MADRONE TRAIL - CANYON LAKE, TEXAS

Hopkins and I decided to expand our horizons a little this week, since our rides at McAllister and OP Schnabel were getting a little redundant. We decided to try the Madrone Trail on the North side of Canyon Lake.

Several weeks ago we met a biker at McAllister who suggested this trail, so I researched it, looked it up on Google Earth, and it looked like it would be a fun ride. Besides, it is surrounded by the lake on three sides, so I figured it would be hard to get lost.

The first part of the trail started out technical enough, as there was climbing and many rock gardens to ride through. We did quite a bit of hiking (not as much as Govt Canyon), but most of the trail was rideable. It would have helped if we had full suspension bikes, but we did the best we could on our hardtails. The trail is very scenic, with awesome views of the lake.

Once we finished the first section of trails, we crossed the park road and met a biker resting. He explained that the part we just completed was the most technical of the trail and was a little over 2 miles. He said the second portion of the trail didn't have as many ledges and was the "fun" part of the ride. He mentioned this section was a little over 6 miles long.

Sure enough, after a GU break, we were on the second part of the trail and it was living up to his "fun" designation. There were several other bikers on this part of the trail; apparently there was a Bike Mojo rally going on today that neither of us was aware of.

A short time into the ride, Hopkins got a pinch flat. After a few minutes, we had his spare tube in and we were on our way. Shortly after, we went over a rock garden and I heard my back tube "pop". Sure enough, I had a pinch flat too. I put one of my spares in, but it was hissing. Obviously I didn't patch it correctly. Luckily I keep a couple of spare tubes in my backpack, so I had one more to try.

It was more receptive and soon I had it up to pressure and we were on our way. Within seconds, my back tire felt spongy again - DAMMIT! The second spare tube also had a leak! Neither of us had another spare, so we started hoofing it back to the truck.

We found the main park road and were walking our bikes, when a guy in a pickup pulled up next to us. He told us to throw our bikes in the back and he would give us a lift to my truck. Thank God, as it was pretty hot outside by now. Having to walk your bike back in the middle of a ride is no fun to begin with; when it is hot outside, it is torture.

Hopkins and I agreed that we would need to return soon to finish this trail; it seemed very promising and lived up to its billing. On the way back, we stopped at the bike shop and bought new spare tubes. Now we know to be better prepared for the Madrone of all trails!

Next week I will be in Dallas visiting Michael, so it will be a couple of weeks before we can get back out to Canyon Lake; I can't wait!

SICK :p

After being exposed to the flu bug at home and work, I finally succumbed yesterday. I had to leave work early and have been fighting all the symptoms since then. I had hoped to get back to work today since we are almost done with our fiscal year, but I'm still not 100%.

Until I am, it's back to the recliner for recovery.

UHMAZING!!!!

What was amazing wasn't the fact that Tiger Woods tied Rocco Mediate on the final hole of the US Open. What was amazing was that Mel actually watched the ENTIRE final round with me! Granted, she wasn't that interested until the back nine. By that time, Tiger had gained, lost, regained, and lost the lead again. Until the final hole. In true Tiger fashion, he nailed a birdie putt to force an 18 hole overtime to be played Monday....WOW!

We were both exhausted by the time it ended...let's see if Tiger can pull it off tomorrow!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

After last week's near heatstroke inducing marathon at Government Canyon, Hopkins and I decided to return to OP Schnabel Park today. At least there we can actually RIDE our bikes almost all of the time, compared to GC, where you hike 50-60 percent of the time.

We had a good three hour ride and wound up going further down Leon Creek creek bed past Bandera road. We met up with a biker who had ridden from SEA WORLD, some 15 miles south! More power to him; at least he had a GPS unit to keep from getting lost.

Hopkins and I headed back towards the park (see attached photo of our route). At one point we decided to head down a hill that we had navigated earlier in the day. I went first and must have had some dirt on my brakes, because I couldn't slow down as much as I had earlier. As a result, I rolled over a tree root and jumped smack dab into a small tree stump. Small or not, my front wheel didn't budge, so I DID.



I flew over the handlebars and did a classic Castellon endo and wound up scraping my right leg and arm, while also banging my left shin on the rocks, which left me with a big knot on my shin. I wiped them down with some handi-wipes, but my right leg wound up bleeding into my sock.

By the end of the ride, the dried blood mixed with the dust from the trail, made my leg look pretty gross. COOL. I decided to spare you the "before" pic; I figured the "after" would be bad enough. Next week we're off to explore the Madrone Trail at Canyon Lake, north of San Antonio.




