Fall is only a few weeks away; the sun is rapidly heading South, exacerbating the extreme daily temperature variation we experience on the High Plains. It was in the forties this morning when I took off for a quick 25-mile ride out to the Smoky Hill Trail Marker, and by the time I returned to […]
Dirt Road Diary #18 – On the Trail of the Buffalo Read More »
I peddled 50 miles on the dirt roads the last two mornings, which put me over the hundred-mile mark for the week. The weather is supposed to be cooler going forward, and after a week or two of temperatures around the century mark, I’m jacked about that. We got a nice thunderstorm yesterday that brought
Dirt Road Diary #17 Read More »
I enjoyed some gravel-time recently with “Double Cross” after a long dry spell. The Garmin file showed that it had been almost 3 weeks since the last ride, which is unusual for this time of year. Mr. Ego was fine with that, and attempted to convince me that today was too windy as well, but
Dirt Road Diary #16 Read More »
The bike is my preferred exploration vehicle for dirt roads and gravel byways, but there isn’t always enough time. I had an appointment 40 miles away a few days ago, and an 80-mile round trip by bicycle is an all-day adventure, perhaps longer depending on road and weather conditions, so I took the Jeep. I
Dirt Road Diary #15 Read More »
It’s the most beautiful time of the year, on the High Plains. Fall’s pretty special in the places where hardwood trees grow, but that’s not here. Very few trees grow here, except in the major creek bottoms or in town, where folks water and care for them. So, Spring is the most beautiful time of
Dirt Road Diary #14 Read More »
It snowed a few days ago but that didn’t slow down Spring too much. The cherry and apricot trees are loaded with blossoms and the gooseberry bushes are a magical shade of green. The garden is ready for planting and I’m ready to log some dirt road miles. The breeze was blowing from the WSW
Dirt Road Diary #13 Read More »
The Wind finally allowed Double Cross and I out onto “The Dirt” for the first time this Spring. Springtime is the windiest season on the High Plains, as Mother Earth begins to warm up from the cold, dark Winter. Winter doesn’t give up easily here though, in fact, the forecast says it’s going to snow
We escaped from the metroplex a few days ago and all the mind-numbing noises that emanate from the planes, trains, and automobiles; spewing toxic exhaust from screaming engines with horns blaring and sirens wailing. It’s the price that we pay to spend time with our grandkids, and while the constant noise is irritating, the kiddos
Greetings from Clear Lake / Kemah, the yachting capital of Texas. We moved the land yacht into the neighborhood a couple weeks ago and have been enjoying the location immensely. I’ve been out on Double Cross a few times but we’ve spent more time walking about than biking about. So, another ‘Dirt Diary’ with no
Another wonderful mid-winter day down on Galveston Bay. It looks like it’s going to be around 70 degrees again today, the perfect temperature for a walk. A morning walk, out in the bright sunshine has been the high point of our day for a few weeks now. We need to plan it around the rain
The Arctic Blast that put the entire nation in the deep freeze this week also put a damper on getting out on Double Cross for any two wheeled adventure, but it’s above freezing this morning, Woo-hoo. We escaped the Frozen Tundra about a month ago and headed south, expecting some mild sub tropical temperatures and
As we walked home from the gym on Saturday, enjoying the incredible Colorado Indian Summer weather, we discussed whether we should work in the garden or do something else, in the afternoon. Vickie said, “Maybe you should go for a bike ride, the weather is absolutely gorgeous.” It was an exceptionally beautiful day and I
I enjoyed an awesome ride a few days ago and was thinking about more of the same, this morning. While watching the sunrise through the window, I noticed that it looked exceptionally calm. So I moseyed out the backdoor to get a little closer to the action. It was indeed a beautiful morning with only