Christmas Bike Ride

I did a 27.2 bike ride starting at Jack White Trailhead along the Salado creek as it crosses I H 35, near Splashtown. It went uneventful, and this is always good. The temperature was perfect at about 72℉ and breezy, no rain, although its was mostly cloudy. It always makes me feel good, when I'm riding my bike, but this time is was doubly good, because with the holidays comes overeating or better said overstuffing ourselves that the only ingredient missing is a suicidal note.

And I knew that there was going to be plentiful dishes and foods to eat on my way back from biking. So I tried to go as far and make the trip as long as possible. Not having traced a plan in advance, I had to do a couple of turn-arounds, one was when I encounter a construction zone near the ATT Center, and another when I reached the end of WW White Rd going westbound, although vehicle traffic is still allowed to travel in the eastbound lanes. I thought it was a little risky for me to try those lanes to reach I-H 35 and Binz-Engleman intersection, which would have allowed me to make a round trip as is now my goal for every long ride. The idea here is to not overlap the trail footprint -so to speak- and rather, make a one continuous trip. Nevertheless it was still exhausting and sure burned a considerable amount of calories. Calories that were promptly replaced two or threefold (at least) when I got back and sit with my family in celebrations of Christmas.

There was tamales, a nice salad, brown rice, guacamole and something that looked like menudo, but didn't get to try, because nobody offered to me and I didn't know it was there on top of the kitchen counter, until after I had stuffed myself with the food already mentioned. Carbo-licious!!!

Well, actually I don't remember seeing any bread, other than the desert type.

Whoa! This post is supposed to be about my bike riding and suddenly reads like a food blog.

Well, got to keep going in trying to fulfill my goal of about 100/120 miles for the month of December, I am still behind by about 35 miles. It is doable, because I still have this coming Wednesday, December 28 and hopefully Saturday New Year's Eve to accomplish it, as long as the weather cooperates, but I am committed to it. Only the rain can stop me. Cold, I can handle.

To whoever reads this, wish me good luck and as Machado said, "Caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar".

Starting point of trail at Jack White Park

Jack White Park Trailhead

The Professor And The Madman

Finally, I just finished reading this very interesting book.
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester


Highly recommendable. Being both an avid reader and sort of an orthographer from my days working as a proof reader in a newspaper, I found this story fascinating. Two men connected by their passion and will to create the most complete dictionary of the english language −which is, by the way, my second language-. Tragic and harrowing but nevertheless interesting.


View all my reviews

Photos from past bike rides.

A selfie near Cathedral Rock on Leon Creek Trailway.

I had to climb this by walking the bike. Loop 410 near Culebra Rd.

Leon Creek Trail near Ingram Rd Via Bus Terminal

Near Ingram Rd 

Hemisfair Park 

Arsenal Street Bridge over the Riverwalk at King Williams

Riding along the San Antonio Riverwalk in King Williams

Downtown SA

One of the rare times that I ride my bike at night. Downtown SA

Excercising my legs after an 17.5 mile ride at Salado Creek Trail Overlook

This is near the end of Salado Creek Trail Overlook.

Meet Limbo a nice and friendly horsey on Ira Lee Rd.

Taking a break along Mission Trail at Theo Avenue

Espada Mission

Espada Mission at sunset

This is Lewis.

Southside Lions Park

Bikeway To Heaven

Sunday Dec 18, 2016 No biking weather again!

