Chain Ring Cowboy

David and Marylou casually pedaling down the country road Sunday morning. This is about 5 miles from the turnaround point, the San marcos River, where we took a dip, floated downstream in 70 degree water, munched a Clif Bar and then headed back. 35 miles for the morning.

The ride in this morning was so nice. I glided in faster than normal. Maybe the traffic lights were kind and I am sure the tail breeze helped also. As the class reunion is getting closer, or should I say as my bicycle trip across the the state of Texas gets closer, I am feeling oh so ready.

I couldn't help but to "borrow" this photo from Martino . The guy always comes up with great visuals and subjects. You might want to visit his site because by itself, this picture has no context. I just think it's cool.

Yesterday I ruined two tubes. Well, I would like to blame it on my old pump, the kind that rides underneath to top tube. It's old and hasn't been used much, but yesterday it was maybe in a bad mood, but it would bite the end of the presta valve off, leaving and unpluggable hole in the stem. This happened twice, once to a brand new tube and then to the old tube I decided to patch. I ended up pushing Odyssey home, about 3 miles from the apartment. I have gone for a long time without tire troubles, but Sunday and Thursday have been pure grief. I mean I thought I was an old hand at changing flats, getting back on the road in minutes. These last two events has proved me wrong there. I peddled around for half an hour or so to no good result and end up walking home anyway. But you know what? I like riding, and there will be something good come out of this. For one thing I think I will rename my pump. It won't be called a pump anymore, I will call it "presta valve biter"....

Yeterday three pennies were laying in the road, two were shiny and one was old. If my head was up with eyes looking forward, I would never have seen them. I was going up a hill in traffic, near a busy intersection, and rolling slow enough to stop and pick up those pennies. But I didn't. I kept going. Now if I were afoot walking, I would have surely picked up those three pennies, becuase that is the way I am. I like picking up pennies. This morning while riding in well before sunrise I looked up just in time to steer away from a cardboard box that was laying in my path. There I was again, head down, eyes down. I don't know about you other riders out there, but for me, if I look down enough, I am going to run over something sooner or later. It's much safer to keep the head up and the eyes looking forward. On the other hand, last Sunday morning had I have had my eyes down just a little, I would have seen and perhaps been able to avoid running over the strap of metal that ruin...

Sunday I left early so I could arrive in plenty of time to meet Team Roadkill, or was it Team Slowkill. Anyway, most of the folks drive their bikes from anyplace in Austin, but since I only live 7 miles from the Buday Library parking lot, I like to ride. As I've said I left early and should have arrived early. It wasn't quite daylight but I could see pretty well, but I didn't see the... whatever it was that sliced my rear tire. The tire was ruined with me a little more than half way to the start. After some attempts at fixing the problem I decided the best thing to do was carry my bike back home, which was a pretty good hike. I didn't want to let the rear rim suffer any damage so I carried the bike, first on this shouldere and then on that shoulder and then on the back and then just about every position I could think of. I made it though and it was some good exercise, but I was in a bad mood for a while. After I saw that Floyd Landis had for sure won and saw Tiger Wood...

It is 53 days until I embark on my cycle journey across Texas. It is 67 days until the Great Combined Class Reunion begins at Eastwood High School, the home of the Troopers in El Paso. That gives me 14 days to cross the vast stretches of what some people think of as wasteland. My partner has no gender. It's name is Odyssey, like the poem. I am thinking that when Odysseus wandered around on his 10 year journey, he experienced very similar types of terrain. But about my partner, Odyssey. Steel frame. Steel is real. Lots of gears, 27. It was created by the highest level of intelligence that goes by the name of technology. It employeed humans to build it. Once technology downloaded the knowledge into a handful of humans, others joined in to pull together the atoms into its current mold. Odyssey conveyed to me that it has a consciousness. Arithmetic, plain and simple. Geometry of form. Pounds per Square Inc to Gravity and Friction. Gear Ratio to Travel Inches. Wind Velocity and Percent ...

Irish Annie and Stumblin Al around the universe they went, two meteors hot and primed zooming through the sky. With all that clear space in this great big void their collision was an astronomically rare and random event . Both moving faster than the speed of light the impact was so great that they both got knocked back and down. Not only did they see the stars of their domain, their heads were spinning so that they were literally seeing stars. They were seeing double, double stars and were out of focus, like two prize fighters simultaneously landing the knockout punch. They got up together, Irish Annie and Stumblin Al each with a helping hand. They recognized so much in common they both thought it would be nice to get to know each each other. And as hard as they tried it would not work because the crash had caused such a mess. Each of them were carrying more then the allotted amount of check in luggage on their flights to begin with and the crash had caused such a scattered mess, and s...

These two beautiful people are responsible for starting it all back in 1948. Love Them More Than Tongue Can Tell 5th generation still in preparation for earthly entry. That's Christy toting her son.

No cycling gear here, and the Mount Rushmore presidents did a great job of posing although their smiles were a bit frozen because it took so long to snap the camera.

You see, Mark, the cool Kat on the recumbent tricycle had this great artistic photo idea that involved a rock and some flower pedals. Then there is Canine Casey who is a little bit on the nosey side, who imposed his will on the project. It turned out to be a group project. Mark and a select few are still vacationing around and about, but most of us are back to the daily routine.

