Day 400 - Pre-Hurricane Ride

The first hurricane of the season, named Alex, is headed for the Rio Grande Valley. It was projected to make landfall Wednesday night in northern Mexico about 100 miles south of Brownsville. Instead of making hurricane precautions at my house, I called for pre-hurricane ride. Got to have your priorities straight. Bike first, hurricane second. LOL. The National Weather Service was projecting hurricane Alex to dump 6 to 12 inches of rain on us. That meant the trails would be flooded for a few days to a week. Headed out to the trailhead and met up with Nick, Grape, Marty, Marcos, Tweezer, and Ridehard. We took turns leading the group and putting in a good, fast pace. You know it is a good ride when people hit the dirt. Tweezer went down on one of the loose Berms. Ridehard also hit the dirt. We ended up doing at 10 to 12 miles. Satisfied I went home to get ready for the hurricane.

Day 395 - No Fear Grape

Rode with Grape today at the trails. Grape is one of the best mountain bike riders in the club. He's fast and has no fear when it comes to riding, especially technical stuff that no one else would dare ride. I remember on a ride at Sullivan City back in 2008, when he did a gnarly, 20 foot, descent down a steep, rocky drop that was scary just looking at it. That's the picture I took of him riding it. What made it more impressive is that he rode it on my old Trek Fuel since his bike was messed up. He just hoped on it and rode it like it was nothing. Anyway, back to our ride. Since it was just him and me, I was expecting it to be a fast ride, since there would be no one to slow us down. I was wrong. His back was wack. He rode slow and gingerly, not wanting to aggrevate his back. He managed to finish the new lap and we finished up our ride. I hope his back gets better. I don't like riding slow. I like the No Fear Grape.

Day 391 - That's Why Its Called Tweezer

Nico and I rode our singlespeeds on Saturday morning at the trails. I had brought him his fixed bike and he was looking forward to trying it out. We hit the trails with him in the lead. He put in a fast pace. I was impressed. We were flying on the Upper Levy Run. He kept up the pace until Jackhammer when we slowed down for a while. He enjoyed riding his singlespeed. I took this picture of him as he came blazing around a turn. His singlespeed is fun to ride, since he has a high rise stem. His handlebar position almost feels like you are riding a chopper. We were riding along fine on Tweezer when he came too fast in a turn and I heard a loud crash. He went down after losing his front wheel in the loose dirt. Luckily, he fell next to and not into a cactus. He did pick up a few cactus thorns, which he pulled out with a tweezer. That's why it is called Tweezer. We mounted our bikes and rode, finishing up where we started on the Upper Levy Run. He made all the climbs. It was a fun ride.

Day 389 - Grass in My Shorts!

Ate a bunch of my mom's chicken salad - yummy! - before I headed out for a bike ride with Ridehard. Bad idea. Ridehard said we were going to take it easy. He must of meant in the parking lot, cause he took off like a rabbit as soon as we hit the trails. We completed half of the new lap up to El Gato climb and I had to stop because my stomach hurt. Stood still for a a minute or two hoping my stomach, which was turning summersaults, would settle down. It didn't help. Something wanted to come out. Hastily, I bummed a small roll of toilet paper from Ridehard and went off to find a secluded spot in the tall grass. I dropped trou and squatted, trying not to poop on myself. Quickly it came out. It was mushy. I wiped, pulled up my shorts and started walking back to Ridehard. As I walked back, I kept feeling something poking me. I stuck my hand into the back of my shorts and felt around and pulled out a few long strands of Johnson grass. I has grass in my shorts! It must of gotten stuck in there while I was pulling up my shorts. It was comical, like the scene in a movie where the roll of toilet paper gets stuck in someone's pants and trails behind them as they unknowingly walk around as everyone laughs. We shared a good laugh, got back on our bikes, and finished up our ride. Mountain biking tip: always carry tp in your camelback, and always check your shorts before you pull them up! LOL.

Day 387 - Tired of Being a Skinny Scarecrow

After months of procrastination, I finally began weight training. I'm tired of getting pushed around and being called a "bag of bones". Ha, if you remember those print ads you're old, like me. The real reason is I wanted to strengthen my core. Mountain biking works the legs, but not the upper body. I purchased an e-book online on a MTB-specific workout with dumbells. Took some exercises from it and added my own. My workout consists: situps, pushups, plank, curls, overhead press, reverse lunges, and squat. I started with 10 lb. dumbells for the curls, press, lunges, and squat. I do three sets of repetitions of each exercise, except for pushups. I could only do 5 pushups. How pathetic! I'm hoping that increasing my core strength will lessen the back soreness that has been lingering with me for the past 6 months. Will see if it works. I don't like lifting weights. It feels like a chore. It is not as exciting as riding my mountain bike. Will see how long it lasts.

Day 386 - Singlespeed Workout

I rode Sunday afternoon. Took out my singlespeed for a spin. She was getting lonely since I had ridden her in a while. Enjoyed my singlespeed ride. It is a good leg workout. When you want to accelerate on a singlespeed you have to stand up and crank. Same goes for climbing. I think I may be too spoiled when riding my full suspension bike. It's easy to stay in the saddle and spin. You can't be lazy when riding a singlespeed. The only thing I don't like about riding my singlespeed is my body takes a beating. Been seriously thinking about moving to a 29er singlespeed to smooth out the trail. Today marked the third consectutive day that I have ridden. I rode Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I estimate I have ridden 30 miles this week. For me that is good.

Day 385 - The Cure for the Hangover

Was dragging most of the day. Had a few too many frosties last night celebrating the wedding. Popped two aspirin in the morning and drank a lot of water. Ridehard, on of my riding buddies, called up and asked if I wanted to ride later in the afernoon. I didn't feel so great, but said yes. I met him at the trails at 6 p.m. and we got in a ride. Mcfly, one of our club members, was out there when we got there so he rode with us too. It was hot so we spun at a moderate pace, around 13 mph. We rode all the rideable trails, putting in nine miles. Cooled down with a cold Session frosty when I got home. Its a black lager brewed in Oregon. Good stuff. Felt much better afterward. A ride and a cold frosty. The cure for the hangover.

