Chain Ring Cowboy

Of the small amount of city riding in El Paso, I think I've done enough to get an opinoin established. I have heard that El Paso motorized vehicle drivers are intolerant of us cyclists, that it is a very dangerous place to be. I can't say that yet though because when I ride VC (vehicular cycling), my experiences so far have been just like those in any other city I've ridden in. Of course Austin is the one city where I rode the most, and that city claims to be a bicycle friendly town. Granted there are far more cyclist to be seen per capita in Austin than El Paso, but the point is that if one would ride in accordance to the traffic laws, it is safer for everyone. I don't think motorists go out of their way to hurt anyone, but when they feel their space if violated, they get a little hissy. The thing is they outweigh the bike and rider by a lot. I've seen more aggressive behavior with car on car, which size to size, they are more equally matched. Road Rage happens and...

Three more days until we head out to Oregon to our family reunion. Northwest part of the state is where we will be stationed. I am sure there will be some good pictures to come. I hope to find a bicycle under a rock somewhere, it's not practical to take one of mine. I am having trouble getting onto blogger this morning, and this was the one morning I wanted to post some imagery. Oh well, I'll just leave this little paragraph.

I got up fairly early this morning to go on a Sunday ride. I was going to just take off and see where I went, no mapped out plan in my mind. I got about a mile away in a southerly direction when it started raining. It didn't take long for me to decide that I didn't want to ride in the rain today. After drying the bike and oiling the chain, I came into the house and turned on the TV just in time to see Cadel Evans being cared for by the tour doctor. There he was on his bike hanging onto the car, bloody with scrapes all over him, clothes all torn and tattered. The doctor was probing him, reaching through holes that were torn from the crash, squirting some sort of disinfectant repairing him in motion. it was an inspirational sight for me to see. I decided this guy might be my new hero for this year's Tour de France. The commentators were mentioning that he was a former world champion mountain biker and that he had broken his collar bones 7 times already in his life. What a tou...

April and Rhyanna celebrating a high school graduation. I couldn't miss the opportunity to pose for this one. Sometimes pirate cmes out in My Marcy . This picture was taken yesterday when I was driving over the mountain. The moisture is so welcome to that big set of rocks. This morning as I drove over the terrain again, it was clearly more green than before.

When it rains it's a good thing, anywhere. But when it rains in the desert, it is cause for great joy. The aroma from desert foliage is sweeter than any perfume. Parched plants seem to turn green right before your eyes as they've waited for so long to get the quench from large, cold drops slamming down from the dark cloud above. I think that we people and even the plants forget for a moment that it will soon be gone, making the definition of the word desert return to what it is.

On my drive to work this morning I veered off the interstate path to scout out a likely place to ride in to work. I am resolved to the fact that I must find a place to park my car, unload my trusty commuter and get some pedal time in before and after work. My daily 60 mile commute already makes the day long, robbing time from the family. Something reasonable is in the works I feel, to let this all happen, but it hasn't quite come to me yet. I will be working on it. I gotta tell you though, that seeing the Organ Mountains in las Cruces is a great sight to see each day. What a wonderful view. Today I thought about taking a picture of it, but knew that the camera would not serve it properly. I looked up this picture on google images which will do for now. If you ever get the chance, get up next to this wonderful rock.

This past weekend was a long one for me so I got to get in some good road riding. Riding the loop to the top of Trans Mountain Road is about 22 miles from the house. I am amazed as to how much of a workout it is to make that distance. The change in elevation is from 4000 feet above sea level to exactly a mile high to the peak of that road, so it does take some work for me, a guy who has loved in 500 feet elevations for the past 28 years. The hills in the Texas Hill Country can be tough but while I am still acclimating, the toughness is here, now. I am still working on my plan to do both ride and drive for my daily commute to work. 60 miles one way is too far to ride and too costly to drive. There has to be some solution to sharing both. Finding the right place to park is what I am trying to do right now. I am sure something will work out pretty soon, but until then, driving over the mountain is what's working. I "borrowed" these pictures from my boss's web site The De...