Adios Sonora

Adios mesquite bar-b-q dinners

Adios 15 mph wind in the face

Adios wild fauna

Adios road-kill fauna

Adios road-side lunches



Adios sticker burs

Adios bee stings

Adios truckers, roughnecks, pumpers, and ranch-hands

Adios Cody, Sylvia, Rockybear IV, and Spunkee

Adios long training rides
Distance: 38.2 miles
Average velocity: 13.1 mph
Time: 2 hours 54 minutes
Odometer: 508 miles

Adios Sonora

An Evening with my Uncle Jack

I gave my uncle Jack a call 2 weeks ago to help diagnose a squeak in my front wheel. When I had nobody to call for help I rang him because I remember as a strapping young Turk seeing exotic bike equipment (to me, that was anything not found at Wal-Mart) around Jack's house and hearing tales of his racing accolades yada yada. Although the man has hung up the helmet for good, his lore and wisdom live on strong. I decided to take advantage of Brady's (where Jack built his castle) proximity to Sonora, with no effort I convinced Cody to drop me off for a one day bike pilgrimage to extract knowledge from the legend.

I arrived at lunch time and was knocked off my feet by Susan's cooking, chicken in rice a la Mexicana, it was so good that I honored it with a 2 hour siesta. After big Jack finished his 9 to 5, we took to the backyard shop and put the stallion on the bike rack. We first pulled the front tire off and simulated tube repair, an art all bicycle journeymen must master or perish. Then we moved into tire repair, Jack is one of few in the world that has perfected this, his secret involves dental floss, rim tape, and another adhesive that is used on fighter jets (the man is connected, bada-bing). We moved to replacing brake and gear cables, then brake and gear adjustments, followed by spokes and truing, and finishing with ol' fashion pellet gun shooting Tim Taylor style, with a laser sighted rifle and a variety of gold and Hungarian ballistic pellets. If I would have had Kathy Ireland massaging me with exotic oils between rounds, this would of been the perfect evening.

We later went inside to discuss old times in the bike saddle over some of Susan's exquisite quiche (est magnifique). Then Jack pulls a fast one, and gifts me the unbelievable.

A bike raceing jersey from his team in Brady.

I'll wear it with pride.

Before turning in, Jack and I discussed his current battle with an auto-immune disease known as Multiple Sclerosis or M.S. It's a debilitating disease that attacks the cell walls in the nervous system located in the brain and spinal cord. Jack has an uncommonly bad case, his M.S. rarely goes into remission, he describes it like wearing a tight weight lifter belt, always. Jack related to me everything, the early signs he experienced (blurred vision, burning sensations, loss of feeling...), the MRI that confirmed the scarring in the brain and spinal cord, and then the various treatments he has tried and have failed. It's a scary disease, the crippler of young adults, it has forced the mighty cyclist into retirement, temporarily? What M.S. doesn't know is that Jack is a fierce fighter and a tireless competitor, I almost feel bad for M.S., it hasn't faced anyone like my uncle and if anyone woops its ass it's Jack.

The Brady visit was a success, I not only gained invaluable bike wisdom but a comrade. I'm glad I have the same blood running in my veins, biking 3500 miles in Central America pales in comparison to what Jack does on a daily basis.

The Sonora Blues

I'm in the middle of my second week here in beautiful Sonora city in the bustling county of Sutton which lies in the grand state of Texas that was the 32nd member of the US of A.
I've ridden North and South on Hwy 277 and West bound on I-10 towards the golden coast, and my conclusion is this, the climate is as angry as an old man returning a bowl of soap. If the temperature rises above 50 degrees I'm on the road (this happens about 60% of the time), and when it does I do the popular Texan past-time, oil rigging. When I do ride, the wind is either at my back and I soar with the eagles, or it's in my face and I fly like the turkey, one of those abnormal farm raised ones. But the fauna is really cool, all the animals, (deer, sheep, goats, horses, pumpers, and truck drivers), have been friendly and considerate sharing their terrain and roads.

Yesterday's trip out to the caves, 50 degrees 8mph winds.
Distance: 15.65 miles
Max: 35 mph
Avg: 10 mph
Time: 1 hour and 26 minutes

Today's northbound 277 excursion, 60 degrees 10mph winds. One hour and 10 minutes north, then 30 minutes south.
Distance: 20.38 miles
Max: 35.5 mph
Avg: 11.9 mph
Time: 1 hour and 42 minutes

The Search for Eldorado

Since the 1500s tales of El Dorado have ran wild like a California wild fire in July. The Turk was hired by the Spanish conquistador, Hernando Cortez, to guide him there, he never did. Since then the Turks have kept its destination a family secret, until now.