Day 379 - Drop the Hammer!

After putting in a hard day of trail maintenance on Saturday morning at Mission, I rewarded myself by going down to Brownsville on Sunday to ride the Monte Bella Park trails. Ridehard and a few of our club members met us down there for an afternoon ride. I suspected that is was going to be a fast ride since some of the fast guys -- AC, Hector (that's Hector climbing in the pic), and Richard -- were going. My suspicions were confirmed less than 50 yards into the ride when Hector puts up a fast pace. I'm content to stick to his wheel with AC in tow. I thought the first lap was fast, until AC took over on the 2nd lap and dropped the hammer! I managed to stick with him for 1/2 of the lap until we got into the twisty stuff when he dropped me. I thought I would have an advantage on the tight stuff since I was riding a 26" wheel bike and he was riding a 29er. Boy was I wrong. Those big wheels had much better traction. He also pedaled through the turns. I usually coast through turns. I hadn't thought about it before, but I noticed that by constantly pedaling through the turns he was able to accelerate quicker out of the turns.I need to work on that. We rode another lap and replenished our lost carbs with a couple of ice cold frosties before heading home.

Day 378 - Fixed at Last

Fed up after weeks of trying to fix Nico's bike into a singlespeed, I had dropped the bike off at the bike shop to see if they could fix it. I had already replaced the middle chainring, and had the rear wheel trued, and it still skipped under power. Well it turns out the bike shop couldn't fix it either. They couldn't get the chain sized to the proper size. That was the same problem I had. Then a light bulb clicked on brightly in my head. "Why don't you go down to a smaller cog on the rear wheel so it requires less chain and will engage more of the cog teeth?" He was running a 15T. So I ordered a 14T, which is what I am running on my singlespeed. It came in and I installed it and removed the extra links and viola -- the chain fit like a glove. Now for the moment of truth. Hesistantly, I got on the bike and started to pedal. I stood up and pushed down hard on the cranks and it didn't skip!! Problem solved. I was even able to remove the chain tensioner that he was running before. Fixed at last.

Day 369 - Live to Ride Another Day

Since the trails were flooded, Grape, Nico, and I loaded up and headed out to Sullivan City for a ride. Sullivan City, 15 miles west of Mission, is usually rideable, even after a rain because the terrain is made up of loose rocks over dirt. We got there at 6 p.m. and rode for an hour. We only rode 6 miles. But those 6 miles were hard. We were either struggling up long and steep climbs, or hanging on down long, loose, rocky decents. The 6 miles seem like 20, and we found ourselves frequently stopping at the top of the climbs gasping for air to catch our breath. Nico went down once as he was changing lanes in the loose rock. The last time Grape went to Sullivan, he endoed and knocked himself unconsious for a minute, which was scary. So, I was relieved that we all made it out of there in one piece to live to ride another day. I took this picture of our bikes in the back of the pickup as the sun began to set on the horizon on another day of riding.

Day 368 - Tear in my Beer

The skies opened up and poured down on the trails on Wednesday, dropping two to three inches of rain in Mission. I drove out to the trails to see how bad it was. After I parked, I hopped on my mountain bike and rode the Hike and Bike to survey the flooding. Boy, it was bad. Easy Rider was completely underwater as you can see from the picture. It is going to be a few days before the trails will even be rideable. Waiting for the trails to dry out isn't the bad part. It's the growth of the grass and the explosion of the mosquito population is what I'm dreading. Just when I felt we were catching up after putting in lots of hours in May doing trail maintenance. Mother Nature just won't cut us a break. This isn't Seattle. It's not supppose to rain here this much. It's enough to make a grown man cry. Sob. Sob. Sob. There's a tear in my beer.

Day 367 - Squeak. Squeak.

Don't you hate it when your bike squeaks and you can't figure out what is causing it? That's one of my pet peeves. An expensive bike that you pay a couple of grand for should not squeak. A few months ago my Anthem X2 started to make squeaking noises when I was riding it. It began after I bought and put on a new Specialized Phenom saddle on my bike. So I tighten the bolts on it. Went riding. Squeak. Speak. Took off the seat and cleaned it. Put it back on. Squeak. Squeak. Took out the seatpost and greased it. Went riding. Squeak. Squeak. I began to wonder, "What do I have inside my bike? A mouse?" Frustated at my inability to find the squeak, I started looking for a new seatpost so I wouldn't hear that damn squeak anymore. Was in the bike store today and asked a bike mechanic what the noise could be. He said to put grease on the seatpost bolts and rails. Went home. Greased the bolts, greased the seat post rails. Clamped the seat onto the seatpost and then torqued the bolts to the inch ponds in the instructions. When I finished I hesistantly touched it. Nothing. I put more force on it with the palm of my hand. It was quiet. I couldn't believe it. The mystery squeak had been solved. My confidence in my wrenching abilities had been restored.

Day 366 - Papa's Got a New Pair of Shoes

Hey those are my fingers sticking out of my mountain biking shoes! These Specialized MTB Comp shoes have been through a lot over the past three years of mountain bike riding. They were on during my wreck in Flat Rock, were on during my epic adventure with my riding buddies in the mountains of Saltillo, Mexico, they were with me on during my wreck that fractured my hip, and with me on my glory days of cross country racing. They have sentimental value. I'm having a hard time throwing them away. "Maybe I should keep them for parts," I think to myself. "They still got some tread in them," I rationalize. I take one look at my shiny, new pair of Specialized Comp MTB shoes that I bought today, pick up my old shoes, walk over to the trash can, lift up the lid, and and dump them. Papa's got a new pair of shoes. Time to break in some new mountain biking memories.

Day 365 - Pop the Bubbly!

