, but I finally determined it was a broken spoke...not a big deal, usually. I took the wheel to a bike shop, and the rim was cracked, so I have to purchase a new wheel. My commuter is a very old bike with 27 inch rims, so it is really time to upgrade the front AND rear to 700C rims. Then, tonight, Mrs. Bicycle Bill and I were going to go on our regular evening ride to Palmer and back, and I had a BLOWOUT five miles from home! (Of course it was on the rear wheel.) I put the spare on, and my attempt to air it up with a CO2 cartridge was woefully unsuccessful. I'll never ride without a frame pump again. Mrs. Bicycle Bill rode "like the wind" back home and brought the car while I walked my bike two miles. She would have made it back sooner, but got caught by a train (of course)! Here are the photos of today's so-called "bike ride".

Rambling Around a SMALLER Town....

2010-04-09T21:33:00.013-05:00

Today was a beautiful, sunny Spring day, so I packed a light lunch and rode North from Ennis to Palmer. The ride to Palmer is one I do regularly as a short training ride, often accompanied by my wife, Rhonda. I had the day off today and she had to work, so I rode solo. We like this ride because we can go straight out Main street from Ennis, and after crossing FM 879 at Garrett, there is almost no traffic; it is almost like having a designated bike path there is so little traffic!

I stopped at the gazebo that is on main street next to the railroad tracks. Doesn't this look like the perfect spot for a picnic on a Spring day? Tomorrow this will be a rest stop for the Lancaster Country Ride that is sponsored by the Greater Dallas Bicyclist. I rode their 46 mile route a couple of years ago, but will have to miss it again this year because of some other committments. It is a really well managed rally with some great roads through bluebonnet fields if you ever get a chance to participate in it.

I love to see Old Glory paint the breeze, even if she is a little tattered. I've got some friends in Palmer that I'm pretty sure will donate a new flag to replace this one next week.

I carried a light lunch, but I was tempted to leave it on the bike and go to Jenny's Cafe. Jenny's has real good food, and on Friday nights the place is packed with patrons enjoying the food and the live, local entertainment. It's almost like, karoke, but it is a live band that apparently can play just about anything you want to sing. Check it out some Friday night!

Looking East and West down FM 878 or Jefferson Street, one of the main streets through town. This really is small town America.

Just South of the downtown area are these two charming old buildings, the First Baptist Church and the Griffith/Blocker home. The church is very active, and recently built a new building for their child care ministry. Mrs. Frances Ann Blocker lived in this home for years until she passed away a few years ago. I remember Mrs. Blocker as one who was very proud of her community and very interested in its historic preservation.

This is a photo of Wester Insurance and Real Estate. James Wester started this agency many years ago, and now my friend Jerry Wester thinks he runs it. James is still there most every day though, so I figure he is still in charge, but humors Jerry by letting him THINK he runs the agency!

Leaving the Palmer Metropolitan Area, you might be able to tell it is an uphill trip back to Ennis, and against the prevailing Southerly winds. This is where it becomes a training ride more than a joy ride. I averaged 15mph going the 7.5 miles to Palmer, and my average speed when I got home was just over 12mph. You can do the math and figure out how much difference uphill and against the wind make on a bicycle. It is still a lot of fun, though!

EARLY Morning Ride

2010-04-07T19:42:00.008-05:00

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Today I decided to get a little exercise on the bike, then ride back home to clean up before the commute in to work. Since it is only about a mile to the office, I can come back home clean up, and then pedal leisurely into the office, fresh as a daisy!
This view looking North on Preston Street reminds me of when I was a kid delivering the Dallas Morning News. Early mornings are generally quiet and peaceful. The amber lights around Ennis are a lot different from what we had in the 60's when I was growing up, but they are softer and helped make the ride more pleasant. One thing I had not thought of before I left the house was the swarms of bugs that flew towards my headlight, and therefore all over me!Well I passed a herd of COWS! Do you know where you would find cows near a nice neighborhood in your hometown?

As I was riding South on Park Street, I passed my first field of bluebonnets. They were not really photo worthy yet, but a real harbinger of Spring. I think by this weekend, a ride to the country will be in order to get some bluebonnet photos.

I was not the only guy out getting exercise in Ennis this morning, if you look closely you can see a man walking on the nice concrete path on top of the dam at the old lake. Another thing I see a lot of these days on my commute to work in the mornings is school buses. Back in the day, the buses only ran for the kids that lived in the country, if you lived within two miles of your school, you went by foot, bike, or private car. I'd love to see more kids walking or biking to school again....