It's so frustrating! this is the second or third time that I take some time off from work to hit the trails on my bike and the weather turns on me. I scheduled myself off for five days, Saturday through Wednesday and Saturday was cold, (I can take cold), windy, (I can handle some gusty winds), and rainy, (now, that's I would not defy).  The  mercury dropped down to 30℉.
I need to ride my bike because it gets me in a better mood, and I always feel better after a 2 or 3 hour ride. Also I don't want to fall behind on my bike rides log goals. I, so far am averaging about 120 miles in a month and for December I am at . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(drum roll here, please). . . . . . . . . . . . .    a meager thirteen miles. There's some catch up to do, so We'll see how's the weather tomorrow Monday.
I once again feel hampered and  worthless and unproductive.
Anyway, I'm keeping myself busy by reading. So many book, so little time.
Well, what can I say, those are my two passions. When I am not working, I ride my bike if conditions allow it, and if I can't bike around, I pick up one of my book on the list to read this year.
Today I am reading "The Professor and the madman" by Simon Winchester. I am on page 140.
Here's the cover.

Reading now, I am on page 140.

In the meantime I am going to post photos that I have taken during my bike rides.

Bike riding

It's Tuesday, December 6, or the 6th, of the year 2016, or twenty-sixteen.
I had planned to take five days off, but as usually the case, things didn't go according to plan. I had Saturday off, went to work on Sunday to complete the Frame recall project  and got done by about 98 or 99 % complete. Took Monday off (today), well, actually looking at the time on the screen, it's Tuesday already. I will have to go to work in a few hours to comply with some requests for some "on-hand" issues as well as "deletions" not being completed.
I know it sound wrong, but partially joking and partially being serious, I really like too say that the level of incompetence in this office is staggering! But of course, I am fully aware that my staff's competence is in large part a reflection of their leader. So I will not say it then.
Also, the weather is not cooperating. The reason I wanted time off was to ride my bike, but is wet and cold. I have ridden my bike in the rain, but given the option, I rather not. I have ridden the bike in low temperatures before as well, and that, is not a deterrent, but a double whammy is not easily taken.
 I include some of my latest photos that I like to take on my travails.

Correction. I could not find the photos from about four or five days ago, but found this from when Jesus walked in Rome. Wanting to preserve them on record,  I post them here.
I will post the ones intended for the bike riding post later.

Finally, I've got my Trek

At long last, after planning and researching a lot of nice bikes, I finally got me The Trek Domane 2.0 that I had been eyeing since almost a year ago (ten months to be exact). I saw this model back in June 2015 in a Bike World store, but then I went to Performance Bicycle and I liked the Fuji Roubaix 1.3 ( Red ) and checked out the reviews from different sites and they were mostly disappointing . I then realized that, there are other high-end bikes with a modest price level that should be considering. In the mix of this research there was this dilemma playing in my head for weeks, and weeks that turned into months about whether I should pursue this bike of my dreams as "a want" or "a need".
Now, I am a man not happy with my spotty record of good decisions and cognizant that  in order to be financially prosperous, one needs to be able to differentiate between our wants and needs.
I did, at one point, considered buying a cheap bike just to get myself out of the house and into open spaces, but I rationalized that,  I had already done exactly that, and now I have two useless bike sin my backyard that would require some investment to get then back on the road. So the obvious answer was to save some money and invest on a good quality bike with good quality components.
Then I learned of other nice bikes  and about a month or so ago I came down with my top three choices, and decided to get one, first it should have a price of around $1,000.00 but not exceed $1,500.00. Second, it will be the color that I want, which would be any dark or semi-dark, but no bright colors and it had to be a brand or make recognizable, like the ones you see in LeTour of France or the Giro d'Italia.
So I narrow my list to these three:

2015 Trek Domane 2.0

2015 Cannondale  CAAD8 Tiagra 6 

2015 Specialized Allez DSW Elite

Mindful of the other high end bikes in the market there were (and are) other bikes worth considering, and no less important, such as:

Giant, Scott, S-Works, Cervelo, Fuji, Surly, Bianchi, Schwinn among others.

