3,000+ miles on Texas roadways

The Beemer in all its road glory

By the time that this weekend is over I will have logged in excess of 3,000 miles driving to races in my home state, over the course of just a little more than three weeks. Somehow all the races this year seem to be really far away. It all started right after my return from New Zealand with a high school mountain bike race at Rocky Hill Ranch close to Smithville, which is located about 15 miles east of Bastrop (or about 45 miles east of Austin). Tomorrow morning I will be another 25 miles farther east, at Bluff Creek Ranch just outside of Warda, for another NICA race.

Texas High School Mountain Bike racing at Rocky Hill

The historic center of Bastrop, a good place for pre-race libations at Bastrop Beer Company

Bastrop's old courthouse and county jail

Sandwiched between these two dirt events was a track racing weekend in Houston. Now, that's even farther away! I had actively sought out that race, both because I wanted to get some track experience but also because my Breitling was due for its biennial service check-up (and Houston has a service center that accommodates one-day turnarounds). Link that with seeing my friend Diane and the prospect of visiting a few new breweries, and suddenly driving 1,200+ miles wasn't all that bad any longer! As a matter of fact, not only did I accomplish all of the above but I also got to see Judy's niece Alli and her family down in Katy. What a great trip!

Junior National Track Cup #1 at Houston's Alkek Velodrome

Talking about friends: Since the two high school races are located in such a way that a Friday-night stopover in Temple offers itself I had not just once but twice the opportunity to stay with Martha and Alan. As always, good conversation, good beer, good food, and good wine were plentiful. OK, so maybe last night we overdid things a little bit, but not by much, maybe a bottle....

 

Crazy good beers at Spindletap, but unfortunately they were
out of Draped, one of the best IPAs I've had in my
illustrious career as a beer drinker

Despite all this travel (or because of it), it has felt good to spend at least some time in my house after New Zealand as it has allowed me to catch up on paperwork and other necessary stuff. I am still dealing with the fallout of the fender-bender in the Lucky Rover as the damn rental company still has not issued a damage estimate but continues to sit on my $1,700 security deposit, and my supplemental Allianz insurance that I took out for such a scenario still cannot pay because we don't have the info from Lucky. Quite maddening and frustrating.

Riding the trusty Seven around Lubbock's canyon lakes

Thankfully, the weather has been OK in Lubbock with only a few days of really strong spring winds and a gradual warming up. I have missed just a few days of riding when I was home. The weeds have been mowed, I've sold some stuff on eBay, and I've even worked on a few clients' bikes. And even the neighbors are starting to recognize me again! It's the same old question: "What are you doing home?"

Hey neighbors, that's what I look like!

Life is going to continue like this for the next couple of months--a race here, a race there, some within driving distance, others requiring getting on a plane. It's great to be paid to travel and have fun! And if there are no races, I can usually find a reason to skip town for some adventure. I don't have any plans for the Easter weekend yet, I just realized ....

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