Ramblin' Around a BIG town!

2010-04-03T12:24:00.024-05:00

Rather than cruise around Ennis this morning, Rhonda and I took her vintage Univega Gran Rally and my Fuji Newest 1.0 about 35 miles North to ride in the Tour Dallas. The Tour Dallas is held about this time every year. We first participated in this rally two years ago, and have looked forward to returning. We rode an easy 20 miles this morning with about 4000 other cyclists. The photo above is the Dallas skyline looking North from City Hall. The skyline has changed a LOT since I worked there in the late '70's!
The rally started from in front of Dallas City Hall, but the closest parking we could find was in front of the Federal Building a few blocks away. It was a little cool before 8 this morning, but Rhonda was dressed for it...we are just about ready to head for the starting line. Here also is a picture of City Hall. Yes, the building does look like it is going to fall on you!
This is the view from the starting line...it looks like a sea of cyclist...but I commented to Rhonda that while there were about 4000 cyclist here, at Wichita Falls there will be about 14,000 for the Hotter N Hell Hundred in August.Our starting position was between City Hall and the Library. This is a picture of the picture that hangs on the side of the library, encouraging use of the facility by children. Aren't you glad we have such a nice library in Ennis that gets so much use by our youth?

The City flags showed how little wind there was this morning, so different from the gales I have been riding in all week. It was a beautiful day for a bike ride...YOU should'a been there!

In the shadow of skyscrapers, the camera flash reflects off of the luminescent cycling gear.Riding one's bicycle with a large group of cyclists with varying degrees of experience requires concentration, at least until the crowd begins to thin out. Rhonda is concentrating on the other cyclists, as well as the road conditions. All of the precipitation and cold winter has caused significant road damage in Ennis as well as Dallas. We saw one of the biggest bike wrecks ever on one of the Dallas bridges two years ago when the cyclist front wheel went into a crack in the road surface, stopping the bike abruptly and sending the cyclist over the handlebars.

This photo is looking across the viaducts towards the Dallas County Jail.

The city architecture blends the old with the new.

Since we only rode 20 miles, we stopped at only one rest stop. Most bicycle rallies have a rest stop about every 10 miles. The Tour Dallas always has plenty of wonderful volunteers serving at the rest stops, and this one was well stocked with water, gatorade, fruit, cookies, trail mix, etc. You meet the nicest people on these rallies also.

These two photos are of "finish line village", back in front of Dallas City Hall where we started. They had delicious pizza for all of the participants, along with other booths to visit and entertainment. Bicyling as a sport and/or hobby is really a pretty inexpensive proposition. Bicycles are really not too expensive if you use them for transportation to replace your automobile for short errands, and going to a rally like this is a lot of fun. Rallies usually cost around $25.00 to enter, and most of them give you a tee shirt, perhaps a water bottle or some other useful souvenier, plus many of them feed you afterwards, not to mention the goodies at the rest stops. Try it...I think you'll like it!

So You Think You Know How to Ride a Bike....

2010-03-28T20:32:00.014-05:00

It was a beautiful day in Dallas for Traffic Skills 101, by the League of American Bicyclists! Yes, it was kinda cold. Yes, the North wind was blowing. But this class was originally scheduled for last Sunday when it SNOWED! So it was a beautiful day in Dallas! There were eight students in the class, and the ratio of instructors to students was amazing!
The class included 4 hours of online instruction before the "hands on" drills. About half the time today was drills in the parking lot, the other half was on the streets of Dallas. In this picture, I am riding my bike in a zig zag pattern (a pretty tight pattern), just to get used to some tight turns, and getting a feel for how your bike handles.
One of the drills was to scan back over your shoulder, as if you were checking for upcoming cars to change lanes or make a turn, while maintaining a straight course with your bicycle. Try it, it is harder than it looks! The person in the background would hold up one or two arms, and the cyclist had to scan, maintain his position, and call out how many arms were in the air.
This picture is of Tim and George and me. Tim works for the City of Arlington and commutes to work like I do. George also commutes to work and is a member of the Lone Star Cyclist that sponsor the Tour de Italia in Italy, Texas each June. The Tour de Italia was the first bicycle rally Rhonda and I rode in 2006, and George was in charge of it that year. It's a small world, isn't it?
This picture shows George in the "Quick Stop" drill. We slammed on the rear brakes, then the front and rear brakes together, then the front and rear brakes together AND slid back off the saddle. It was amazing to learn how much quicker one could stop a bicycle in an emergency! Notice how attentive the instructors were, making sure we were safe performing this difficult manuever!
This is not particularly good photography (they missed my face!), but it certainly shows the intensity and seriousness of this drill. I'm a pretty happy guy, and I like to smile for my photos, but this was obviously pretty important! I'm really appreciative of the League Cycling Instructors that put so much time and effort into teaching these skills to knucleheads like me!

