How to spend a month officiating mountain bike races in Texas

As I mentioned in the final paragraph of my last blogpost, April was supposed to bring three high school mountain bike races—but that was before nasty weather cancelled the first of them, just days after my return to the States. One week after that event, however, the weather gods had mercy on the kids and we got to RACE!

For a long time, Bluff Creek Ranch, in Warda, has been one of my favorite mountain bike venues in Texas. It is located about an hour due east of Austin, in an area of the state where one encounters the first pine forests. The ranch is home to longhorns, beautiful animals with sweeping horns and colorfully mottled hides. Because of the cancellation the week before at 4R Ranch in the Gainesville/Munster area, teams from the North Conference (our league, because of the vast distances, is split into two geographic divisions) were invited to come to Warda and race, and thus it was one of the largest races that NICA Texas has seen in its 14 seasons.

Warda is simply inviting, with the large grassy meadows as well as the camp sites under the trees and close to the various ponds. The entire venue is as family friendly as they come. Of course, I don't camp out at any of the races (Judy and I had decided on that policy at the very beginning of our officiating career: No lying in the dirt when we work an event), and in the past I have stayed in several cheap area hotels. This time, with Sandy joining me and the San Marcos branch of her family coming to the race, it made sense to rent an Airbnb. We lucked out with an (overpriced) double-wide barely five minutes from Bluff Creek, and her son, daughter-in-law, and their two kids joined us for the weekend. Zane, Sandy's 17-year-old grandson, rides for the San Marcos Rattlers, and so Sandy not only got to experience another race but was also treated to time with her "babies." Nice!

We did have a few tense moments in the Airbnb when the oven—with Friday night's pizzas in it—burst into flames, thanks to leftover grease that the host had not cleaned up. For a while black smoke was billowing from the offending appliance, and it took some serious venting to make the inside air once again breathable; the smoke alarm never made a sound, but then, we also couldn't see the thing. An emergency call to the host resulted in his bringing us three pizzas "on the house," and his apologetic manner certainly was appreciated (as did his coming back over on Saturday to clean up the kitchen).

Zane had a good race, Sandy was thrilled by the ambiance of the event, and I enjoyed a stress-free day devoid of any major issues. We stuck around Sunday after the race and then drove the almost eight hours back home to Lubbock on Monday. Total mileage for the four-day weekend: 909 miles.

The next weekend was Easter, a good reason for me to buckle down and clean up my backyard. Even if there are still some live oak leaves that float onto the porch and artificial turf, the volume of descending bio mass has definitely decreased over the past few weeks. With a new high-pressure water washer I cleaned off the concrete on Saturday morning, and then it was already time to prepare that night's Easter dinner: homemade chicken liver pâté as part of the pu pu platter and then shrimp skewers! I had suggested that I'd host Sandy and her Lubbock-based family, Thomas and Amber and their darling daughters, three-year-old Emmie and five-year-old Esther.

The weather cooperated, we had a fabulous evening, and the girls giggled with excitement especially when it was finally time for the Easter egg hunt. We all had a great time, and I enjoyed playing abuelo, with little Emmie falling asleep in my arms while we were slowly closing down the night with another bottle of wine.

One week later I was back on the road, this time by myself since I had to travel all the way out to Longview in East Texas. It's quite a haul out there, and I used the opportunity to stay with my old friend Mike who doesn't live far from White Rock Lake in Dallas. We hadn't seen each other in several years, and the two buddies had a grand ol' time Friday evening before I completed the final three hours of the drive on Saturday morning. The race venue, 29 Pines, had been rained out at the beginning of this spring's NICA season, but with a bit of luck we were able to use this rain date for another successful event. I had never been to 29 Pines, and I have to say it is absolutely beautiful with a professionally built course that may be one of the fastest in the state. 

After the conclusion of the race on Sunday I drove back to Benbrook, on the west side of the metroplex so that I could avoid Monday morning's traffic insanity around Dallas and Ft. Worth. The total mileage for the weekend was 1,031, driven between Friday morning and Monday afternoon. No wonder that my bike mileage for the year totally sucks—I still haven't cracked 1,000 miles! And the fun continues this weekend, when Sandy and I will travel to the NICA Texas State Championship Finals at Reveille Peak, close to Marble Falls—this will be the second time this spring to travel the approximately 700 miles to RPR. The plan is to leave tomorrow morning (Friday, May 2), work the race, and return Sunday evening so that we have one buffer day between our return (one never knows what may happen when one drives such long distances) and our flight to the Riviera Maya on Tuesday morning. Sandy is all excited, and I have to say that after all that "work" during the past month I'm ready for some serious R&R myself. 😂

Jürgen