“Really!?!  C’mon!” That’s what I shouted as the road ahead once again climbed skyward.  I was amazed at how much time I spent spinning, spinning, spinning at a speed of between 3-5mph.  The hills were taking me to school and reminding me that my calculation of a 10mph average speed was a foolhardy gesture. Somehow by the grace of God [...]

Drip. Drip. Drip. That’s the sound of the sweat that rapidly dripped off my forehead as I pedaled slowly up a hill on the access road of Interstate 10 at about 12:30pm. The temperature was over 100 degrees and marching swiftly to a high of 106 marking one of the hottest days of the year and the hottest August, on record, [...]

“We shall never surrender or retreat.” That was part of the famous message, Juan Nepomuceno Seguin, took with him when he was ordered by Colonel William B. Travis to leave the Alamo to seek reinforcements.  When Juan Seguin returned, the Alamo and its defenders had fallen. Seguin, TX – named after Juan Seguin in honor of his many contributions to [...]

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! Time to total up my bicycle mileage for 2010, reflect on this past year and set my sights on all that next year – 2011 – may bring. Mileage Totals: Commuting: 1,323 (biking to/from work) Training: 481 (preparing for cycling events/races) Fitness: 289 (general fitness rides) Recreation: 64 (family rides – fun focused, green [...]

Looking for an extra 1/2 billion dollars to help feed your local economy? As many sectors of the travel industry withered under the Great Recession, bicycle touring flourished.  A study in Wisconsin indicated that out-of-state visitors traveling to Wisconsin on a cycling-related vacation generated 532 million dollars in economic activity. This is serious business folks! This evening, I had the [...]

Last weekend, I completed a 63 mile roundtrip, overnight bicycle tour to Gruene, Texas. This marked my fourth bicycle tour with previous tours to Fredericksburg, Wimberley and Castroville. The bicycle trip from Hollywood Park in north central San Antonio to Gruene was, in a word, outstanding. I started planning for the trip in April and the route I chose turned [...]

On Saturday morning, I left my parent’s house in Hollywood Park for an 80-mile roundtrip bicycle tour from north central San Antonio to Castroville, Texas.  I was joined by Kim, a coworker and friend who wanted to experience her first bicycle tour and having another rider with me was a welcome change from my previous two solo tours.  I’m very [...]

Google recently announced that Google Maps now supports bicycling as a method of transportation when requesting directions to a location.  Google says the system will generate a bicycle-friendly route by considering factors like traffic levels, hills, existing bicycle facilities and more. I used the feature to see what route it would generate between my house and workplace.  I was impressed [...]

At 9am on Wednesday, December 30th I rolled out of my driveway on my Trek Valencia and embarked on my second bicycle tour.  My destination, Wimberley, TX, was about 50 miles northeast of my home. I planned the route using Garmin’s Mapsource program on my PC and downloaded the route to my Garmin Edge 705 so I’d have the benefit [...]

Happy New Year! Time to reflect on my year-end total mileage and key milestones for 2009 (thanks to Garmin Connect which lets me track all of this).  It has been an incredible year for my cycling!  Here are some mileage totals and some key events that made 2009 an amazing journey on two wheels. Mileage Totals: Commuting: 2,118  (biking to [...]