These two photos are of Richard Wharton and Sherry Lewis, two League Cycling Instructors that were SO helpful. I hope to be a League Cycling Instructor when I grow up. After the parking lot drills, we got really practical, and rode several miles around Dallas, on six lane roads, making lane changes in traffic, moving from the right lane to the left turn bay to make left turns and just generally being "traffic". It was a bicycle confidence inspiring day!
Rhonda was there, too! She drove me and my commuter bike up there, then spent the day shopping and having lunch with our son T.J. and his wife Kristina. She hung around and took pictures for a while when we were getting started, and I am so thankful to Gail Spann for getting a picture of her! There are several more pictures of this class on my Facebook page, courtesy of a really sweet and beautiful lady I'm so glad to have as my new friend, Gail Spann. Gail is a League Cycling Instructor and is in the picture of me showing how to stop really fast! She was going to catch me if I fell over. (Yeah, right!) YOU are not too old, or too out of shape, or too anything else to ride a bike. I ride every day, I absolutely love it, and I want you to come join me! It will make a kid out of you, again!

A Slow, Snowy Start to Spring

2010-03-21T09:37:00.016-05:00

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

You'll recognize the poem by Robert Frost, "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening". Well, I was not in the woods and it was not evening, but it certainly was snowy on this second day of Spring in North Central Texas. My Sunday morning routine is usually a short bike ride to town to get a newspaper, then a lazy cup of coffee perusing the latest news. There was no reason for this morning to be any different, just because of a little snow. I would not recommend that you choose today for a long bike ride though. It is 32 degrees with a howling North wind!

I call this my grocery bike, and I think the bike is as old as I am. It is a Huffy Savannah Comfort Touring bike that I purchased for a 20 dollar bill at Dr. Jeter's estate sale. The only thing I really had to do to it was put new tires and tubes on and lubricate the chain. With the wide 26 inch tires and fenders, it is my go to bike in bad weather. Today qualifies as bad weather. Some would call it a girl's bike. I call it a "step through frame". It had a basket on the front when I got it, but the basket was broken, so I replaced it and added the newspaper baskets on the rear. I can haul a lot of stuff on this bike, and with the three speed internal gears, it pedals pretty easy.

This tree is adjacent to our front sidewalk and the street in front of our home. For the past week or so it has been covered with beautiful white blossoms that floated like snowflakes to the grass below as the wind blew. Now it is covered with real snow, and I'm sure the blossoms will be gone as the thaw comes.

As I turn South from Linden Street to Gaines Street, the wind is at my back and I am very comfortable in my rainpants, light jacket, mittens, and ear muffs. It will only be a short ride to town and back, but I am glad I decided to ride the grocery bike in lieu of taking the car. I would actually be colder in the car, because I would not have dressed as well, and the heater probably would not start having any effect until I got back home.

Tom's Food Market is one of the few neighborhood groceries that still exist. It is not open on Sundays, so I have to go into town to a major chain grocery for the newspaper. There are newspaper racks that have the weekday papers for purchase, but the Sunday edition is no longer vended this way because they cost $3.00 now, which makes them subject to theft. I delivered The Dallas Morning News from age 7 til I was 18. When I started the daily paper was 5 cents, and on Sunday it was a quarter. I still enjoy reading the hard copy, but I'm afraid its days are numbered, and we'll soon get all the news from the internet or television.

If it has 8 sides, we stop, even if it is covered with snow!

Don't you just love this great old building? I'm so glad it is still used by our local school district. This is the building that was the High School when I graduated. I pass by it most mornings when I take my short commute route to work, and there are usually young people walking or being dropped off by their parents or school buses. Sadly, few students bike to school these days. I'm thinking that may change in the future.

