Franklin Mountains State Park, El Paso
After leaving north Texas and making a brief stop at our ranch in Warda, we drove out to El Paso for two weeks. We were glad to finally get out there, as neither one of us had ever been to El Paso. One of our first stops was Crazy Cat Cyclery, where friendly locals invited us on a group ride later that week. Then we traveled to Franklin Mountains State Park, which the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department magazine recently featured -- along with two guys from Crazy Cat and their bikes -- on the over of its magazine (pretty neat!).

Franklin Mountains features an abundance of rugged terrain that is well suited for rigorous hiking, biking, and horseback riding, and multi-use trail systems that offer users a variety of experiences. Particularly impressive is the park’s 17-mile loop, adopted by mountain bikers as their own. We had missed the Coyote Classic – held as part of the New Mexico race series – by one week, but it was nice to see that the trail had survived high traffic and the strong rainstorm that took place the morning of the race. Like any trail system, Franklin Mountains includes some small problem areas -- but overall, its trail is well designed and maintained by the local riders, and offers a good riding experience for intermediate-to-advanced cyclists. (Think Lajitas with more rocks and more twists and turns in the singletrack.)

We had planned to camp at Franklin Mountains during our entire stay. However, after learning that only primitive sites were available, and that the park completely lacked shower facilities, we decided to search for other options. Since we had no friends in the area (or so we initially assumed), we thought we’d have to spend money on a hotel room.

On Thursday evening, after a punishing group ride, we went to a barbecue hosted by Dennis “Doc” Mabry, the local trail-building guru and all-around great guy. After telling Doc about the park’s lack of showers and other amenities, he insisted that we stay at his place. Doc
is a (young and very active) retired physician who has a beautiful house that he was kind enough to share with us for the rest of our visit.

While standing by the fire at Doc’s, wondering why Ryan and I had hurt so much during the ride and gotten dropped by people who looked considerably less fit than we were (we eventually learned that El Paso is at almost one mile of elevation, which is a lot higher than what we’re used to), I heard someone ask: “Is that Susan Stormer? What are you doing here?” Turns out it was Jay, my former bike mechanic from the Cycle 360 days back when I lived in Austin. Jay
had moved to El Paso a few years ago, and introduced us to a few other people in
the group. It was nice to see him again and catch up. The rest of our time in El Paso, was worked at the state park training staff and leading a work crew of teenagers from the Texas Youth Commission program. All in all, it was a very productive and enjoyable visit to the western edge of our great state.

Flat Creek Ranch, Johnson City (April 17-18)
From El Paso we drove back to Warda for a few days off, then headed out to Johnson City (west of Austin) for the race at Flat Creek Ranch. We pre-rode the course with a friend from Austin and, thanks to our ‘altitude training’ in El Paso, felt really strong. I came in fourth in the Sunday race, and Ryan also did well. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for our friend Dustin: While descending a turn at high speed, he fell and landed on a sharp, 8-inch long cedar branch that penetrated into the right side of his neck, pierced through his chest and entered his left lung. Medical assistance was immediately available, and Dustin survived the incident; he’s quickly recovering.

Dustin’s story underscores the importance of proper tree trimming in trail maintenance. We don’t know if the particular branch that Dustin landed on was naturally that way or not; what we do know that, across the state, we see a lot of tree branches that are not trimmed back all the way to the trunk as they should be. Many branches are broken off, leaving a sharp stick that could cause another injury like Dustin’s. While conducting trail maintenance, PLEASE keep this issue in mind and TRIM THOSE BRANCHES back properly to avoid accidents like this.

Warda Again
After Flat Creek Ranch, we spent a few days at home doing office work and catching up on bookkeeping. Then we worked on the trails at our own ranch in Warda in preparation for an upcoming race (see May’s entry). I visited my brother in Charleston to celebrate his 40th birthday, and Ryan stayed home to continue preparations for the race. We wrapped up April by making preparations to drive to Dinosaur Valley State Park near Fort Worth to teach a couple of
trail schools during the first week of May.

Next on the schedule: A three-week trip, starting in the Hill Country, then heading up to the Panhandle for several state park visits. Have a great May, and we’ll talk to you soon!

Signed,
Susan (writing this time) and Ryan
The Subaru BikeTexas Trail Doctors