Today marked my one year anniversary from the day that I was released from the hospital for my hip fracture surgery. Got up early Sunday morning at 6:30 a.m and drove down to Brownsville for the 3rd and final mountain bike race in their series. Low turnout. Including myself there were only three "expert" class racers. One of them looked like a newb. The other one was riding a 29er singlespeed. Bang, off the line the singlespeed guy sprints to the lead. I slot in behind him. I'm surprised how fast he is going on the flats. He's doing 18 mph on a singlespeed! He drops me. We get into the tight and twisty stuff. I catch up. I see I have an advantage as his big 29er wheels don't corner as quick as my 26er's do. I reach to grab my water bottle in a turn and drop it. Shit! I lose at least 15 seconds picking it up. I'm behind 50 yards as we complete the first lap. I follow him on the second lap and close the gap as we enter the twist section. I yell "trail left" and pass him. I know I will be able to put some time on him in the tight stuff. I don't look back. I got a 100 yard lead as we finish the 2nd lap. I keep the pedal to the medal for the 3rd lap and cross the finish line in first place in the male expert category. I'm stroked. What a way to celebrate my anniversary. Pop the bubbly!

Day 364 - Wrenching Gone Wild

I got in a morning ride on my mountain bike on the road, putting in 20 miles. Spent the afternoon wrenching on bikes. I pimped out my singlespeed with some new yellow brake cables to match the yellow frame paint job. I replaced the middle chainring on my buddy's bike. Tried to true his real wheel by replacing and adjusting the spokes and only made things worse. After I got through with the wheel, it was tacoed. The picture is an example of wrenching gone wild. Truing wheels is best left up to the "real" mechanics, especially when you don't have the proper equipment. I hope they can fix it.

Day 363 - Ridin' Into the Sunset

I was depressed. A sudden thunderstrom blew in early Monday morning and dumped buckets of rain on the trails. Reports that Mission received 2.5 inches. I was fearing the worst. A couple days of no riding and then grass growth. I didn't even want to think about trail maintenance. Needing a ride to take my mind to a better place, I called up Nico and Grape for a ride. We meet at MT to my surprise the trails weren't as bad as I thought. They were about 75% dry. We rode part of the new trail and then rode the Hike and Bike to Bentsen State Park. At Bensten we rode around the park. I took an awesome photo of the sun as it set on the horizon. We rode back as the daylight disappeared, ridin' into the sunset. We finished over ride rolling into the parking lot near 8 p.m. We put in 15 to 20 miles at a good pace. It was just what I needed to lift my spirits.

Day 359 - Du or Die

Woke up early Sunday morning and drove over to Mission Trails to check out Bikemaster's Du or Die. The event consisted of two miles of running, 11 miles of cycling on the road, and two miles of running that could be done as a two person team or solo on a road or mountain bike. I decided on a whim to give it a try. I lined up at the back of the pack with 60 other runners at the start. Bang! Off we went. I took off slow. I'm a slow runner, averaging 10 minutes a mile. I knew I could make up time on the bike. When I came in for the bike stage I was at the back of the pack. I changed gear and took off. Picked it up to a 18 to 20 mph pace and gradually started pass slower riders. Finished the bike ride, changed gear again and back to run. The final two miles were tough. My pace was slow for the first mile. I picked it up for the final mile, before my left knee started to hurt. I crossed the finish line at 1 hour and 14 minutes, taking home 1st place in the 40-49 year old, mountain bike category. Sweet! I wore the medal proudly as I hobbled around my house with my left knee and my right hip hurting from the race. Where's my vicodin? Now I know why they call it the "Du or Die". I felt like dying after the race!

Day 351 - Flying Ironman

Don't get me wrong. I like doing group rides. But, sometimes, depending on who is riding they can be slow. And the more people that are in the group, the more chances that someone gets a flat or has some bike breakdown that grinds the ride to a halt. So I like to get in a solo ride every now and then when I can let loose and ride fast without having to worry about dropping someone or waiting up for someone. I got in a solo ride late Saturday afternoon. After a day of trailwork in the morning and taking my son and his friend to the movies to watch Ironman II, I snuck in a ride at the trails. It felt good to be able to ride and push my pace. I was going so fast that I felt that I was flying like Ironman through the trees and down the trails. Coincidently, that was the name of the first bike I rode at the trails. A Huffy Ironman bike. It had no suspension. But it was the bike that got me hooked. The rest is history.

Day 349 - Snoticles Memories

Tuesdays and Thursdays are our normal group riding days. We met at 6 p.m. and ride for an hour or two, depending on who shows. It was a low turnout with just two other riders -- Nick and Ray - showing. But it is like I say, "if you have more than one person, then it is a group ride." Just like the time I scheduled a "Frozen Huevo" night ride. The temperature was in the mid to low thirties, which is fricken cold for deep South Texas. (We are wimps when it come to cold weather.) And one guy - Fernando - shows. So we rode for an hour until we couldn't feel our toes and fingers and we had snotsicles coming out of our noses. Here is a picture of Nick on his Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper during our group ride. Sweet bike!

Day 347 - Goodbye Joanne!

One our club members and secretary of the club, Joanne, is moving to New Mexico. We did a farewell group ride with her on Tuesday evening. A good number of Cruzers showed up to wish her a farewell and ride with her. (See picture. Joanne is on the left in the pink Cactus Flower jersey). We took it easy with me leading the group. We rode the new lap. We had 12 riders strong in a train rolling down the trail at one point. Choo. Choo!! It was a nice group ride until we lost her 1/2 halfway into the ride. I think she was swallowed up by the jungle. We will miss you Joanne!

Day 345 - Rumble in the Jungle

Got in a ride in the jungle on Sunday afternoon with Ridehard. That's him climbing out of the jungle of El Gato. The trails were still in a mess with lots of overgrown grass. Riding in the jungle can be harzardous. You can't see the trail which you can hit obstacles and have to ride slow. You can't see around corners, which makes it hard to judge your speed. And the grass can grab you and take you down, as Ridehard discovered. We dropped into the 6 feet tall grass that lined the entrance of Shady Oaks. I was riding in front. I made it through. I turned around and no Ridehard. Suddenly, I heard a noise. Sure enough he had crashed. The tall grass caught his handlebars and steered him off the trail and into the grass. He fell and landed on his right shoulder. It wasn't too bad. Fortunately, the tall grass also cushioned his fall or his crash would have been worse. LOL!

