We took a long weekend and a road trip to Texas to ride the Lake Mineral Wells Trail. This is a 20 mile, gravel, rail-to-trail between the towns of Mineral Wells and Weatherford. We started at the Mineral Wells trail-head and rode out and back plus a 2 mile side excursion for a total of 42 miles.
On the ride back we stopped at the Garner Store & Cafe for lunch. The town of Garner is about the midway point (one way) on the trail. Thanks to the Fireman in Garner who offered bottled water had we needed it. We also rode up a spur and back that connects to the Trail-Head near the lake. When we started our ride the temperature was 48 and when we ended it was 83.
To our pleasant surprise, the trail wasn't flat and straight as we assumed it would be. There were quite a few gradual ups and downs and it was pretty curvaceous. Sections of the trail in Mineral Wells and Garner are paved. We both agree this is a great trail.
After the ride we had dinner at the Mesquite Pit which was great.
We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express which was full of other cyclists (road) there to participate in the Texas Bicycle Racing Association's Mineral Wells stage race.

Edit: Texasbiker.net thought our ride was newsworthy. Thanks.

Slow day at work today so I didn't go. Instead I stayed home to run errands and do chores that I should have done over the weekend. I rode to the post office to mail a package. I forgot about today being a holiday.

We spotted (but didn't buy) this shirt at Target over the weekend. I like the Valentine one they were selling a while back better.

Today we drove an hour and a half to the town of Lindsborg, Kansas. From there we rode about 4.5 miles up to Coronado Heights and back. Lindsborg was settled in the spring of 1869 by a group of Swedish immigrants. Coronado Heights receives its name from the Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, who visited central Kansas in 1541. Supposedly he climbed this hill looking for the Native American community of Quivira, where he was told "trees hung with golden bells and ... pots and pans were beaten gold."
Once back in Lindsborg we rode the 2.5 mile Välkommen Trail which is a paved rail-to-trail. There are several historical signs along this trail. There are plans to extend the trail to Mcpherson which will become the Meadowlark Trail.
In Lindsborg we walked around town and had lunch at Jalisco which was good but they don't serve alcohol.
We rode a total of about 14 miles. I believe the temperature was only in the 50s, not the upper 60s as predicted. Nova got the polka dot jersey on this ride. GPS track one way here.

I decided to take advantage of the exceptionally warm evening and meet up with the Thursday night bike bunch in town. I figured with the good weather there would be quite a few out and I was right. When it came time to leave the meet-up place I got sidetracked and separated from the group so I just rode around downtown by myself. Snapped a couple of photos.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a package waiting for me when I came home from work this evening. It was packed full of bicycle related swag like t-shirts, decals, a hat and more.
The senders are a couple that are internet friends and fellow bicycle enthusiasts.
Thanks guys! Cool stuff!

Victorian Cycles, Wheels of Change is a fascinating documentary about the bicycle's coming of age and its tremendous impact on society. It is filled with images of a by-gone era, and the people who embraced its change.

I give it 1 thumb-shifter up. This documentary gives you history on early bicycles and cycling as a whole but specifically Colorado and the Denver area's cycling history.


Nova gives it 1 thumb-shifter up.

A non-profit organization that focuses on events for the disabled, World T.E.A.M. Sports drew an array of veterans from the U.S. and Vietnam, as well as celebrity riders like Greg La Monde and Senator John Kerry. Those without use of their legs used special hand-powered bikes, while blind riders pedaled from the back of tandem bikes. What is immediately apparent on the veterans' arrival in Vietnam is that their biggest handicaps are the ghosts of their pasts. Past enemies ride as one team in peace across a landscape they once killed to stay alive on.

We watched it but not rating it. Not that much of a bike movie.