August started with our return to the Dallas and Frisco area to work with our boss, Jeanne Patterson, and various members of the Dallas Off-Road Bicycling Association (DORBA). We visited Cedar Hill State Park, since it had been iced over and closed to the public the last time we were in town. We also taught a trail school in Sherman that was a lot of fun. As a “northern branch” of DORBA, the folks in Sherman are anxious to get their own trail system closer to town and we started that process by working on a brand new trail at Binkley Park. Aside from the poison ivy encounters, it was a great experience! The local riders are very interested in continuing the trail building process, and they all took great care of us. Our hostess, Deborah Tarver, even loaned us her truck for an evening so we could leave the Subaru parked safe at her house with our bikes still loaded up!

While on the north side of town we also got to spend some time at Bonham State Park, riding and analyzing the trail with Mike Vaught, the trail steward. For those few days we stayed at the beautiful lake house of Sally and Bert Simpson, who were wonderful hosts for us! Bonham is a nice park with a large lake and a well-maintained trail system, and it was a great site for the DORBA women’s retreat, which will be described in a bit. On Tuesday the 5th we went to the DORBA meeting at REI and did a presentation on our program and some of the interesting places we’ve been across the state. There was a large turnout, and it was nice to meet with such a dedicated and energetic group of people. Earlier we had visited Richardson Bike Mart and Plano Cycling and Fitness to meet the owners and say thanks for their support of the Texas Bicycle Coalition. Jim Hoyt and Rick Gurney are not only businessmen, they are dedicated supporters of the cycling community and we hope that you will visit their shops whenever you are in the vicinity. Please thank them for their support while you’re there.

Every summer for the past 6 or so years, Jeanne Patterson has organized and hosted a women’s retreat and cycling skills clinic at Bonham State Park, and Susan got to attend her second retreat this year. While there, Susan helped out by leading beginner rides and teaching a seminar on what to take with you on a ride to be prepared for various situations. (For example, a long piece of duct tape wound around a small stick can be a lifesaver in times of trouble—you can boot a tire bead, tape a broken saddle back together, or keep a cable end from fraying if the little crimper comes off. The possibilities are endless!) The retreat was a great success, with about 65 women of all riding ability levels learning from one another and sharing tips. And we couldn’t have done it without bike mechanic extraordinaire, Pam Jackson, who kept everyone’s bikes running smoothly. Thanks Pam!

While Susan was at the retreat, Ryan led a work party at Erwin Park with trail steward Bill Skalenda and a troop of Boy Scouts. They re-routed a section of trail to create a smoother transition from the open field into the woods, and properly closed down the old trail by digging up the topsoil and transplanting some plants and small trees. Apparently some volunteer groups are easier to supervise than others—Ryan said that keeping 17 boy scouts on task was like herding cats! But all in all it was a good day’s work and the project soon received some positive feedback on the DORBA forum.

After a few days off relaxing in Warda, we pointed the Subaru west and drove out to Uvalde (80 miles from San Antonio) to meet with Katherine Nichols from the National Park Service and people on the city’s economic development board. Uvalde already has a nice little paved multi-use path and park in the downtown area, and they plan to extend the path north to the schools to provide children a safe route to school. The trail docs did a brief presentation on using the clinometer to lay out trail grades that are shallow enough to meet Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines, and offered suggestions about where to route the path to facilitate water drainage and preserve native grasses and plants. We also toured a piece of city property that is slated to become a nature preserve, and are excited about the prospects of developing a natural surface trail system in there that will provide hikers and mountain bikers with an exciting place to ride. On the way home we stayed for a night at the Rockin’ River Resort in Camp Wood. Lance & Treva Windham have a great RV park with campsites, cabins, and access to the Nueces River. They’re wonderful hosts, and are excited about having folks visit their new place. Check them out online at www.rockinriverresort.com.

August 20-23 we went to Wichita Falls for the Hotter ‘N Hell Hundred and the annual meeting for the Texas Bicycle Coalition. We enjoyed riding the very nice urban trail system with Roby Christie who runs the weekend’s events, and had fun working at the TBC booth with our compadres from Austin. We signed up several new members for TBC, and raised a nice sum of money using the “vote with your dollars” technique to help select the final design for our upcoming Share the Road license plate. We also got to visit with Mary Grigson, a former solo 24-hour world champion who races mountain bikes for the Subaru Gary Fisher professional team. We got to race ourselves on Sunday morning by competing in the mountain bike time trial, and Susan even got to show off her flashy new TBC jersey. We each won our first race ever in our careers! Too bad we were the only ones competing in our own age categories, but we won’t focus on that little detail…

On the way home from Wichita Falls we stopped at Paradise on the Brazos and met with David Michael to evaluate the trail system he’s been building on the property. The owners Freddie and Christine Mayo have a beautiful bed and breakfast operation on the premises, and are open to having more mountain bikers come out to visit their ranch. There are about 5 miles completed, with several more trails in the works. You can see some pictures of their place at www.paradiseonthebrazos.com.

We wrapped up the work month by going to the Glen Rose and Cleburne areas to visit Dinosaur Valley and Cleburne State Parks. Unfortunately weather conspired to keep us off the trails, but we had productive meetings with the trail stewards at both facilities and are planning to conduct a trail school up there around mid-February. We’ll keep you posted on those developments as the time gets closer. The last weekend of the month was spent in Canada so Ryan could compete in the 24 Hours of Adrenalin Solo World Championships in Whistler, British Columbia. Even though it was a non-work event, we still got to spread the word about TBC and our Subaru-sponsored program to folks from all around the world. Definitely a productive weekend!

September is sure to be an exciting month. Along with the first cool breezes of fall arriving, we’ll be getting our new Subaru Baja since we’ve racked up 20,000 miles on the first one. We’ll be going to Flat Rock Ranch in Comfort and up to Dallas to do a presentation for the Sierra Club, and then out to El Dorado for the second TMBRA race at X-Bar Ranch. See you next month!