Note: I posted a bunch of pictures to the prior day post. I will move them to the correct pages later, but at least there are some photos.
The day starts with a wonderful sun rise. I'm frantically trying to catch up the posts and we have a company call. Not enough time.
We start with coffee and breakfast at the local hang out. It's surprisingly good. Cipi picked up a piece of glass on the dirt road and has a flat in his brand new tire. At least the hole is in the centre of the tire, where it's easy to repair. That eats some time. We get on the road and a few miles down, Cipi pulls over - the plug has failed. We do the safe thing, safety vest, bike further down the road to slow drivers down. A cop sees us and stops to offer help. Bike is fixed and off we go. Cipi is a bit careful because a flat in a high speed corner is not a good thing.
The highway joins the Rio Grande and the roadway path is dictated by this big river. The area has canyons and hills so we get want we want - exciting roads. The temperatures rise steadily to 36C and we can't image what it would be like had we not lucked out on a cold front. We stop for rest, water and sight seeing on the top of a big hill that overlooks the river and Mexico.
Ride, Ride, Ride. We are heading for the mountain observatory owned by University of Texas.
There is a storm in our path. It looks angry and the radar app shows three distinct large cells. We get a short burst of a lot of rain from the back of the storm. Temps have dropped from a high of 36C to 18C. This sucker is pulling a lot of high atmosphere cold air to the ground. There is what looks like a funnel off to the back of the storm. We're not following that road so we hang a left and enter a scenic route. Other than a few sprinkles, the storm moves on. It starts to warm up,21C, 24C, 27C. The rain jackets are starting to get warm but we are increasing altitude so eventually the temps cool. We have gone from desert to a very green valley. This looks like a different part of the country. The roads are as expected, spectacular. We come across some nature photographers who shoot us as an alternative to birds and stuff. Around one corner we see ... snow??? Around the next, on a steep downhills ... the road is covered in snow. Everyone hauls on the binders cause at speed, that's going to get ugly, I go off the road to leave room for the others. Jeff lectures us on the perils of riding close formation. Will post pics of the "snow" It's actually hail. In places, the hail has shredded the leaves off trees and the road is littered with green confetti.
We make it to the observatory and get great pics of the departing storm.
The evening is spent in Alpine. A neat place with a larger airport sporting a few small jets. Obviously, rich guys have fun here.
Dinner is at the Rialto. I order Calf Fries. Jeff and I are the only takers. Josh is a man and makes an attempt. He actually barfs the contents out almost immediately. Ryan puts a piece to his mouth and doesn't bite, then spits it out. The rest of the guys won't touch it.
I can now claim to have eaten it, but will not order it again. Taste is fried meat. Texture is soft, not chewy. Stewed in it's own secret sauce (daddy sauce?)
Tomorrow, we start a run through Texas to get to Arkansas.
The day starts with a wonderful sun rise. I'm frantically trying to catch up the posts and we have a company call. Not enough time.
We start with coffee and breakfast at the local hang out. It's surprisingly good. Cipi picked up a piece of glass on the dirt road and has a flat in his brand new tire. At least the hole is in the centre of the tire, where it's easy to repair. That eats some time. We get on the road and a few miles down, Cipi pulls over - the plug has failed. We do the safe thing, safety vest, bike further down the road to slow drivers down. A cop sees us and stops to offer help. Bike is fixed and off we go. Cipi is a bit careful because a flat in a high speed corner is not a good thing.
The highway joins the Rio Grande and the roadway path is dictated by this big river. The area has canyons and hills so we get want we want - exciting roads. The temperatures rise steadily to 36C and we can't image what it would be like had we not lucked out on a cold front. We stop for rest, water and sight seeing on the top of a big hill that overlooks the river and Mexico.
Ride, Ride, Ride. We are heading for the mountain observatory owned by University of Texas.
There is a storm in our path. It looks angry and the radar app shows three distinct large cells. We get a short burst of a lot of rain from the back of the storm. Temps have dropped from a high of 36C to 18C. This sucker is pulling a lot of high atmosphere cold air to the ground. There is what looks like a funnel off to the back of the storm. We're not following that road so we hang a left and enter a scenic route. Other than a few sprinkles, the storm moves on. It starts to warm up,21C, 24C, 27C. The rain jackets are starting to get warm but we are increasing altitude so eventually the temps cool. We have gone from desert to a very green valley. This looks like a different part of the country. The roads are as expected, spectacular. We come across some nature photographers who shoot us as an alternative to birds and stuff. Around one corner we see ... snow??? Around the next, on a steep downhills ... the road is covered in snow. Everyone hauls on the binders cause at speed, that's going to get ugly, I go off the road to leave room for the others. Jeff lectures us on the perils of riding close formation. Will post pics of the "snow" It's actually hail. In places, the hail has shredded the leaves off trees and the road is littered with green confetti.
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| Snow in the Texas desert/mountain area in May |
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| Jeff and Mike stop to take pics |
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| Turns out, it's hail, not snow |
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| It was deep in places |
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| Regular hail size |
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| The hail shredded the leaves off the trees - chopped confetti on the road. That would not have been fun riding through it. |
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| Can you believe this stuff. Note how deep the foot prints are. |
We make it to the observatory and get great pics of the departing storm.
The evening is spent in Alpine. A neat place with a larger airport sporting a few small jets. Obviously, rich guys have fun here.
Dinner is at the Rialto. I order Calf Fries. Jeff and I are the only takers. Josh is a man and makes an attempt. He actually barfs the contents out almost immediately. Ryan puts a piece to his mouth and doesn't bite, then spits it out. The rest of the guys won't touch it.
I can now claim to have eaten it, but will not order it again. Taste is fried meat. Texture is soft, not chewy. Stewed in it's own secret sauce (daddy sauce?)
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| Calf's fries - notice the "over my dead body - I'll eat that NOT" look (except for Josh, who will barf some up shortly) |
Tomorrow, we start a run through Texas to get to Arkansas.
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