"Cyclists in Suits" Day at the Capital - Austin, TX

It's time once again to head to Austin, while the legislature is in session, to lobby our Representatives and Senators to pass the Safe Passing Law. Basically, the Safe Passing Bill will require motorists to allow at least 3-feet of distance before overtaking and passing a cyclist as well as other vulnerable road users, ie. wheelchairs, pedestrians, tractors, etc. Thirty one of us boarded the BikeDFW bus early Monday morning, April 20th, for the trip to the capital. We arrived in Austin about 8:00am and met with a delegation from BikeTexas as well as other cycling clubs in Texas.

First, we were welcomed and briefed by Robin Stallings, Exec Dir of BikeTexas. Next, a lobbyist discussed tips for visiting elected officials and their staff. We broke into our assigned groups, each which had a team leader that had participated in this event in previous years. Each was assigned particular representatives and senators to visit.

We headed to the capital and the House Chamber where they were meeting in session. Representative Linda Harper-Brown, co-author of the Safe Passing Bill, recognized our group and, boy, we were an impressive group. Next, we are off to the Senate Chamber where Senator Rodney Ellis, co-author of the Safe Passing Bill, recognized our group. Again, we were quite the impressive group of cyclists.

Most of the Representatives were in conference or on the House Floor but we did talk to two Representatives and many of their staffers. The staff are who review the legislation and make recommendations to their bosses on what to support. Everyone was extremely friendly and seemed to be receptive to the Safe Passing Bill. Some had little knowledge of the bill while others were very familiar with it due to the number of emails and phone calls they had received from cyclists.

After completing our lobby efforts, everyone met at the north entrance of the capital where BikeTexas had arranged for photographs of the group. Our day is now complete at the capital and we head to the BikeTexas offices. On the way, Robin Stallings announces that the bill will go to the Senate Floor for a vote tomorrow.

The event, once again, was very educational and we felt we did some good in making our position known on bicycle safety and the Safe Passing Law.

The RESULT is good news, bad news. The bill passed both the Senate and the House and was ready for approval by Governor Perry. Thinking that Gov. Perry was not signing the bill but going to let it pass without his signature, we were all very disappointed when, on the last day, our governor VETOED the bill. He vetoed 31 other bills that all passed both the House and Senate.

The cities of Austin and San Antonio have since implemented "the safe passing law" for their cities. We expect more Texas cities to do the same in the near future.

Natchez Trace from Natchez, MS, to Nashville, TN

Just imagine cycling for 445 miles with smooth roads and very low traffic but without a single stop sign, billboard, or trash on the side of the road. You will not have any loose dogs, stores, gas stations, or large trucks. This is the Natchez Trace Scenic Byway which travels from Natchez, MS, in the south and goes all the way north to Nashville, TN.

Along with 5 other couples from our cycling club and Black Bear Adventures, we cycled the Natchez Trace in May 2008. We started our journey from the Monmouth Plantation, took a quick tour of Natchez, and almost immediately we entered the Trace. This is the Deep South. As we cycle the Trace, we see Spanish moss hanging from the trees, pass historical sites of Emerald Mound and Mount Locust, the old Sunken Trace, and more. We stop in Port Gibson for a late lunch, take a side trip to the Windsor Ruins, reminisce over the day's events, and enjoy a delightful dinner at a local B&B.

Day 2 took us 69 miles to Jackson, MS. This day was very HOT and there were times when the miles and miles of trees and grass along this portion of the Trace could seem monotonous. But there is so much history and the road is so smooth that it makes for great cycling.

The next 3 days of cycling included 80-90 miles of riding each day. We cycled the shoreline along the Ross Barnett Reservoir and stayed in the rustic cabins at the French Camp B&B. The next morning we cycled to Tupelo, the birthplace of Elvis Presley, passing more historic Native American sites. This was our last night in Mississippi. As we began riding the next day, we experienced the rolling terrain of northwest Alabama, passing more Indian mounds and crossing the Tennessee River before reaching our home for the next 2 nights in Florence, AL. Here, we had a choice of cycling or spending the day sightseeing or pampering ourselves with a massage or just whatever we wanted to do. Paul and I elected to do a short 20 mile ride with a few others, then a massage in the afternoon, and relaxation the rest of the day.

Once on the road again, we are headed to Linden, TN, where we pick up our U-Haul for taking our bikes/luggage back to Texas. This was our last stop before reaching Nashville. This day was fairly uneventful but we did notice the terrain is starting to become a little hillier.

Our last day, we are headed to the Loveless Cafe at the northern terminus of the Trace in Nashville. We were all feeling good today and Paul was leading the pack. However, due to some unforeseen events, we had to miss the last 40 miles of the Trace, which is by far the hilliest portion.

We'll have to return one day just to do the last 40 miles and eat at the famous Loveless Cafe.

Bicycling Missouri's Katy Trail

In May 2008, we had the pleasure of cycling the Katy Trail in Missouri with 2 other couples. We began our travels in Clinton and headed east toward St. Charles.