Day 342 - Welcome to the Jungle

You know that Guns and Roses song "Welcome to the Jungle". The lyrics go "Welcome to the jungle. It gets worse here everyday. Ya learn ta live like an animal. In the jungle where we play." It looked and felt like I was riding through a jungle during our weekly group ride at the trails on Thursday. The grass, from the downpoor of rain that we received a few days ago, was 5 to 6 feet high in certain sections of trail. The tall grass made for a rough ride. We couldn't see the trails so we had to ride slow. The grass also stratched up my arms and legs. And there were hordes of mosquitos chasing us. If we stopped they would attack us. After of hour riding through the jungle we headed back to the trailhead all stratched up and bitten. It wasn't a fun ride.

Day 333 - McAllister Mud

Still in San Antonio. Decided after the tough ride at Flat Rock Ranch yesterday, that I needed something easy. A recovery ride. So after work I headed over to McAllister Park. McAllister Park has 16 miles of smooth, mostly flat, and flowing singletrack. Wasn't sure on what condition the trails would be in since they had received rain over the weekend. Got 50 feet into the trails and it wasn't good. Normally dry and fast. The trails were tacky, wet, and slow. They hadn't fully dried out yet. I couldn't get up to speed. It felt like I was dragging rocks behind me. What was suppose to be recovery ride, turned into a workout. I rode for an hour on the trails that were semi-dry. I had to port my bike across a couple of stream crossings, getting my shoes and socks soaking wet. (Here is a picture of my dirty socks drying on the dash). I finally gave up after the mud got worse. Ended up getting lost and riding around the park road for 30 minutes. A fitting end to a dirty and disappointing ride.

Day 332 - Revenge of Flat Rock

It was two years ago that I had wrecked on a downhill at Flat Rock Ranch in Comfort, Texas, cracking my helmet on a rock, breaking my sunglasses, and sending me to the emergency clinic for 15 stitches to my face. I had vowed to go back and ride it again. Well, today I got my revenge! I rode both the lower and upper loop. Lots of tight switchbacks, technical obstacles, lungbusting climbs, and hairy descents. A mix of smooth singletrack and flat rocks. (That's why they call it Flat Rock). Cleared about half of the technical obstacles. Was particularly sketchy because the rocks and roots were wet and slippery from the rain they had received a few days earlier. Since I was riding by myself I was careful, but I did let loose on a few of the decents. I was pleased with my Giant Anthem, especially on climbs. It climbs like a goat. Also, my hydraulic brakes slowed me down fast when needed. I rode for 4 hours, completing 20 miles. I was exhausted. This ride ranks right up there with my trip to Saltillo, Mexico. The ride was awesome and the revenge was sweet! Check out the pic of the baby lambs I saw at the ranch. They were so cute I wanted to take them home. I love lamb chops. Baaah!!!

Day 323 - My Ass and Nipples Hurt

Fifty-two miles. A personal best. That's what I ended riding on Saturday morning on Brian's road bike. I rode with a group roadies who meet at Bikemasters on Saturday morning. I was apprehensive about riding with them, since I didn't know any of them, I had never ridden that far on a mountain or road bike before, and I didn't know what the pace was. We took off from Bikemasters and hit the road. I slotted in behind everyone else. The first part of the ride was easy because we were with the wind. We rode at a 20 to 25 mph pace. There were times they would speed up and I was in danger of getting dropped. But fortunately, they slowed down. We hit a headwind on the way back, which slowed the pace down. I stuggled a bit on the way back, but managed to keep up by drafting on the biggest guy I could find. Toward the end, my ass and nipples hurt (insert favorite sex joke here). The hard seat had taken a toll on my ass and my jersey had rubbed my nipples raw. Double ouch. I was happy to roll into the parking lot and finish the ride. Quick. Somebody pass me the monkey butt powder.

Day 321 - Lettin' the Horses Run!

Tuesdays and Thursdays are our club's group rides days. I had missed the group ride on Tuesday, so I was eagerly anticipating Thurday's group ride. I arrived at the trails a few minutes early than our designated time of 6 p.m. I waited a few minutes. But no one showed. Disappointed, I hit the trails. Put in a moderately paced warm up lap and was headed back to start lap two when I come up on Hector, Eddie, Richard, and AC who were riding. I quickly turned my bike around and joined them. The were riding at a fast past. I followed them for about a two miles until I got tired of eating their dust and dirt. I stood up and cranked the pedals and headed up front. I was feeling good and rode hard. AC, on his new Fisher Superfly 100 29er (see pic), caught up and put the hammer down. I tucked in behind him and we were off. The dropped everyone else and it was just him and me, flying down the trails. We rode at race pace for about 5 minutes before stopping to let the others catch up. It felt great to let the horses run!

Day 317 - Bike in a Tree

While riding at the trails on Sunday, I came across one of the stranger things that I have seen out at the trails. I was riding Jackhammer by myself. I had gone out to ride to work off all the frosties I had drank the night before while catching up with two old fraternity buddies from college. Anyway, I the first time I past it on the trail out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw a rim in a tree. Somebody must have bent their wheel and left it I thought. Since I was doing another lap I would stop and take a picture of it on the next lap. Thirty minutes later when I came back, I stopped and what did I see? A whole compete bike up in a tree. It seemed in good condition. The tires had air. It looked rideable. I'm not sure what it was doing there. But it was one of the oddest things I have come across. While odd, it couldn't top the time I came across a freshly severed goat head hanging by a string from one of the branches! That was the creepiest thing that I have come across by far.