The Quest is Over

That's it, I biked to it Tuesday during non-stop winds, both directions, is that possible? I've refrained from posting pictures of the gold cladded inhabitants, I'll just say 3 things, Princess Leigha, Return of the Jedi, bikini, ok ok I'll just post a picture.

Very nice -->

This was my longest trip yet, and it felt pretty good, now lets go to the stats.
Stats:
Distance: 40.20 miles
Avg. Velocity: 11.8 mph
Max Velocity: 26.5 mph
Time: 3 hours and 23 minutes
Odometer: 363 miles

A Sunday Drive

It's Sunday, didn't plan to ride, but seeing that it warmed up to 52 degrees, I had to mount the stallion. I took off on Hwy 277, the highway to Eldorado, just wanted to go 10 miles and that was it. But I kept riding becuase it was so awesome, I was averaging 15 mph, hit 10 miles in 40 minutes, the first hour was effortless, I actually pondered going all the way to Eldorado with my new-found herculian strength and Prefontain stamina. Despite the afternoon delight, I decided to turn around after an hour because of sunset issues. The instant I was parallel to the hwy during my U-turn, the wind nearly knocked me over.

Check the flags

I had the wind at my back that whole time, so it was in my face the whole way home, I prefer a good hill of wind in the face any day. Took me about an 1h 40min to get back to my Sonora hideout. Sooo, I of course stopped on the way back, (prolly figured that out from the pic), and a horse came running up to the bike.

Mr. Ed and Me

After about 2 minutes of caressing and 50's sitcom trivia, he took off for some delicious flowers over yonder. This encounter was enough to power me home.

Stats:
Distance: 29.62 miles
Time: 2h 32 min
Avg.: 11.6 mph

County Road 108

County Road 108
Waited all day for the town to heat up but at 2 o' clock it was still 40 degrees. So the 50 mile trip from Sonora to Eldorado was dropped for a trip to County road 108. I just wanted to get in 20 miles, we weren't sure how far 108 went so I took off to answer that question. It's 4 miles from the house and about another 4 miles of paved road. Not a horrible ride, there are sheep and horses that will run with ya.
Stats
Distance: 16.5 miles
Max: 23.5 mph
Time: 1 hour 21 minutes
Average: 12.2 mph

First Sonora Run, to the caverns

Today was rather eventful in my bike world.
I get out on the road heading towards Eldorado from Sonora on Hwy 277 and I get a squeak sound that repeats on every revolution in the front wheel. I pull over and check the brake pads, it's not that, the only other thing I can think of are the bearings or something aroudn the hub, I grease around the hum, but still no help, back to Cody's house after 2 miles.
I call my uncle Jack, a bike guru, and we talk about the problem. He had me check the computer to make sure it's not rubbing, it wasn't.
Sylvia consults the web for me and finds a cool web page, Bike Noise Diagnosing, it mentions something about the spokes. I do what it says and I hear noises when I pinch them. I grease them, ride a bit and it's still there. I then pinch all of them, to make sure the grease is in there, then take it for another stroll and IT WAS GONE.
My conclusion is either during the trip from Austin to Sonora with the bike mounted sideways on the back of the car, or washing the bike yesterday, grease was lost in those areas.

Due to about 3 hours of lost time, I took to another route, 10 miles shorter, just down I-10 W 8 miles and South another 7, there lies the Sonora Caverns.

Other than the wind hitting up to 10 mph, a bee sting while setting up the tripod for the above shot and a monster hill at the park's entrance, it was a rather pleasant ride. I'm now riding with the trailer 90% loaded, 50 pounds maybe, uneven packing gives me an unsteady rear, I hate an unsteady rear.

Trip Stats:

Time: 2 hours 42 minutes

Avg. Speed: 11.1 mph

Distance: 30.15 miles

Max Speed: 38.5 mph

Town Lake Explorer

The last 2 days have been great Austin weather so I spent them where all the healthy Austinites sing and dance their caliores away, the 10.1 miles of Town Lake.
For those that are not familiar with Town Lake see map below.

To the right are some recently married swans honeymooning.

Travel Stats
Avg. 11.8 mph
Time 2 hours
Distance 20.2 miles

I ride to Lake Austin Blvd to Scenic Rd then back to Exposition to hit Lake Austin Blvd. down to Veterans which takes you to Town Lake.