The future of education in Ennis is bright though. Just to the West of the old high school is this new intermediate school, which will open this fall as a state of the art facility. It is a beautiful addition to our community, and it is named for Jack Lummus, who graduated from Ennis High, played football at Baylor University and for the New York Giants, and was killed in action as an army lieutenant on Iwo Jima during WWII. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery and heroism as he led his men in battle.

Could this be a bike lane in front of the new school? It is not, but could it be? Hmm....

Another great old institution and example of a neighborhood store is Amelia Ann Florist. Although ownership has changed a number of times since I was a kid in Ennis, the store has not changed much. My memory of this store is that it was where most people purchased corsages for banquets and mums for homecoming. They always had the greatest holiday decorations, especially at Christmas, and you can see through the plate glass window that the tradition continues with the Easter Bunny in full view!

I am almost at my destination. This is looking East on Ennis Avenue from Clay Street. Not much traffic on a snowy Sunday morning, and the amber turn of the century street lights cast a peaceful glow over this thoroughfare.

Some friends of ours that formerly lived in Dallas purchased this beautiful old frame home a few years a go and restored it to its present lovely state. It is so picturesque in the snow with the white picket fence and the flags hung from the front porch. Ennis has a lot of nice, new homes, but there are some great old ones also. This home may be near 100 years old.

This last image is looking East on Knox Street, towards the railroad tracks from McKinney Street. We still fly old glory in Pierce Park. I still thrill to see her paint the breeze. Long may she wave!

So Spring has sprung in Ennis, Texas...next month brings Bluebonnet Trails (they should be gorgeous this year). It's going to look like spring soon, just stay tuned.

"Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost:

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Read Any Good Books Lately?

2010-03-12T08:34:00.007-06:00

You might have the impression that riding a bike is a hobby for me. You might be right. My kids will probably tell you that when I decide to engage in a new hobby, I get very involved in it and try to learn everything I can about it. I did the same thing with golf; I read instruction books, I practiced, and I subscribed to publications such as "Golf" and "Golf Digest". I've done the same thing with a couple of other hobbies, such as shooting and locksmithing. Huh. Some of you learned something new about me!

It has been a really good week commuting to work. The weather has warmed up, and I only rode in the rain a couple of times, and it really was not much rain while I was riding. I increased my commuting distance a little each day, and this morning I rode about 10 miles by riding out Main Street towards Palmer. Rhonda and I ride to Palmer often in the evenings when the weather is warm. I was a little disappointed this morning with how much the road has washed out, but I also acknowledge that it has been a cold and wet winter!

Sorry, I digressed from the topic. Back to the books! The pictures show my library of books about cycling. There are books on bicycle maintenance, bicycle rider conditioning, bicycle tours, bicycle commuting, and personal experiences of other cyclists. I think it is interesting that two of the books call themselves the "complete" books. At least one of them must have been "incomplete". Of course, no cyclist would have a library without at least one book by Lance Armstrong.

I could write a review of each book for you, but I'd rather just let you read what interest you and decide for yourself without my influence, but if you have a question about one, sent me an email bicycle.bill@att.net and I'll get back to you. I promise! Check your local library for books about cycling, or let me know and I'll be glad to loan you any of mine.

There is also a wealth of knowledge about cycling on the Internet. Maybe in my next post I'll include a list of some of the web pages that I read.

Come Saturday morning....

2010-03-06T15:44:00.006-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBDe0xVjwFA&feature=player_embedded

You can cut and paste the link above (sorry you can't just click on it) to your browser address bar to see and hear a good video of "Come Saturday Morning". I guess my "friend" in the song is my bicycle.

Saturday morning dawned breezy and beautiful...the alarm went off at the usual time, and I only tarried momentarily before greeting the day. The sun had not yet made an appearance, but being on the cusp of Spring, I was looking forward to its arrival.

The short ride to Starbucks was brisk, but hot coffee and delicious oatmeal with brown sugar, fruit and nuts and a nice conversation with a stranger warmed things up quickly.

From Starbucks to Lions Park is "all the way across town", but really not too far for a cool March morning bike ride. The property for Lions Park was acquired in a monumental fund raising effort by the Ennis Host Lions Club a very few years ago. The City of Ennis made a great contribution to the park in the construction, playground equipment, and continued maintenance, but the local Lions take an active part in the park with a standing committee that assembles at the park monthly to make sure it is kept clean. The park is an asset to our community, and there were a number of citizens using the park's walking/jogging path to get their exercise this morning. I have taken my grandson to play at the park, and it really is okay with me to comply with the green sign.