Day 312 - Scratched

Went for a ride after I got home from work. Should have stayed home. The first sign was my battery on my iPod shuffle was dead. After a quick charge I headed out. About 1/3 of the way to the trails my front tire went flat. Second sign. I changed it and contemplated whether I should continue since I didn't have a extra tube. What the heck. On the trails I went. By the time I got to the trails is was nearly 7:00 p.m and only had 30 minutes of sunlight so I decided to try to do two or three laps on the Levy Run loop. Was finishing up the first lap and tried to climb the new drop from the Up and Over backward. Lost my balance and fell over on my right side. My arm scraped against a tree on the way down and scratched me up. See pic. Wasn't too bad so I keep on riding. Got home and took a shower to hide the evidence from my wife.

Day 309 - Mercedes Challenge

Drove down to Mercedes with morning with Tweezer and Ridehard to participate in the Mercedes Challenge, a 50K and 100K road tour and race. Originally we had talked about doing the 100K race, but we came to our senses and decided to do the 37 mile tour instead. I had borrowed Brian's road bike, since I don't have one. We road together with fellow Cactus Cruzers Nico, Gabby, Rosie, and Jack in a group. It was a moderate pace, spinning 16 mph for most of the ride. The last 10 miles were rough as we turned into and fought a strong headwind to the finish line. We finished the ride in 3 hours.

Day 307 - Too Many Frosties

Had one too many frosties at our bicycle club meeting last night and was paying the price. Was dragging throughout the day. Felt like a zombie. The walking dead. When I got home I didn't even feel like go riding. It was Thursday, our group ride day. Even though I felt lethargic, I decided a little physical exercise might do me some good. So I called up my buddie Ridehard and we met up at Mission Trails. We rode at a good, fast pace. Not too fast, but enough to get my blood pumping and circulating through my system. We ended up riding 11 miles. Felt much better after the ride. It was just what I needed.

Day 301 - Road Trip!

Road Trip! It's been over a year since I had taken a biking related road trip, so I was excited to be taking a day trip with my buddies Tweezer and Ridehard. We met at 4:30 a.m. in McAllen, loaded up and hit the road. Our destination was Bandera, Texas, 30 miles west of San Antonio. We arrived in Bandera at 9:30 a.m. and started riding. The trails were loose, rocky, technical. It was some tough climbing. Some parts of the trail were so steep that we had to push our bikes up. The descents were crazy too. I punctured the front of my leg on a bush while going down one. I bandaged it up and we rode for another 3 hours and then headed back to O.P. Schnable Park in San Antonio. O.P. was totally different. Smooth and fast and rolling. It was a nice change of pace after a challenging morning. After O.P. we headed home. We got home at 10 p.m. Tired and exhausted. But happy. It was a great roadtrip. Here is some footage of Bandera.

Day 300 - Riding Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge

I was off for Spring Break. Went out for a family bike ride with my wife and son at Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge in San Juan. We rode the loop that goes around the park. It is a paved path that is 8 miles long. We stopped a couple of times on the ride. We went up a 40 foot bird tower and walked across a rope bridge that put us up amoung the treetops. We stopped at the old cemetery that is in the park. It was made in 1847. We stopped to look at the ducks in the pond. We stopped to take pictures of the flowers. We finished the ride after an hour and a half. It was a nice, leisurely, family ride.

Day 296 - 30 Miles

Took off on a ride on early Sunday morning. Felt like stretching my legs so I jumped on my mountain bike and hit the road instead of the trails. Rode to UTPA in Edinburg. Once I got there I rode through the campus. Played around climbing and descending stairs and other obstacles for 30 minutes then turned around to start the trip back. I kept it in the big chain ring and little cog for most of the ride there and back. Very low cadence, mabye 60 to 70 revolutions per minute. Great strength and power workout. Fought a strong headwind on the final leg. When I got home I was spent. Did a total of 30 miles in two hours. Great ride.

Day 295 - Getting Some Bike Breaker

Rode with Tweezer at Mission Trails on Saturday morning. It's been a while since I had ridden the Bike Breaker. No matter how many times I have done it, it is always a rush. A 20 foot, 45 degree drop into and out of a ravine. I was more stroked about making the turn into the Bike Breaker for the first time. It's tough. First you have to climb in the granny gear up a 20 foot, steep and turning hill. What makes it difficult is is at the top of the climb you have to make a 90 degree, right turn into the entry of the Bike Breaker. The funny thing was I did it once but Tweezer was recording with the pocket cam so I had to do it twice. I wasn't sure I could make it two times, but I went for it and cleared it again. "Whooo...hoo!!" Here the video:

Day 293 - Night Riding on My Single Speed

With Daylight Savings Time scheduled to start on Saturday, we scheduled a last night ride of the season for our mountain biking club. Showed up and Jorge was on his bike ready to go. Unloaded my bike and put on my gear. No one else showed so we took off. I had brought my Cannondaele single speed. I hadn't ridden it in two or three months because of my back. I love riding it. No shifting. Just stand up and pedal and go. The key to riding is to keep your momentum and stay off the brakes. We had a good right. Not too fast. Or not too slow. Was feeling good and was standing and cranking more than I had done in a long time. Finished the ride by trying to climb the new Levy Loop Drop from the Up and Over. That turned out to be a mistake. I got about 1/5 of the way up and lost momentum and I toppled over in the dirt. What a way to end the last night ride of the season!

Day 289 - Getting Some Air

Got in a ride early Sunday afternoon with Tweezer. We rode most of the trail for a good hour and a half. Just as we were finishing up our ride into the parking lot we came across Roland, Jorge, Brandon, and two other riders getting ready to start their ride. We caught back in with them and rode some more. We came up to Jackhammer and hit the jumps. I took out my pocket camcorder and recorded some of action. Check out Brandon, the teenage kid in the red tshirt. That boy can sure ride and jump.