On my way to drop Hopkins off, Michael called to wish me a Happy Father's Day! After I got home, showered and ate, Mel had a couple of Father's Day cards waiting for me. One was from her and the other was from Hershey and Mattie. She said they actually licked the envelope so she could seal it.

Later, Michael called me again, and Matt called while I was on the phone with Michael. I am truly blessed! I hope all of you Dads out there had as good a day as I am having! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

IF I WERE A RICH MAN...

Not even rich. If I could just bear to part with a significant investment in my next bike, it would probably be one of the two pictured here. I absolutely dig my Marin bike and would love to advance to one of their full suspension models because they look stout enough to handle my 230lb body.

An option would be the less expensive Jamis FS Dakar. It doesn't look as stout as the Marin, but it looks lighter. I'll talk to the owner at my LBS and see what he recommends. If the lighter Jamis can handle my weight, that may be the way I'll go. Of course, there's always the LOTTO...

MARATHON HIKE & BIKE!

I finally talked Hopkins into trying the trails at Government Canyon on Sunday. I had tried to build up the suspense for weeks now, telling him how tough it was and how it would certainly test our endurance. He finally got tired of hearing me say, "yeah, but that ain't no Government Canyon!", every time we would try to power up a hill.

I warned him to be sure and fill up his Camelbak and to bring extra GU and granola bars. He did all of those things, as did I, and we were ready for what we thought would be a three hour ride, tops. The last time I hiked/biked the GC trails alone, it took me 3 hours to do 10 miles.

We started off on the Joe Johnson trail, following a group of three riders, two males and one female. The girl was lagging behind, which suited me fine, because I could stay at a slow pace and blame her for it. Wouldn't you know it, at the first clearing, her friends were waiting on her and told us to go ahead so they wouldn't slow us down. DAMMIT! Now we would have to man-up on the trail.

We rode an hour or so, stopping a few times along the way to check tires and the map. We stopped to rest at the Canyon overlook and took some pics. As we geared up to get back on the trail, I realized my front tire was flat. Ten minutes later, the tube was replaced and we were on the trail again. This was to be the first of two flats I had that day, on the same tire!

The heat of February is nothing compared to the South Texas heat in June. We started at 9 AM and by 11 it was in the 90s. We took several breaks to rest, drink water, and eat our granola bars. I checked the time and we were three hours into the ride, but we still had quite a ways to go. We were both starting to feel very tired and a little lightheaded at times.

We each had our misadventures on the trails, particularly on the downhills, as most of the uphills weren't rideable. Hopkins laid his bike down a couple of times and I had one tree stab my arm and I almost kissed another one.

Just when we thought all was lost because we had both run out of water, we reached one of the trail heads. I remembered this particular area had water faucets, so we beat feet to the nearest one so we could douse our heads, face, and necks with cool water. We rested and partially filled our hydration paks with water, cause we still had a half mile or so back to the truck.

After FOUR AND A HALF HOURS, we arrived at the truck! We still had enough energy to give each other high fives and proclaim our greatness. Although we both know those trails kicked our collective asses, there was tremendous satisfaction gained in knowing we finished the whole route.

None of the posers we saw in the parking lot made it the entire way. If they had, they would have passed us on the trail, and they didn't. Not bad for a couple of out of shape wannabes! We both agreed we probably won't try the GC trails again at least until the Fall, when the temp is cooler. We may be crazy, but we aren't stupid!

ANOTHER REASON TO MOUNTAIN BIKE

Roadies? Mountain bikers? I am the latter and the photo above is just ONE reason why. While mountain biking, my main concerns are rocks, roots, and low hanging branches. Roadies have to contend with idiots like the one pictured driving above....

TOP 5 THINGS YOU NEVER SAY TO YOUR BUDDY DURING A RIDE

During my three hour solo ride at McAllister today, I had plenty of time to think about the meaning of life. Instead, I came up with my Top 5 list of things you should NEVER say to your buddy during a ride, especially if someone else is within earshot.

If you can think of more, let me know. Those of you who don't ride may not get them, but they should be familiar to those of you who do.

Here they are:

5. Dude, do these shorts make my ass look fat?
4. Dude, are you sure this won't hurt? (right before a wicked downhill)
3. Dude, you were right. It didn't taste that bad, but now my hands are sticky. (after eating a GU protein packet)
2. Dude, I promise, if you bite it hard then suck it, it'll come out. (trying to get water out of the valve on your Camelbak)

Now, drumroll please.........


1. Dude, that was epic! You pushed me so hard, my ass hurts! (after a 3 hr intense ride)