I insisted that my picture be taken "working", lest the Lions Club Tailtwister (Lion Bill Cox) think the only reason I rode my bike to the park was to be the photographer.

Often Lion members bring their children to help work at the park. In this picture you see Lion Jim Haberman with his daughters, along with Lion Ed Wright and Lion BicycleBill.

From Lions Park, I rode back across town to Ennis' best kept secret, Kenny's Bike Shop (no, you've never heard of it and you don't know where it is), but Kenny wasn't there, so I'll get a picture next time. Then back across town to the post office, and further for a visit at Lion Ben Fry and Tammy's garage sale, where I pointed out to Ben that he owned a frog gig, which he assumed was a pecan tree shaker, since that was all he had ever used it for. That will probably cost him a quarter Wednesday. If you were a Lion, you'd understand!

It's like Spring!

2010-03-04T18:48:00.005-06:00

What a beautiful day! This morning I extended the commute to about 4 miles each way, then when I got home Rhonda wanted to get a little exercise, and rather than go for a walk, she agreed to go for a bike ride.

We rode South about 4 miles out to the new Jr. High/High School, then rode around on all the nice flat pavement out there. It was against the Southerly wind on the way out, but the wind pushed us all the way home. It wound up being about a 10 mile ride, and we got home just as the sun was getting low in the Western sky, and the air was just starting to cool down. It was a wonderful way to wind down the day, riding bikes with the love of my life!

A Cold, Rainy Commute!

2010-03-01T18:09:00.001-06:00

Today was not the coldest, wettest day I've commuted to work and back, but I wanted to put this post up so you could see that the weather should not keep you off your bike, unless you just want it to. I took this picture right after I got home. The temperature was about 40 degrees, and it rained just about all day. I have on my regular work clothes under the rain pants and a light waterproof jacket over a fleece vest.

One of the most important things for me is the ear muffs! They really make a difference when the weather is in the 40's or lower. When it is much colder, I wear a full balaclava that covers most of my face. Another very important clothing item is the mittens that are resting on the pannier. They are waterproof and insulated. The only time I wear them is when it is a cold rain, other days just fleece gloves or other light gloves.

I also like my dorky riding glasses. They have a special prescription insert (which I could not do without) and they are large enough that they protect my eyes from the rain and wind. And speaking of "dorky", how about that rear view mirror! I don't need any surprises coming up behind me, and I also don't mind getting over to let the faster vehicles pass.

This bike is a 1983 Trek 510. It is the first road bike I purchased, and I turned it into my main commuter bike recently. The handlebars put me in a more upright position than the drop bars that were on this bike, and being more upright improves my vision of the other vehicles that I encounter on my commute. Notice the plastic fenders that I added. It was difficult to make fenders fit this bike, because the bike was never intended to have fenders, but fenders make the ride on a rainy day! They really help me remain clean on the bike (and they keep the bike cleaner) because the spray from the tires is not thrown up on me or the bike.

Many cyclist think this is the most important part of the commuter's bike, the rear blinky. This little red light has 10 led bulbs that can stay on constantly, or blink in about 10 different configurations. It is VERY bright!

This front light may be as important as the one on the rear. It is a very bright light that can also go into a blinking mode. There are two things to consider when putting lights on a bike, one is for the light to help you see, the other is for the light to help you be seen! I actually have one additional light on the bike that is a blue blinky on the front, and if you look back at my helmet in the photo of me above, you'll notice a small light on it also. Hopefully, everyone can see me coming!

The final picture of my commuter bike is the pedals. I chose these wide platform pedals because there are several starts and stops on my commute, so it really was of no benefit to have pedals with straps or clips. I can wear the same shoes on my bike that I will work in all day, although I do keep an extra pair of shoes at the office just in case my shoes get too wet or muddy on the ride.

I have another bike that I ride when the weather is REALLY bad, and still another road bike for longer distance rides for fun and more exercise. Stay tuned for pics of them to come!

A very good Saturday...