Day 283 - Recovery Ride

I was tired from the race on Sunday. So when my wife said she wanted to go ride mountain bikes, I thought it would be just what I needed -- a nice, easy recovery ride. We drove down to Anzalduas Park in Mission and then got on our bikes and rode a jeep road in Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. The jeep road runs parallel to the Rio Grande River. It is a scenic ride as you can see the river and the land on both sides of the river. We rode for two hours and by the time we got back my legs were spent. Usually it is my wife who complains, but this time I kept looking for the finish. I wasn't running my bike computer, but I estimate we rode at least 20 to 25 miles.

Day 282 - Racing Again

Today was the first mountain bike race that I competed in since my hip fracture. It was also the first time that I race my "Blue Beauty", my Giant Anthem X2. The race was sponsored by Bikemasters and our cycling club, The Mission Trails Club. It was a 6.4 mile lap at Mission Trails. The twist was the lap was raced backward, which made it harder. I finished in 4th out of seven riders in the expert class. Not bad for a 46-year-old man with a bum hip. I have an excuse now if I don't place well. "My hip was acting up." Did 3 laps for a total of 18 miles in 1:23:28 with an average heart rate of 170 bpm and max heart rate of 183 bpm. I took home a medal for my efforts, which made my day. At my age, I'm happy to take home anything. Felt good to be racing again.

Day 275 - La Lomita

My wife and I went out for a ride in the morning. We rode to La Lomita Chapel in Mission. Built over a century ago by Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the chapel supported the priests and their charities and served as a rendezvous spot for the “Padres on Horseback” en route to Roma from Brownsville. After stopping at La Lomita we rode further past the Anzaulda Bridge. We turned around a few miles after the bridge. The wind had picked up and we rode into a stong headwind on the way back. My wife bonked and had to stop at La Lomita, while I rode back to the parking lot at Mission Trails to the truck. I drove to La Lomita and picked up my wife and we headed home.

Day 274 - Getting Dirty with Specialized

Me and a couple of buddies, Grape, Tweezer, and Rayworld, came out to the Specialized Demo that was held at Mission Trails on Saturday morning. Bicycleworld brought in a big trailer full of their top-of-the-line, expensive mountain and road bikes to ride. It was like being a kid in a candy store. Ray and I jumped on some Epic 29er Marathon bikes, while Tweezer and Grape jumped on some Stumpjumper Marathon 29ers. All the bikes were running the new, SRAM XX 2x10 drivetrains. Since the trails were wet, we rode the Hike and Bike down to Bentsen. At Bentsen we detoured onto the top of the levy road. That was a mistake. Since it was caliche it wasn't too bad, but we started getting dirty from hitting small water puddles. After a mile or two we were kicking roster tails of wet dirt spray and the bikes got dirty. By the time we got back to Bentsen the bikes were real dirty. The Specialized guy, Richard, gave us a dirty look when we got back from our ride. We were having so much fun, we jumped on some $7K S-Works bikes and hit the Hike and Bike again. For the first time on a road bike it was awesome. Compared to a mountain bike the road bike accelerated like a rocket. We flew down the Hike and Bike, hitting speeds in the low to mid 30s. I could easily get addicted to the speed. After about 30 minutes of playing around we hightailed it back to parking lot. Wow. What a fun day of testing we had. It's not every day you get to ride a such expensive bikes. We had a blast getting dirty with Specialized!!!

Day 267 - Roaming Roma

Nico, Ridehard, Tweezer and I woke up early Saturday morning to drive out to Roma, about 45 minutes west of Mission to check out a piece of property for potential trail development. The City of Roma had invited us out to take a look at their property to see if we wanted to do a mountain bike race. We met up the with several City and Chamber people and they gave us a quick tour of their property. After we finished talking we hopped on our bikes and went exploring. It is always exciting to ride new trails. You're not sure what you are going to find around the next turn, drop, or climb. We stopped often and played around riding dirt mounds, hills, drops and other technical challenges. I caught our adventure on my HD pocket camcorder and will post footage. After two hours of riding we loaded up our mountain bikes and gear (see picture of Ridehard and bikes) and headed home. It was a fun-filled morning of riding with friends. You can't beat that.

Day 261 - Chasing a Golf Cart

The trails were too wet to ride from the rain we received earlier in the week, so I hit the road on my mountain bike in the afternoon for a ride. Rode from my house in Mission to Edinburg to McAllen to Mission and back. On the last leg on Conway Rd. I came upon a golf cart riding in the bicycle lane (see picture). I hammered the pedals, caught up to it, and passed it. Shortly thereafter I arrived home, two hours and 26 miles later. It was a good ride, but had way too many stops at the stoplights. That's why I like mountain biking as opposed to road riding. No stoplights. No traffic. Just flow. I can't wait to ride the trails again.

Day 254 - Retaining Pond

Tweezer and I went out to play at the retaining ponds Sunday afternoon. The challenge is to ride a complete lap around these big mounds of dirt that circle a pond of water without putting a foot down or falling 20 feet into the water below. I had tried riding it a couple of times before on previous rides, but couldn't make the climb up the other side halfway through. It's technical riding that requires concentration, control, balance and no fear. Was this my day to conquor the retaining pond? Or would the retaining pond swallow me whole in the water? Check it out. Love the commentary and sound effects Tweezer. He would make a great golf announcer.

Day 240 - Riding the Berms

Finally got in a good, hard ride. Between the weather, work, and family, its been hard to ride. This afternoon I went out to Mission Trails to take some pics of the Cactus Flowers for our website. Took the pics and then caught in with Richard and we put in a half a lap. AC, Hector, and Jesus joined us later and we had a nice choo choo train of 5 guys blazing the trails. AC (see pic) was the lead steam engine as he put down a good, fast pace. Rode some new berms on Tweezer which were cool. I ended up putting in 22 miles at the trails. It was a great ride that I badly needed to get the blood pumping.

