What was suppose to be a three-day Memorial Day weekend of getting out and doing alot of riding and also hiking at Enchanted Park, ended up a weekend of lots of rain. It started Friday and even though the rain stopped most of the day on Saturday and Sunday, the parks were closed due to flooding.
Finally Monday morning and the sun is out and it's going to be a nice day. We called Government Canyon, but they were still closed to biking. Knowing that O P Schnabel was also closed because we visited there the day before, we packed up and headed to McAllister Park.
Along the way we stopped off at Ride Away Bicycles and got help with adjusting our helmets to fit right. We also talked with a gentlement who I forget his name but he was very helpful with information about mountain biking being that we are new to this.
After grabbing some lunch at Wendy's (mistake, don't get the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich) we made it to the park, unloaded and headed off.
Not really having an idea of which way to go, we just took off and road. Mudd. Slippery mudd. But fun. Made for some slow going at spots, but not all of it due to the mudd. The bike skills are in difinite need of improvement. Still feeling a little reserved when hitting certain areas with lots of rocks and not knowing how to hit them right. We rode out and just kept hitting different trails, not really knowing which way we were going. Actually had to get off at one point and wade through the water where it was still to high to allow riding. Soaked feet the rest of the trip. After about an hour...I have no idea how much time actually since we don't wear a watch. Maybe we should, but it's all about just getting out and enjoying and not being confined by time. Anyway, after about an hour, we decided it was time to head back, so we found the paved road and started back. At least we thought we were heading back. Another biker informs us we are going the wrong way. So we turned it around and headed back.
This was a great day of riding and we were out for about 2 hours. I think it took another hour when we got home to wash the bikes. What a great day!
Here are some pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gparkerelvis/sets/72157600291094378/
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Hill Country State Natural Area, Sunday, 20 May 07
This was our first adventure away from Government Canyon and the little city park by our house, so we had no idea of what to expect other than what we read at the official website.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/hill_country/
The park is about 10 miles from Bandera, Texas which is another place we have never been. A nice little scenic ride from San Antonio, about 47 miles from our house. Bandera looks like a cool place. We definitly have to go back and have a beer there at one of the establishments.
When we arrived at the park, we went to the reception building and was greeted by two people who looked at us as if we were aliens. The park is used alot by equestrian types and I guess our attire didn't quiet add up to what normally walked through the door.
After checking in, we were off riding on Trail 8. Well we started riding and then quickly converted to pushing. Up the hill with lots of rocks. Big rocks. Big challenge. I quickly realized that this was alot different from Government Canyon and was worried that Marlene (that would be my wife) was going to give me the what the heck did you get us into speech. But no, she was actually enjoying herself and stated so. I was amazed.
The first part of the trail was like I said mostly pushing the bike over large rocks, but once we got to a certain point which i would say was just less than halfway, the ride changed and the trails were better going and we were able to stop pushing and start riding.
This is where I realized very quickly that Marlene is more brave than me and was attacking the the trail like a bat out of hell. Yes, she was ahead of me most of the way.
One highlight of the trail was Comanche Bluff. Beautiful view.
The photos of this adventure can be viewed here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gparkerelvis/sets/72157600236712324/
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/hill_country/
The park is about 10 miles from Bandera, Texas which is another place we have never been. A nice little scenic ride from San Antonio, about 47 miles from our house. Bandera looks like a cool place. We definitly have to go back and have a beer there at one of the establishments.
When we arrived at the park, we went to the reception building and was greeted by two people who looked at us as if we were aliens. The park is used alot by equestrian types and I guess our attire didn't quiet add up to what normally walked through the door.
After checking in, we were off riding on Trail 8. Well we started riding and then quickly converted to pushing. Up the hill with lots of rocks. Big rocks. Big challenge. I quickly realized that this was alot different from Government Canyon and was worried that Marlene (that would be my wife) was going to give me the what the heck did you get us into speech. But no, she was actually enjoying herself and stated so. I was amazed.
The first part of the trail was like I said mostly pushing the bike over large rocks, but once we got to a certain point which i would say was just less than halfway, the ride changed and the trails were better going and we were able to stop pushing and start riding.
This is where I realized very quickly that Marlene is more brave than me and was attacking the the trail like a bat out of hell. Yes, she was ahead of me most of the way.
One highlight of the trail was Comanche Bluff. Beautiful view.
The photos of this adventure can be viewed here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gparkerelvis/sets/72157600236712324/
How it all got started; two loaner MTBs and the need for adventure
I am sure that it is easy to see that I just read the book "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" thus the rip-off and use of the title for this blog. Searching on the net for information about local trails 
to ride for me (on the left) and my wife (on the right) and not finding much, I decided that I would start one myself. Equiped with two mountain bikes on loan to
us from a friend and the desire to seek out and actually experience some adventure led us down a this road with all of about zero experience in mountain biking. No problem. How else do you learn other than to just jump right in with both feet. So far, we've been at it for the past three weeks with most of the rides in Government Canyon State Natural Area http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/government_canyon/. Oh by the way, we live in San Antonio which is no where near Las Vegas.
So given that, the aim here is document our rides, experiences, and adventures so that in the future, for some odd reason we can come back here and read all about it and look and see if anyone out there has peered into our world and read what we took the time to post here.
My apologies for all the bad grammar and all the misspelled words.
to ride for me (on the left) and my wife (on the right) and not finding much, I decided that I would start one myself. Equiped with two mountain bikes on loan to
us from a friend and the desire to seek out and actually experience some adventure led us down a this road with all of about zero experience in mountain biking. No problem. How else do you learn other than to just jump right in with both feet. So far, we've been at it for the past three weeks with most of the rides in Government Canyon State Natural Area http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/government_canyon/. Oh by the way, we live in San Antonio which is no where near Las Vegas.So given that, the aim here is document our rides, experiences, and adventures so that in the future, for some odd reason we can come back here and read all about it and look and see if anyone out there has peered into our world and read what we took the time to post here.
My apologies for all the bad grammar and all the misspelled words.
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