2010-02-27T19:02:00.000-06:00

Today was a good day, worked with a chainsaw most of the morning cleaning up the broken limbs from the snow, then took a bike ride to the library and had a nice lunch with a new friend and fellow cyclist. Later I rode the bike to visit with the inlaws and rode back home. Riding in the cool evening air is one of my favorite things...but I'm pooped now! Sleep should come easy tonight...ZZzzzzzzzzz

The Final "History"

2010-02-25T20:04:00.000-06:00

Here are some miscellaneous photos to get you up to date with Bicycle Bill! I have purchased used bikes for my wife, children, their spouses, my grandchildren, my sister, and a couple of friends. We've been on a number of group rides, and I have accumulated my share of spandex and lycra! I'm still going to do the rallies, and plan to do the century at Wichita Falls for many years to come, but I have also discovered the great benefits of using the bike for transportation. More on that later....

A little more history

2010-02-25T19:48:00.000-06:00

We rode a couple of more bike rallies on the mountain bikes, but it was becoming clear that if road bike riding was to be the sport we wanted it to be, we would need to move up to road bikes. I knew very little about bikes at all, certainly nothing about road bikes, but I started reading about bikes both in printed literature and via the internet. In October 2006, I went to an estate sale and ran across this 1983 Trek 510.
I absolutely could not pass it up, since the price tag was a measely $5.00! I knew enough to know that Trek was a quality brand, and the bike had obviously been well cared for; it had all original components, right down to the Avocet leather seat, and even the leather was in great shape!

I updated the stem and bars, put on new tires and tubes and eventually upgraded the saddle. I started taking longer rides on this bike, and in 2007 completed my first century at the Hotter 'N Hell Hundred in Wichita Falls, Texas. It was difficult, and I could never have made it without my son T.J. pulling me along, but I did finish it, and that was when I really felt like I could call myself a "cyclist", and I also felt like I was fully recovered from having stents put in my heart the year before.

Getting Started...History

2009-10-06T13:53:00.001-05:00

After having two stents put in my heart in January 2006, I was looking for an activity that I could consistently enjoy that had more aerobic benefit than playing golf several times a week. I dearly loved playing golf, but seldom found others at our small golf club willing to walk, and riding in the golf cart provided very little of the kind of exercise I needed.

Being 51 years old and having not ridden a bicycle since college, I was actually afraid of riding on the road with automobiles! So, in October of 2006, my wife and I each purchased an inexpensive mountain bike and took it to a local park to ride. After riding two miles, I hurt in places that I could not remember ever having pain before, and I was exhausted. We put the bikes back into the back of my pickup truck for the seven mile ride home. I would have to admit to feeling discouraged with my new exercise hobby.

However, the next time we rode, we were brave enough to get on some residential streets in our neighborhood, and actually rode a little over three miles. My confidence boosted, we actually looked forward to expanding our distance next time! Eventually we stretched the route to 8 miles, then 10, then finally 15, with a rest stop at the halfway point of each extended distance.

Continuing to ride the mountain bikes, by May of 2007 we had built our confidence up to the point of participating in our first organized group ride. Our daughter, Kelly, was living in Indiana at the time, and thought we should build up to the point where we could come to Indianapolis in October to ride the "Hilly Hundred". We knew if we were going to do a "Hilly Hundred" we should get some "Flat Thirty's" done first.

While Kelly was in town during June, the three of us decided to carry the bike by pickup the 20 miles over to Italy, Texas to ride in the "Tour de Italia", a group rally that several hundred cyclist participate in. The rally is sponsored by the Lone Star Cyclists from Grand Prarie, Texas, and they do a wonderful job hosting it!

We left Ennis in a torrential rain about 5:30 in the morning. All the way over there, the three of us talked about whether we would go through with the ride or not. After all, it was our first group ride, and we wanted to enjoy it, and the thought of riding 30 miles in the rain did not REALLY appeal to any of us. As we pulled into the Italy High School parking lot, our plan was to eat some pancakes (a tradition at a lot of rallies), pickup our souvenier T-shirt (another tradition) and ride back home with the bikes still in the truck! However, just as the starting time arrived, the sun broke through the clouds and we decided to ride!

Rhonda was apprehensive about the 30 mile distance, and her plan had been to take the shorter, twelve mile route, and wait for Kelly and I to finish the thirty. But as we were leaving, she said she did not want to be left out, and would ride with us at least to the first rest stop, then catch a SAG (Support and Guidance) ride back to the school.

To make this long story a little shorter, we all made it to the first rest stop and Rhonda felt like going on with us. About the time we left the rest stop, the bottom dropped out of the clouds and it rained steadily on us for the next 20 miles...but we all finished the ride!

We were all proud of what we had accomplished, and it would be the first of many rallies for Rhonda and I.