Day 239 - Windy and Wendi

My wife, Wendi, and I went out for an early morning ride on Saturday. A cold front had blown in the night before and the temperature was in the cool 60s and it was windy. The trails were muddy from the rain so we rode the Hike and Bike to Bentsen Park in Mission. It was tough sledding against what seemed a 20 to 25 mph wind that beat against every pedal stroke we had. Despite the wind, we made it to Bentsen and stopped inside the World Birding Center to warm up with a hot tea and blueberry muffin. Yummy! After warming up we took the canal road back past the Butterfly Park in Misson, then to Military Rd.,and back to the trails. My wife kept complaining about the wind which was against us on the way back. But we made it back to the parking lot. I enjoyed the time we spent together on the bike.

Day 236 - "It's Just a Scratch"

My wife finally busted me and my knee. After successfully hiding it from her for three days, she caught a glimpse of the scab. "What's that?" she asked. "Oh, nothing," I answered, trying to blush it off. "Come here...Let me see," she demands. "It's just a scratch" I say, trying to downplay the injury. She looks at it intently. Thankfully, the scab had healed up nicely and it didn't look too bad. She then asks, "how did you do it?" I decide to come clean and tell her about my little OTB incident the other day. To my complete surprise she doesn't ground me. It must be my lucky day. Or I think it may be because it she is relieved that it is not on my face, like my last cut on the tip of my nose,which looks like I am going to have a small scar. I make a mental note to myself. Keep injuries off of face.

Day 233 - OTB DVD

We had Mission Trails Club meeting Tuesday evening at the Mission High School. Harold got us into the Performaning Arts Center. I was excited since I had ordered and was going to show "Over the Bars" a compilation of mountain bike wrecks at the meeting. I was tempted to tell my OTB story at the meeting, but that would have blown my cover, since my wife was there and she hadn't found out about my latest wreck and injury. It was an awesome dvd. Full of nasty wrecks. My skinned and scapped knee was pale in comparison to the pain that these riders experienced in their crashes. Check out the Youtube trailer. Viewer discretion is advised.

Day 232 - Hiding My Knee

I managed to hide my skinned and scraped up knee injury from my wife yesterday in my OTB wreck. After I got home, I jumped into the shower, took off the bandaids and washed up my knee good with soap and water. After I got out of the shower, I put on a bandaid. My wife was in the bedroom and heard me and asked, "What are you doing? It sounds like you are putting on a bandaid." I flatly tell her no and change the subject. I grab a pair and throw on a pair of pajamas to cover up the evidence. She doesn't notice. I walk to the bed, trying not to hobble. It was a good fall. Upon inspecting my bike when I got home, I found I had bent the left brake lever. And I had fallen in the dirt. Looks like I might have to replace it. The brake lever that is, not my knee. So much for starting the new year out without any injuries.

Day 231 - Over the Bars (OTB)

Rode with Harold and Roland in the afternoon at Mission Trails. We did the new lap and then headed over to the retaining pond to goof around. The retaining pond is a bunch of large dirt mounds that run around a pond. The abrupt hills offer a technical challenge as we tried to ride a lap around them without putting our foot down. It requires a lot of balance and coordination to navigate the dirt mounds. I made it halfway round. I went OTB (Over the Bars) after hitting a dirt mound wrong. I ended up skinning my left knee pretty good in the fall, blooding up my knee in the process (see pic). Later in the ride, Harold went OTB too, after he rolled over a fence wire that caught his pedal, stopped his bike, and sent him flying OTB. He landed on his shoulder hard. I was following him and nearly ran over him. After a few seconds he got up and brushed himself off and we finished up our ride. On the way home I bandaged my knee up, trying to hide the blood so my wife wouldn't notice. She hates it when I wreck. She told me before I left that if I wrecked I would be grounded.

Day 222 - Butt Shot

The weather has been crappy the past two days. Drizzle and cold in the 50s. Not great riding weather. So I've been couped up in the house. On Wednesday morning I woke up and wanted to ride bad. The drizzle had let up but it was still cold. I decide to do it and throw on my wind breaker, toe covers, skull cap, and warm gloves and take off. It was cold at first, but I warmed up as I put in the miles. Rode north in the bicycle lane along Conway Ave. in Mission and Highway 107 to Edinburg and back, a total distance of 30 miles. Because of the wet weather there was some mud on parts of the bike lane, which rooster sprayed my bike and my behind. See butt shot. I stop at De Alba's near my house and bought some tamales on the way back. When I got home I popped open a frosty and ate my tamales to celebrate. I had been wanting to do this ride for a while to see if I could handle the commute. If I rode each work day that would be 150 miles a week. I don't think I ready to go that hardcore yet.

Day 216 - Cool Skull X-ray

Just got back from seeing the doctor. The good news is my nose is not broken. They took a couple of x-rays at the doctor's office. They came out negative. I didn't need stitches either. Doctor says it should heal on its own. I didn't think it was broken, but my wife had insisted I get it checked out. After explaining to the doctor how my little accident happened, it turns out that the doctor and his son had ridden at Mission Trails that very same day. They're new to mountain biking and enjoy it. I told him about the club and my wife gave him the club business card. He joked how he could be the club's doctor treating us for our injuries. "That would be cool" I thought to myself. I know our club members would keep him busy!

Day 215 - Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

I get home. My nose has swelled up and is red like Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. Fortunately, my wife was not as upset as I thought she would be. I guess she has seen worse, like the time I came home from Flat Rock Ranch with fifteen stitches in the side of my face. I looked like Frankenstein! She made me take off the bandages and she cleaned it up with some hydrogen peroxide. She put some sterile stips over the cuts to keep them closed and put a bandaid over them. She thinks it is broken. I don't think so. While I feel some pain and throbbing it doesn't seem that bad. Like a mosquito bike compared to the pain I was in when I broke my hip. I down two Iboprofen and apply an ice bag to keep the swelling down. My wife wants me to go see the doctor to check. Looks like I'm going to see the doctor tomorrow. Later in the evening we go over to my wife's parents house for Christmas dinner. I get ready for the Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer jokes.