Anyway, I purchased it from this place called Pedal Power in San Marcos, Texas. (No bicycle retailer in San Antonio had this bike in their inventory, their excuse was that "like cars, you are looking for a model a year old". So all they stock is 2016 models.
I had already decided to go to Austin to five other retailers and find it. When I called this place in Austin, somehow I received a link to a map location of The Pedal Power in San Marcos, customers posted favorable reviews attesting to the great customer service and pricing of the bikes sold there, so I knew that I had found the place.
I bought it on Sunday April 17, and the very next day I took it for a test ride and put about 30 miles in about 2.5 hrs, at the end of which my butt was so sore and my knees were crying for a rest. But I loved it. I was able to travel fast took some curves and uphills without having to walk the bike or struggle to maintain a nice speed, something that had never been able to do with the other two old bikes. No comparison whatsoever, my first bike is a Schwinn Signature for commuting, which it did so well, but riding a new bike is very much like getting into a new car (or truck), the smoothness and precision, not to mention the speed and stealth with which the new vehicle moves from point A to point B underscores the way the old vehicle used to drive. All of a sudden you realize how much you were missing and you didn't even know it.
I went back to The Pedal Power for my bike's first tune-up, because yesterday towards the end of my test ride, approximately after about 20 miles, I noticed a little swagger or wobbling coming form the rear wheel. I had been already told by the guy at the dealership to bring it back in about 20 miles or one month, whichever comes first, for a "break-in" tune up, and the guy seem a little surprised when I had already put 30 miles on it and needed an adjustment to fix the wobble, but immediately took it in and told me to give him about 45 minutes to an hour and that he would text me when it was ready for pick up. I went to Half-Price Books and browse around. I was there for only 25 minutes when the text came in and I went to get it. The guy told me that I had unlimited performance tune-ups for one year and to feel free to bring it anytime I felt there was a driveability problem. I thanked I'm and went to Purgatory Park, but it was muddy mess there so I went to another park that sits along the San Marcos River but I don't recall the name, I saw people wading, diving and jumping in the water and so I approach this guy and asked him if it was legal to do so and he said "yes, you just do it in you own terms, there's no life guard, but it's not that deep"  and pointing to where he had just jumped in he said it was only about 10 feet deep and a few feet away it is waist-deep.
I bike around for awhile, then I saw this other guy getting his Kayak up on his truck and asked him if he had to pay a fee or register to ride his kayak in the river and he said no, "if you have your own kayak, just get in the water, is a nice sport and no you don't have to pay anything" and you can also rent them by the hour or so for about $10 approximately.
I bike around the park and when I noticed the sun coming down, I started to get back from where I had come from, the other side of the I-H35, I hate to say this, but I got a little disoriented and for a couple of minutes I panicked, thinking that my phone's battery was completely dead and could not use the GPS Navigation App. I stopped and looked around and decided to try all three roads that go away from this round-way, I went certain way and could not recognize anything, so I went back and try a second street, same results, then I went to my third option and Bingo! that was the way I had come down, I recognized (ashamedly) a Herbert's Taco Hut that was getting traffic, earlier, when I was on my way to the river the parking lot was almost empty, and now it was full and people were leaving their cars and walking towards the restaurant, I follow the trail back to my truck and drove home, it took me about 48 minutes, almost an hour. And here I am. Time to catch some z's.

Taking the road less traveled

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED 1.0


I went out for a walk today. Something I haven't done in a long while. I went to the Medina River Natural Habitat off Texas 16 and Applewhite Road.