Reunion This was a good reunion, no, I mean GREAT Reunion. Living in an RV camp town fortressed by cabins and lodges, exemplifies the regions boom days of the 1876 rush to the Black Hills, the grand island of the plains. I am blessed to come from such a good family. The spectrum of dynamics from being a little on the sick side ( but not me ) to being brilliantly resonant (like a songbird), from introvert to extrovert, our family as a whole is quite awesome. The benevolence of the healed is outstanding. The picture above represents almost 5 generations of us, if you look closely you can see that my granddaughter has one in the oven. While there is still plenty to digest, I am so happy to have been able to attend once again our great traditional Jordan Family Reunion .

Here is a young lady in Soux City Iowa, the chief (and only) baggage handler spending more time hollering at people to go back inside and not observe her handle their baggage recklessly. She looked to weigh well under a hundred pounds, had two inch fake fingernails which hindered her already limited physical ability, had a little helper who looked to be an insurance liability for Jefferson Bus Lines, but she was good at chewing butt. Alas, there is Good News though I actually liked riding the big bus across America. Taking books to read turned out to be a good thing. Looking up from reading to see the grain fields almost ready for harvesting testifies that July is a good month to see the Great Plains. Getting to know Bob Dylan and Rodney Crowell again was also good for the overnight wanders. I would probably do it again, but if I decide to take my bicycle and touring gear, I will probably ship it and NOT by. I met some very interesting people, some I would like to continue to know. Bu...

Pancake breakfast on our first morning together at Palmer Gulch Mom, Dad and I sitting here enjoying the mountains and the pine and spruce trees.

The Garmin 305 says 54 and something miles today, but the cat eye computer says 52 and something miles. I will take the big number because who wouldn't want to log a bigger number on their mileage. Besides I think the gps is more accurate than my cycle computer because I am the one who programmed the magic number in it, and I am most always wrong. So 54 and something miles for today wins. Marylou and Gerrie on the first leg of today's ride The gals after dipping into the San Marcos River, a cool 72 degrees. That water in that river at that point is only two minutes old from gushing out of the the Edwards Aquifer. Pretty big spring, huh? Billylance, GERP, and Eric. She said, "The game is on" He said, "I know that, it's been on since the beginning" She said, "I mean the soccer game" He said, "oh"

It won't be long until I will be riding over my bike, but in a little different fashion. It will be under me as I ride the bus almost due north to Rapid City, South Dakota, me in a seat, it in a box with luggage, both in a Greyhound bus, oh yeah. Take a look at Mike getting Odyssey all ready to ride in the box: (Click on photo to enlarge) Check out the Austin Crazy Cat riding around the drag in Austin. Gotta love Austin (Click on photo to enlarge) Floyd Landis had to change bikes in today's time trial and he still came in second place. How about them apples?

“Do you know Winston?” He asked her. The crowd was gathering for the annual event. They were arriving in cars and such; some were already parked and had unloaded their gear. Others were still pulling up and parking. But of course, some folks are always early and some arrive just on time. All the cheery good mornings from here and there were to be heard all about. Winston and Sonya were somewhere in between. Dean hadn’t noticed that as soon as they saw each other they moved towards each other briskly and hugged, hugged tenderly just like old friends would after a long time unseen. If he had of seen how genuinely they meet he surely would not have asked. Their good morning was a happy one but not bubbly cheery like all the rest, as they would also partake in the cheery bubbly greetings like and with the rest of this unique group. But this was a special good morning. Now, they were old friends embracing after not seeing each other for a long time. Responding to Dean’s question, she had th...

Cleat in, turn the crank. Turn the crank, play the gears with rhythm like a tune. Turn the crank. Turn the crank............. 10. 1 miles, the fun is over this morning. 10.1 hours wait. Cleat in, turn the crank turn the crank turn the crank . LIFE . BIG LIFE Tomorrow is a car day. uhgg. But for good reason. Mike and I are boxing Odyssey for the trip to South Dakota. Smiles

One blessing of aging is that it's appropriate when you say "old Friends"

Bill Dorman and support team put in about 5 more miles than the rest of us because he had to backtrack more than once to make sure we were all ok and moving in the right direction. We did spread out for a while. There was one broken spoke, and at least two flats in the group.......

I did it. Loaded my bike onto my car rack, drove 20 miles to a meeting place, unloaded the bike and rode with 18 other folks. Let me tell you, Team Roadkill Still ROCKS!! Most of us did the 50 miler (50.8 by my computer), and some did a shorter one. We all met afterwards and ate bbq and bantered happily until the food settled in our bellies, and the fatigue set in. I averaged 14.4 mph, respectable considering the hill work I got in. Sharon and Jenna made some of those steep grades look flat, they kick but climbing.

Tie up all the loose ends ma, we're gonna hit the road.

The first two days of July are without bicycle mileage. This isn't a good thing for someone who tends to be obsessive about his activities. I am sure the rest is going to do me a ton of good though. This coming work week will be short and then it will be off to South Dakota the following week. Oh Yeah, time's a coming. I better start thinking about all what I am going to take with me. I sure don't want to miss that bus. Mileage for last month: Driving 105 Riding 839 I think that works out to about 12% of one and 88 of the other. If that is correct, please let me know.