All up to date 2021 Texas bicycle rides in one location

Matt Leuck’s entry into the contest are two awesome pictures.

My entry is memorable to me on several levels.

First I am a Wounded Warrior stationed at Fort Hood Texas. I am in the Warriors in Transition Unit here under going treatment and transition. This picture was taken by Aloha Joe, and is one of his many pictures taken during the Texas Ride 2 Recovery in May 2011.

This picture shows the end result of the determination of the many people who helped plan and execute the ride. I ride to help and support my other Wounded Warrior Brothers and sisters but I also ride for my own therapy. This picture sums up all that is good about John Wordin and all the many R2R staff, Civilians,Volunteers, and supporters who make these rides possible.

It is impossible to put into words how it feels to ride with these Warriors most who have serious injuries whether seen or unseen and watch the determination on their faces, you know they will not quit just as the people who support us will not quit.

This is a picture of people working together not forgetting our Military or injured. To me this is what we are fighting for.

This is America.

V/r Douglas Emberton

I have attached 2 photos because both were & will always be most memorable.

This is my youngest grandnephew at the finish of the 2011 Hotter n’ Hundred. His name is Zane T. MacFarland & he’d turned 8 years old the week before the ride this year. Of course, this isn’t his first ‘rodeo’ as he’s been riding with me for 2 – 3 years since he was 6, & has done the Tour d’Italia three times, the Richardson Wild Ride twice. Up until this year, he’d only ridden the short family distance routes but at the Tour d’ Italia in June he rode the 42-mile route. Being able to do the distance at the Tour d’Italia had to do with the fact that I got a new road bike this year & he was able to ride my old Specialized road bike. But, as with all true road bicyclists in Texas, you must be able to say that you’ve ridden certain bike rides & the HHH tops the list. Zane’s mother grew up in Wichita Falls & rode HHH as a little girl. His grandmother, Wanda Wallace, still lives in Wichita Falls, so he was determined to ride it this year. He also knows that you have to earn the right to wear certain jerseys. He’d saved his money & bought both the jersey & some better cycling shorts at the vendor show. He talked the talk & walked the walk, finishing his first HHH. He was a little annoyed that we had to ride the 25-mile route as HHH had no route in the 40ish-mile distance but jumped up to a 50-miler. He’s already said to me, “Next year, we’re doing the 50!”

This photo is of my grandnephew, Brady H. MacFarland, who’s 10, and lives down in Round Rock, TX. In October, we rode the Outlaw Trail bike rally for the 2nd year in a row. This year, he too rode my old road bike & we did the 40-miler route.. What makes this photo memorable is that we are coming in to the Dell Diamond park & headed for the finish line. To me, his look says it all about what he learned on this year’s ride & just how hard it was. First, he conquered the distance, jumping from the shorter family distance to the longer 40-ish one. A good portion of the shorter rides had long distances into a headwind to battle this year & one part was a long drag up hill.. He learned to persevere & grind it out. He learned to be more aerodynamic into the headwind. Yes, he stopped to rest a couple of times but he didn’t quit & he was getting tired. Finally, we’re only a couple of miles from the finish when the clouds gathered & down came the rain in torrents for 5 – 10 minutes along with a stiff wind. He’d never had to ride in the rain before. He rode well & even though he was drenched, he kept pedaling, never giving a bauble at any corner. Normally, Brady rides a BMX bike. Last year at this bike rally he rode my old Schwinn Moad mt. bike with road slicks on it. This year, he rode my Specialized road bike. He can ride anything & take on the elements.

I’m the proud grandaunt, Mary McLachlan, & I’m a member of Lone Star Cyclists in Dallas. I’ve been road bicycling & a self-contained road bicyclist for about 10 years. Nothing thrills me more than a screaming downhill than to see the youth enjoy bicycling.

Mary McLachlan

Darrell Hale submitted this picture for the contest with the following write up:

Plano Bicycle Association put together a group ride for the Hotter ‘n Hell 100 and I just think that the picture that Tim Elliott took over his shoulder was superb.  This picture was taken at approximately 70 miles into our ride.  I believe the final numbers were 18 started with 18 finishers!  We had all Century Men and Women with a finishing temperature of 109 degrees.  There was even one gal that had just started training with PBA six weeks prior.  The group was composed of members of our Tweeners group (led by Mark Hayes at the time) along with some DB Lite and DB2 (DB stands for Distance Builders).

A great group of folks.

Darrell

Five of us North Texas cyclists headed off to the 2011 Bicycle Tour of Colorado, a six day / 450 mile tour through the Rockies the 3rd week in June.  Day 2 was the most anticipated ride from Estes Park to Granby along Trail Ridge Road with more than eight miles lying above 11,000′ and a maximum elevation of 12,183′.  A snow storm closed the road four days prior to our ride day, so we waited in anticipation for whether the Park Rangers would open it an let us ride.  We were told we could leave Estes Park, ride to a point at 11,000′ and await the final decision.

