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.

Bicycling in Colorado

We enjoy spending time in the summer in Summit County, Colorado. In fact, we enjoy the weather and cycling so much that we try to go almost every year. This part of Colorado caters to bicyclists of all skill levels with miles of paved bike/hike trails between Breckenridge, Frisco, Dillon, Keystone, Copper Mountain, Vail, and more. Between Summit County and Vail Valley, there are over 400 miles of trails and back country roads. Some of our favorite rides include riding up Vail Pass, Loveland Pass, Montezuma, Glenwood Canyon, and Swan Mountain Road around Lake Dillon.

One of our most challenging rides is always from Frisco up to Vail Pass and down into Vail Village. Of course, then you have the return trip, too. From Vail Village back up to Vail Pass is 15 miles with 2,500 ft of climbing. About half of this part of the return is on an old abandoned road the remainder is bike trail. Once back at the summit, we are rewarded with almost 15 miles of downhill to Frisco. If you only want the downhill portion of the ride, the local bike shops will take you to the top of Vail Pass and let you ride down.

One of the easiest rides is around Lake Dillon and on up to Keystone Resort. In the past, we have had to climb Swan Mountain Road (with the vehicular traffic) on the return. But it is well worth it for the views. Since our last visit, they have completed the bike path over about half of this section. If you don't want the climb, however, just turn around and follow the same route back. Be sure to make a stop at the Osprey viewing. We've seen baby osprey's in the nest in previous years.


A little west of Vail is Glenwood Springs. You can pick up the Glenwood Canyon trail near the hot springs and ride for about 17 miles at a 1-2% grade along the river, then turn around and have a slight downhill for the return. Do this ride early in the day, though, because the wind can pick up in the afternoon and the downhill won't seem downhill at all.

You can choose to take an easy ride along Lake Dillon or challenge yourself with a trip up to Vail Pass and beyond. For the true hill climbers, there are several passes you could enjoy riding.... Tennessee Pass, Fremont Pass, Loveland Pass, Independence Pass, and more. You are sure to find a 14,000 ft climb if that's what you are looking for.

We didn't cycle every day. There are many, many great hiking trails. Although, at times, we like to cycle in the morning and do a short hike in the afternoons. And, yes, we do take a day off every now and again but the area is so beautiful that we want to be outdoors enjoying it. One of our favorite hikes is Shrine Ridge Trail along a mountain ridge with lots of wildflowers. We also like the hike up Mount Royal which is along the bike trail in Frisco. But, fare warning, if you are not used to steep hikes, your legs may not be in shape for cycling the next day.

There are several day trips we have enjoyed. Rocky Mountain National Park is about 2 1/2 hours from Frisco. Mount Evans is about 1 hour away and the Coors Brewery is about 1 hour away. We love the drive over Independence Pass which brings us to Aspen. And we may just hang out in Summit County or drive over to Vail Valley. There is always something going on in this part of Colorado.

All in all, this is still one of our favorite spots and we highly recommend Frisco and Summit County as a very affordable and bicycle friendly location for vacationing.