RB1-luvr

That looks like a lovely ride. If I lived there, I would definitely partake. Thanks for sharing.

rccardr 

What a great ride, wonderful landscape and views, and a super nice bunch of folks. Really enjoyed myself, and it was nice to meet everyone in Schulenberg, not to mention joesch and pastorbob, who made most excellent housemates.

Animal-wise, had a few surprises. Here in Virginia, the deer are mostly 'amblers'. They stroll across the road, jump over a fence or two, but mostly just graze and... amble. The cows here pay no attention to cyclists at all. But this weekend, the cows were FREAKING OUT! we'd pass herds and if they were eating they'd stop, lift their heads, and stare at us as we went by. A bunch of them took off in the opposite direction and literally sprinted across the field. Never seen a cow run before. Also had three deer streak across in front of us at lightning speed, seeming to float in the air as they cruised over the barbed wire fencing.

And the churches...WOW! Not too fancy on the outside but amazing on the inside. Well worth the trip.

Thanks again to BradL for organizing.

joesch

Last picture above of a 1952 Hetchins Mecum Verde which I have never seen in the wild and also cool to ride with bike and vintage kitted rider.

pastorbobnlnh 

I arrived home last evening and will add these pictures:

First the ceilings in the four churches we visited. They were exquisite!




And finally, a picture of my '71 Paramount P13 encrusted with TX grit and grime. I had spent about 10 days completely servicing and cleaning it prior to the trip. It took less than a mile of rain, sleet, and mid-40s temps to reverse all the cleanliness, wax and polish!

The leather bag attached underneath the handlebar mounted bottle cage is my latest project. I call it the "Tubular Lunchbox" and it contained a spare Schwalbe One, a roll of mounting tape, and two cans of Vittoria Pitstop. I also decided to cover the frame pump and bars in matching leather covers.


I was so wet and cold I didn't realize I took the picture of the wrong side!

Maohaus

This looks like an amazing adventure. Is there a sign up to say in the loop on this ride for next season? And/or is there a documented map of the ride if I choose to do it on my own?

brockd15 

Looks like a great ride, and I can confirm it was cold. I was doing a 400k the same day and passed through Schulenberg at about midnight and 185 miles. Maybe if this ride happens again I could see it the daylight.

pastorbobnlnh 

@brockd15 400k!!!!!!!!!! If we'd known, @rccardr , @joesch , and me, would have stayed up and offered warm beverages and other hospitality. We were in an Air B&B just off the main road through town.

joesch

@brockd15 Sunday morning on my way back to Austin I passed two riders on fully setup touring bikes. Wondering if possibly you and your touring partner? I was impressed since had not see too many riders other than us churches tour in this part of TX. Always lots of riders in the Austin area.

joesch

Maohaus Brad L is the contact point for this yearly ride and many other nice meetup rides in the Houston area. He also has a FB page for those meetups.

brockd15 

Ah, if only! That would have been great because at that time I was pretty beat and the one gas station open when I got there closed at 12am. I actually spent a little time in the post office lobby to get out of the cold and have some food, so I was probably close to where you were.

It must have been someone else. I was riding solo for 99% of the time and had a mid-sized saddle bag with a small handlebar bag and one other guy had a rando bag up front with a tool roll in back, but none of us who did it (there were only 3) had a full touring setup. But I did see a bunch of riders earlier in the day with numbers on their helmets. Some organized ride on Saturday morning somewhere close to New Ulm. Other than that, I saw only one other cyclist all day.