Switchbacks at the Medina River Greenway Trail. Applewhite Rd in the background

I am familiar with the  the entire main trail from start to end and would never get lost since I've been using it by foot and by bike for at least five years, but something funny happened today.
I decided to get off the main trail and explore a seldom walked trail called River Run Trail. I started walking it and after some ten minutes I arrived to the bottom of a canyon and to the edge of the Medina River, I walked on the water's edge to get to this small islet, took a selfie and went up the embankment, then decided to keep walking the trail that runs parallel to the river and remembered to turn on my GPS with an app in my phone called RealTime to keep a record of my journey.
After walking for about 35 or 40 minutes I decided to take a detour by following another trail called Sanctuary and hoping to get to a main road or trail, because the skies were turning grey and not much sun light filtered down because of the thickness of the woods and foliage. I worry a little bit about getting lost, but not much since I had the GPS showing were in the park I was although not with 100% precision.
When I figured I was in the direction of a Bridge which was a short distance to Neal Road, which I am familiar with, I thought, when I get to Neal Road, I will turn left (south) and it will connect with Applewhite Rd, and walk straight to my truck on the outside of the park, (I've done this twice before on my bike).'Then suddenly the trail made a sharp turn away from the river's and away from the bridge, I worried a little and started to walk briskly and looking back over my shoulder to remember points that I could use as landmarks in case I had to walk the same route. At one point I came to a fork on the road, if I followed it to the right (north) I could reach The start point of Sanctuary Trail which is next to the Main Trail according to the coordinates in my GPS map, if I followed the left side of the fork it would take me back in an 8 figure back to the trail I had just walked a while before. I took to the right, after approximately 4 or 5 minutes of brisk walking, I stopped and then I panicked (I know, it sounds extreme, but it's the feeling you get when you see unexpected red and blue light flashing in your rear mirror) for a few seconds, I am lost, I thought. I can't be lost, I talked to myself mentally, I know this place so well, stop. Stop and think I said to myself. I am not lost, but a little disoriented, that's all!
I have to admit that when I walk in areas not too populated, sometimes I have this irrational fear of getting lost and spending the night in a desolated part of the park, and I say irrational, because I still preferred to explore areas that look pristine and not well walked, trails that doesn't show old or dry footprints or tire marks of bicycles.
Anyways.
I decided to go back and retraced my steps to the fork behind, when I got to the fork I, for a moment could not fully recognize it and thought that I was now in front of another fork. Shit! Now I'm lost!.
I stopped once again, looked up to the sky and took a deep breath, maybe two. Okay, now go west and follow the trail the will reconnect to the original River Run, I told myself. About 7 minutes later I found the River Run trail again and recognized that part, and followed back, went thought the part when I went down to the river, passed it and kept going toward the Main trail when I had started the River Run walk.
                                           

Storm approaching

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED 2.0

As soon as I walk in firm terrain of the Main Trail, not one minute on it and I encounter two ladies and a young boy, the mature woman signaled for me to stop and asked me to help then find their way out of the park. They had been walking for more than three hours and were lost.
I offered to walk with them to the start of that part of the trail and then they said that they had parked their car in the main parking which you can only off Texas 16 Road. So I offered the a ride and talked for a while while walking. They had called the non-emergency phone line In the mid-way park, where my truck was, and were told by the operator that she could not help them, that they needed to cal 911, (in the same tower) to get help, but they were embarrassed to do so. When we reach my truck, we had walked about 4 1/2 miles, they looked tired and all three sat in the backseat. While driving them back to where their car was, both their phones rang and they answered  telling the other parties that they were okay and that a gentleman had helped them out of there and that I was taking them to the main parking lot. The older lady said " No, no, no you don't have to come all the way, we're safe now, but thank you for the offer brother, I love you." The younger lady was talking to  her mother along the same lines.
They offered to pay me for the ride, but I refused and said that I was just glad that I was able to help them out. She also said that while they were walking by themselves, they had run out of water and a few snacks they had and they main worry was the little boy who is 8 years old and the son of the younger lady. She started to pray to God to find somebody around to ask for help, and then, she said, that's when you appeared around the curve and  we saw you, and I said Thank You God! right Bell? I guess that's the younger lady's name, her niece. I didn't know what to say and just smiled. They asked me if I knew the area well and I replied that yes, I knew the Main trail very well, from start to the dead-end, 14.5 miles down the road. I didn't want to bored them with what I had just experienced minutes earlier.
But I can't help but think that there was a moment or a period of time when both them and I felt lost at the same time and probably just a few yards away. I think that, that is something to be reckoned about.
Well, that's the story of the day, my good deed.

Medina River Greenway Trail