Day 1 took us 65 miles along the trail to Pilot Grove. We read that Texas folks would consider this part of the trail as "hilly" whereas people in the Ozarks consider it "flat". This was definitely the hilliest part of the trail with the remainder being relatively flat. We started riding about 9:30am and about 6 miles out, it started raining. This caused parts of the trail to get soft which made it feel as if we were trying to ride through mashed potatoes at times.

Day 2 took us from Booneville to Jefferson City. This isn't the type ride you get on your bikes and see how fast you can finish but, rather, one in which we took our time to explore the trailheads, little towns and cafes, and historical sites such as Daniel Boone's gravesite and Judgement Tree. Just as we reached the Jefferson City trailhead, it started to rain again.

It continued to storm through the night but the weather had cleared before we started out on our bikes on Day 3. We woke up that morning to 45 degrees and a 30 mph north wind. The storm left downed trees across the path every few miles but we learned to maneuver over, through, and around the trees and debris on the trail. This really added to our trail experience. We rode 43 miles from Jefferson City to Hermann/McKittrick this day.

Day 4 was beautiful. The rains were gone and the further east we rode, the harder packed the trail became. We stopped at Weldon Springs so we would have time to visit with friends in the area. But we all agreed that riding to St. Charles, the end of the trail, would have been very easy that day.

In summary, we rode 204 miles in 4 days. Now that may not seem like a lot of miles to some but the fact that we were on our mountain bikes and the trail was soft made it much more difficult than had we been on pavement with our road bikes. We stayed in hotels the first and last nights and enjoyed 3 wonderful bed & breakfast inns in between. We all had a really great time.

Easter Hill Country Tour

The Easter Hill Country Tour (EHCT) takes place in, you guessed it, the Texas Hill Country... specifically the areas surrounding Kerrville and Fredricksburg and is held Easter weekend every year. Just imagine a multitude of 2-lane country roads dissected by green valleys, rolling hills, rushing creeks, limestone cliffs, a small town or village here or there, and you have the Texas Hill Country. This is also cattle country and there are many historic ranches, including the LBJ ranch, that continue to remind us we are in Texas.

The EHCT is 3 days of riding on some of the most beautiful and challenging roads in the state of Texas. We ride primarily on lightly traveled ranch roads with short distances on any highways. The rides are fully supported with SAG support and numerous rest stops stocked with lots of goodies.

Friday's ride usually leaves out of Fredricksburg with 3 different routes ranging from 25-65 miles in distance. Saturday's ride leaves out of Kerrville with 3 distances ranging from 35-100 miles. Since most people head home on Sunday, the ride is shorter with a choice of 20 or 30 miles.

The EHCT is sponsored by four area bicycling clubs: Fort Worth Bicycling Association, Houston Bicycle Club, San Antonio Wheelmen, and the Austin Cycling Association. Each club hosts the ride every four years. For the last 37 years, this event has been noted one of the premier cycling events in Texas and we expect that tradition to continue for years to come.

Enchanted Circle - Red River, NM

The Enchanted Circle ride is a century circle which starts in Red River, NM, and circles around to Taos, Angel Fire, Eagle Nest, and back to Red River. This ride is always the weekend after Labor Day in September. If you are looking for beautiful scenery and some challenging hills, this is the ride for you.

The Sitzmark Lodge on Main Street is usually our home for a few days. The ride normally takes place on Saturday now so we make a little vacation out of the trip. We usually arrive on Wednesday to give us a couple days to get accustomed to the altitude and take advantage of some of the best Mexican food in the area.

There's a short ride up the canyon that is nice with rolling hills. These seem a little more like small mountains since the oxygen is a little thinner in Red River. Another training ride we will do before the 'real' ride on Saturday is to head down to Questa and back. It's downhill for almost 13 miles so that means we have to climb the same 13 miles to get back to town.


On Saturday, we start early in Red River, usually with tights and jackets to keep us warm. We shed some of this by the time we get to the rest stop, 25 miles out, at Arroyo Hondo. From there, we ride another 10-12 miles to Taos where there is another rest stop at the Kit Carson Park. Now it's decision time. Do we try to find a ride back to Red River or do we continue on the trek. Okay, let's continue the ride this year. We'll ride 18 miles uphill to the top of Palo Flechada. We are definitely ready for another rest stop at this point. The next few miles are downhill but be careful, there are some pretty hairy turns on the way down toward Angel Fire.

We'll pass by the Vietnam Memorial as we skip the out and back section of 14 miles going toward Angel Fire Ski Resort and back. This will make our trek only 86 miles but with these tough climbs, 86 miles is plenty. This section is relatively flat but typically straight in to the wind. Once we get to Eagle Nest, we head up toward Bob Cat Pass and then the last 4 miles to Red River will be downhill. It's 17 miles to the top of Bob Cat Pass but the last 2 miles are by far the most difficult. The downhill makes for a nice finish to a long, challenging ride.

Of course, there are things to do here besides cycle. In addition to visiting Taos and a few historical sites, there is the Wild Rivers Recreation Area with some great hiking trails, located just north of Questa.

Cycling the Pacific Northwest

This was a self-supported tour with 4 other couples from our cycling club and our first real cycling tour. We thank Rickey Wray for putting this together, making all the arrangements, and being our tour director for this trip.