Day 215 - Little Christmas Surprise

Got a little Christmas surprise this morning while riding in Poo's Forest, a tight, twisty, trail that runs through and is covered by trees at Mission Trails. Was hauling the mail rounding a blind corner I suddenly come up on a fallen tree branch at head level. Too late to avoid, I smack the tree branch hard with my face. The branch hits me in the bridge of the nose and then scrapes across my nose. I stop and feel my nose. Blood is dripping out. At first I thought I have a nose bleed. I hastily take out a rag from my camelback and apply it to stop the bleeding. Using my digital camera I take a picture and look at it to see the damage. Had a minor cut at the top of the bridge. Another cut on the tip of the nose it worse. It is 1/4 to 1/2 inch long and is where I'm bleeding from. I take out two bandaids and apply them to my nose as best I can since I can't see my face. The bandaids stop the bleeding. I think about calling it a day, but decide I better ride, because after my wife sees my little Christmas surprise I'll be grounded. I ride for another hour and head home.

Day 206 - Three Miles

I'm been skipping my indoor cycling machine in favor of running. Since I work in my office most of the day, it feels good to get outdoors and work off my stress. Running seems to help my hip more than cycling. It also feels like I get a better workout. I ran three miles today during lunch at work, which was the farthest I have run in a long time. Ran it under 30 minutes which was 10 minutes a mile pace. Still got a long ways to go. My goal is to improve my pace so I can run with my wife next year. She runs on the treadmill three times a week and puts in several miles. I have a long way to go to get up to her level. My knee hurt afterward. I hope it is temporary.

Day 205 - Gettin' in Some Riding

The weather has been crappy lately. That with the sun going down at 5 p.m. means I there isn't a lot of time in get in a ride. After two weeks of not riding, I finally got in a ride on Sunday. In the afternoon I went out to the trail and got in a ride. Hooked up with Richard, who happened to be at the trails and we rode a lap. Hector showed up later and we did another lap. The trails were hardpacked from the recent rain and were fast. After an hour of riding I cut out and went home. Later tevening we went for our annual Christmas light ride with our cycling club at the "Festival of Light" in Hidalgo. See picture. It was a slow, fun, family ride. We finished the ride off with some hot chocolate and cookies. What a good of biking.

Day 193 - Jumpin' Fun

Here's Nico flying two feet in the air off the 'Magic Mountain' jump on the hills east of the Wetback. Along with Tweezer and I, we put in a fun three hour ride fooling around on the hills and other area on the land south of the Hike and Bike, jumping everything in site, and doing some other crazy stuff such as riding a maze of ski-like models, and dropping descents into the 'halfpipe' canal that the City of Mission is putting in on the land. It was welcomed departure from our normal riding the trails routine and we had a ton of fun. We talked about doing another "Jumping Madness #3" video as a group ride. I'm down for some more jumpin' fun.

Day 192 - Black Friday Ride

Black Friday. The busiest shopping day of the year. People getting up early to fight for parking spots, wait in lines, and the braze the crowds to get those limited specials. I'm glad I wasn't out there and part of it. I gave that up several years ago. Instead I was on my bike. I woke up early morning, put on my riding clothes and gear, and headed out to Mission Trails. The weather was great. It was in the 70s and overcast and cool. Did two laps fast laps. I had a lot of energy. Even got out of the saddle on a few climbs. I think it was all the food that I pigged out on Thanksgiving. Saw a snake on the entrance to Poo's Forest. Finished my two laps and headed home. Twenty-two miles, one hour and 30 minutes. Good training ride.

Day 191 - Bengay Smell

My legs were sore all over when I woke up this morning. My calves, hamstrings, and quads hurt. I shouldn't have pushed it by running two days in a row. It was painful when I walked. It got so bad that I had to break out the Bengay. I rubbed it all over my legs. The cream kicked in and I felt better. But my wife hates the smell. The smell reminds her of when she was a little girl and her mom would rub Vicks on her when she was sick. She woke up and said "What's that smell?" and quickly ordered me out of room. I limped my way around the rest of the day.

Day 190 - Slow as a Turtle

My hip felt so good after I went running yesterday that I decided to skip my cycling workout and go running. So during lunch I hit the track again. I ended up doing two miles in 20 minutes, which is a 10 minute a mile pace. I know that pace is slow as a turtle. I used to be able to do a 8 minute mile when I was running a few years ago. But then I was five years younger. I like running. There is something pure about it. It doesn't require a lot of equipment or gear. Just shoes and shorts. I'm going to try to run at least two times a week if my body will hold up.

Day 189 - Run Forest Run!

Today, I ran for the first time in a long time. I used to run two or three years ago. I enjoyed it. I would run with my wife at least three times a week. We would run around the high school and do two to three miles at around an 9 minute pace. I even did a 10K in Edinburg. I had to quit running after I injured a muscle in my knee while running on the Hike and Bike in Mission. I chalk it up to fate. I discovered the trails while running on the Hike and Bike. If I hadn't had injured myself I probably would have kept running. Since I couldn't run I took up biking four years ago and never looked back. Anyway, back to my story. I went for a run today during lunch at work. It was sprinkling and overcast. I started out slow with a kinda of limping gait. To my surprise after about three laps, my hip and leg felt better. I picked up that pace and was running with normal stride. I ended up running 6 laps or 1.5 miles. It felt good to be able to run again. Run Forest Run!

Day 187 - Sunday Ride

Went for a ride on Sunday morning. Have been training for the mountain bike series in Brownsville. For the past two weeks I have been riding a stationary bicycle at work during lunch three times a week. I get in a 30 minute workout, pedaling 4 miles, doing interval workouts. I'm also doing a 1 hour ride on Saturday or Sunday for endurance. I did 19 miles on Sunday on the Hike and Bike. I had a slow leak and had to keep stopping to pump air into it which kinda of ruined my workout. Anyway, it was refreshing to be back on my mountain bike, which I hadn't ridden since my last ride at Sullivan City a week ago. On the ride home from the trails I snapped a picture of the mural of Tom Landry, who was born in Mission, and coached the Dallas Cowboys to several Superbowl championships.