We waited there approx. 45 minutes with temps around 40 degrees and winds blowing 20 mph.  The cloud cover increasing but the Rangers decided to let us through.  Three of us in the group made it up and over the summit, but paid a steep price of riding in 30 degree temps, with 30 mph winds, and freezing rain.

I’ve never been so cold or wet on a bike as I was on the descent!  Soon after the road was opened, the Park Rangers reversed their decision and closed road at the summit deciding the descent was too dangerous.  That decision forced hundred riders into the summit souvenir shop to await buses to shuttle them into Granby (see picture three).

Definitely the most memorable ride of 2011!

My Mom lives in central PA in a valley called Big Valley. It has a large Amish population and excellent secondary roads and drivers who are accustomed to slow movers (e.g. horse-drawn buggies). So I try to take my bike back to PA whenever practical. The valley is bounded by Stone Mtn and Jacks Mtn. For several years I’ve wondered about trying to cycle up one of those mountains. But I’m not a young guy and I don’t train to do a lot of climbing. This past August I thought I’d give it a try. Although I needed two rest stops, I did make it to the top of Jacks Mtn, a climb of nearly 1000′ over 2.8 miles with one portion at 15 degrees grade. There was a person at the scenic overlook who was kind enough to take the attached photo.

Larry Smith
LMRA Bicycle Club

Here is a picture after completion of my first Ironman. I hope this counts as a picture submission considering I rode 112 miles during this event. My machine’s name is “Marissa”…she carried me through a tough century plus ride that day. Not only this day of riding, but many training days in preperation. I rode the HH100 with some great Wheel Brothers (love you guys). I also rode Kwanis Kicker and Make a Wish100 ride this year. All the while never having any mechanical issues or flats “during” the rides. Interesting enough I did have 3 flats this season….all of which I woke up to the next day after a ride. One flat occurred the morning after my Ironman. Thank God it did not happen during the Ironman race!

I give all my praises to God for giving me the ability to cycle and overall fitness. I have overcome a lot of injuries, one of which was a torn ACL, MCL and meniscus over four years ago. Cycling was an integral part of my rehab and was actually one of the things that really kept me going during that rough time.
One of my most memorable rides during this year was actually the HH100. I reunited with my old Wheel Brothers…literally I call them my “brothers”. Some of which I had not seen since the previous HH100 last year. I met some new faces to the Wheel Brother clan and it made the event more exciting riding with such a large group of guys with the same jerseys on. Although I only rode 30 miles with them (I split off to ride the 100k), it was very enjoyable catching up and talking to some of the new guys!

I really enjoyed the camaraderie among the WBs….especially on tough days such as the HH100. I can tell you first hand we have helped each other out during this ride many many times and I thankful for the strong team (brother) like attitudes. Lastly, it was great to having such an awesome resource for local/regional rides in Texas via the Wheel Brother website! Thanks fellas!

Sincerely,
Wheel Brother Ryan Tibball
‘Ryan’
phil 4:13 ” I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”

My favorite time of the Texas year is Spring. That is the best bike riding weather and the prettiest flowers on the hillsides. The “Greater Dallas Bike Ride” happens to be the second weekend in April, what a perfect time to see the flowers at a slow pace. This ride heads out from the square in Lancaster, south-south-east of Dallas, with a coordinated start at the old town gazebo. So you better get with your starting group and ready for a fast start heading east then south from old downtown. Our group this year was the 42 milers at 15 mph and we, my brother, my biking buddy and I, were set at the front for a great day. Bang, the long distant fast riders left, then the slower long distance riders, and then it was our turn to hit the pedals.

Out beyond the airport the countryside turns to pastures and fields of beauty. As you make your way basically south, the first rest stop allows you to load on more energy food, then the turn west, a second rest stop and more energy food and finally north get ready for the beautiful rolling hills and mini ranches. As your legs burn to the top of the hills the reward is awesome then the recovery happens as a result of the display of picturesque blue bonnets that is laid out before you. Up each hill is a new reward. The clear sunny day and the 42 miles of riding completed.

Our group, the 3 of us congratulated each other on a great ride and lots of pictures with the promise to share. As I drove home I thought I need to share this experience with my wife. As she viewed the pictures I said, “Do you want to drive the bike route tomorrow and look at the blue bonnets?” She looked at me in surprise and said “Of course I do!”! After church on Sunday we loaded the dogs into the car, with some drinks for all of us and headed back of to the “Greater Dallas Bike Ride” route. As we drove the hills as a very slow pace, about the same as the bike, we were again awed by the sight of the blue bonnets. As we crested one of the hills, we both looked at each and said, “Isn’t that your brother’s car?” Sure enough, we both had the same idea, we needed another look at the blue bonnets with our spouses. The picture taking started again and the stories continued of the ride that happened yesterday.