The 2024 Texas NICA high school mountain bike season is rocking and rolling!

One of my favorite people: Kim, the NICA Race Director,
sporting one of Juju's Bula hats

Paris seems to be such a long time in the past, even if I published the last blog update just barely a month ago. By now, I should have already worked three of our NICA races in 2024, but thanks to a terribly, terribly cold weekend right after I got back from France the first race of the season was postponed until mid-April. It was seriously cold, and even though I was a bit bummed since the cancellation came very late and I could have stayed in Paris for a few extra days, in retrospect it was the only sensible course of action to take.

So, I hung out in Lubbock for the next couple of weeks, trying to sneak in the occasional ride but mostly having to limit myself to short recycling runs on the bike since January and early February brought some miserable weather to Lubbock. (The photos paint a much prettier picture than what reality dished up.) Cold is not my thing, as many readers know, but cold and grey skies plus winds from the north are no longer in my playbook. No wonder that during that time I booked a trip to Mexico, starting next week on March 1. 

At least I got to perfect my pisco sours while weather-stranded

Thanks to the postponement, our first NICA race thus came on February 3 and 4. Warda (about an hour east of Austin) is a loooong way from Lubbock. The beemer's odometer showed 911 miles when I finally got back after four days on the road. I was lucky enough that my friends Jay and Campbell offered me to stay in their historic house in Belton (just outside of Temple), both going to and coming from the race venue. As it was, they were off on a trip to Cabo, so I got to enjoy the place in the company of only the nekkid cats and Buck, the ginormous Great Dane or whatever breed of horse he may be.

Rain had led up to the Warda race weekend, and when I arrived at Bluff Creek Ranch on Saturday things were damn muddy. But as they like to say, "it drains well," and the about 450 south division student athletes had a great season opener. (Our league has grown enough to split Texas into two series, with a combined State Championship race in May.) On Sunday, it was sunny, the races were fair, and everybody seemed to be smiling.

Megan, JJ, and Kim (from left)

We are in Texas, after all....

I spent the next 10 or so days in Lubbock, trying to keep control of my live oak's leaves that continue to keep falling at a steady rate. The weather improved somewhat, allowing a few more rides; I enjoyed  numerous good meals and a fair amount of red wine, and soaking in my Jacuzzi became my normal evening ritual. Believe it or not, I even watched the Superbowl. No comment here on the entertainment value of this American ritual.

This past weekend, NICA's race at the 4-R Vineyards and Winery ranch about an hour east of Wichita Falls was on the schedule—the season opener for the North Division. It's the closest of all the high school races for me, at "only" 611 miles roundtrip. I believe this was the first time in all those years that 4-R was dry, but race morning was cold enough that we postponed the first start by 30 minutes to allow things to warm up a bit. Again, it was a fun weekend. I really appreciate the opportunity to work with like-minded individuals and contribute my background and experience to the success of the events. Our race staff has truly jelled over these past three seasons, ever since JJ and Kim took over as League Director and Race Director, respectively. They are the best thing that ever happened to the Texas League, except Vance McMurray's putting some vague idea into motion and founding the league 13 years ago (and bringing me onboard). Good people.

The past three days I have been back in Lubbock, riding my daily 36 miles, alone or with my buddy Smitty. The weather has turned spring-like, with the temperature topping out at 82 F today. Unfortunately, the wind blew at 27 mph by the time I limped home. I'm getting too old for this crap.

Last night, René and Masako came over for dinner, and this weekend Wes and Susan will have a bite at Chez Jürgen. Additionally, my old friend Jessie from Colorado has been overnighting here during her temporary work as an anesthesiology PA at Grace Hospital, so I have actually been speaking to real humans and not only Mr. Google, who is very good at delivering the latest news and shuffling music from Pandora.

This afternoon I filed my 2023 federal tax return, and I am up-to-date with whatever paperwork and Quicken accounting is due. It's kinda nice to be home for a few weeks (these road trips are different from jetting overseas and count for "almost" at home), but next weekend flying is going to start up again, and quite frankly, I'm excited about it!

Jürgen