We started our trip in Seattle. First thing after breakfast, we rode to the ferry which took us across to Bainbridge Island, one of the larger islands in the Puget Sound. This was our longest day of riding.... 100 miles. Of course, since we were self supported that meant that we could jump in and out of the SAG van at any time. A couple of the guys did ride the full compliment of miles. Others stopped at the lunch stop, Fat Smitty's, while a few of the girls took advantage of the SAG for a while and then started riding again after lunch. Us girls rode parts of the Olympic Discovery Trail until we saw a sign that mentioned a cougar siting. At that point, we called Paul and Brad to come get us. As it turned out, we were tired anyway and another cyclists told us we still had about another 5 hard miles to go before we reached town.

We stayed at the Inn at Rooster Hill in Port Angeles, a B&B we highly recommend if you are in the area. The following day, a couple of the guys ventured up Hurricane Ridge while the rest of us rode the Salt Creek Park loop. We rode along the Little River Road, made a stop of the Joyce General Store, cycled the shoreline, and passed under some WWII bunkers before returning to the inn.

Another ferry ride the next morning to Victoria, BC, in Canada and a short ride to Sidney and the Sidney Waterfront Inn. This was a beautiful ride along the coastline; probably the most scenic of all the days. We had rain the next morning, so we all went sightseeing in Victoria at the Royal British Columbia Museum, had a bite for lunch, and stopped by a local bike shop before returning for an afternoon ride. Our ride took us out to Butchart Gardens. Some of the group toured the gardens. Paul and I had been through them before so we did a load of laundry and then rode out to meet everyone.

We are off for another ferry ride, this time to Orcas Island. There was a lot of fog which put the ferry schedules behind and our SAG was late arriving on the island. Once on Orcas Island we had to ride a short 12 miles in the rain. We stopped in town for some wine, though. Paul carried 3 bottles in the backpack and Brad carried another bottle in his camelback. Do we sound desperate?

Light rain and fog the next morning so we went sightseeing around the island. The afternoon was beautiful so most everyone went for a spin. Everything was very green and just beautiful with little to no traffic and just hilly enough to make you work hard at times.

The next morning we caught the ferry from Orcas Island to Anacortes. Once in Anacortes, it was raining again. Since we were self-supported, our van would hold all of our luggage, 6 bikes, and 6 people. That meant that 4 people had to ride at all times. This was not a problem til today. Paul along with 3 of the other guys rode 60 miles in the rain to Mukilteo; even crossing over Deception Pass. Boy, were they dirty and muddy when they finally arrived.

Our last full day before heading home and we shuttle everyone back to Seattle. We took some time to explore the famous Pike Place Market, took a short ride along some of Seattle's bike trails, then packed the bikes for the return trip home.

We have to give Rickey credit for organizing this trip. He found us great bike routes with low traffic and beautiful scenery. The weather was typical Washington State weather... usually fog and light rain in the mornings with sunshine in the afternoons.

Talimena Scenic Byway

Spanning the highest mountain range between the Appalachians and the Rockies, the 54-mile Talimena Scenic Byway opens a showcase of natural beauty and extraordinary views. Wide valleys and majestic peaks stretching to the horizon mirror the changing colors and moods of the South's four distinctive seasons. One breathtaking panoramic view follows another as this national forest scenic byway winds along the crests of the Oachita mountains between Mena, AR, and Talihena, OK.

Just north of the town of Mena, the scenic byway meanders along the crest of Rich Mountain. Atop Rich Mountain lies the Queen Wilhelmena State Park and the Queen Wilhelmena Lodge which served as our home base for the weekend. Our ride started at the Lodge and went along the byway for 42 miles, making the round trip ride 84 miles. Paul and I both had every intention of cycling the entire 84 miles when we started out. That changed quickly as we started up the first few mountains.

We found ourselves riding over the peaks rather than around them. The hills are steep and include 2 climbs over 1500 ft. We would grind our way up one side and then find ourselves screaming down the other side. The steeper it got and the more we climbed, the more tired our legs were. There is very little traffic on the byway (mostly motorcycles) and what traffic is there usually is taking it slow so they can enjoy the views. It was best to look around and take in the views while climbing in order to take our minds off the constant grinding. Looking straight ahead only showed us the hill we were climbing and sometimes the next hill coming up.

We made it to the lunch stop which was at 40 miles. I stopped at this point and helped with the SAG driving. Paul had lunch and then headed back to see how far he could go. After about 2 miles of climbing the hills, he stopped as well. We headed back to the Lodge, picked up our truck, and went back out to check on the other riders. Some were walking the steep hills while others were still pedaling. The return trip included what's known as 3-mile hill. Yes, you can just imagine what kind of climb this is. On the way down, I remember pulling on my brakes almost the entire time.

Back at the lodge and cleaned up for dinner, the Buffet awaits. Our group met for dinner and reminisced over the days events. We congratulated those who made the entire 84 miles as well as everyone who rode any part of the byway. Let me assure you, this is not a beginner ride. It is one of the most challenging rides we have ever done. And one of the most beautiful.

Even if you don't ride bikes, it's worth the trip just to drive the byway and see the beauty of the mountains.