First Cold(er) Weather Ride 2010

The official time change occurred last Sunday, and this was my first opportunity to ride since then....almost my first time to ride this month! It was a brisk 42 degrees when I started my ride today, but it never was cold at all. Although I know I still need almost as much water in the winter as I do on my summertime rides, it's nice to not feel a constant overwhelming desire to drink and try to catch back up on hydration as I pedal down the road. I ended up riding an easy 40 miles today, and I only took one bottle of water (that did not need ice in it to remain cool).


There aren't very many cotton fields outside of Lubbock left to be stripped! The cotton farmers on the South Plains are making good time getting their crops out of the fields and to the gins. You can almost look down the highway at any given time and see a module truck barreling down the road to make another delivery to the local gin...I am certainly ready for ginning season to be over...have I mentioned that already!?!?


Nice view of FM400 running across the bottom of the canyon in my rear view mirror! This is the first ride since I began my job with Halliburton where my legs are REALLY feeling the effects of riding less...up to now it hasn't been as noticeable.


I rode by the Slaton Municipal Airport and Texas Air Museum during my ride today. My dad has participated in a few fly-in's at the Slaton Airport, but I have never done anything more than ride by while training on a bike! They occasionally have air shows at this little airport...need to make a point of coming out here for one later in the year. If I didn't want to spend so much of my spare time cycling, I would definitely be taking up flying! I love aviation, but this two-wheeled hobby pulls on my heart strings a little harder than flying does (at least currently)!



All in all, I had a great time on my ride today. Like I mentioned earlier, I am definitely beginning to feel the effects of not riding. No matter...I will ride as much as I can for now and enjoy every minute of it!

Today's ride: 37 miles / 18.9 mph average - Fun & Easy Training Day!

Cotton Ginning Season = Allergies Galore

The cotton ginning season is in full swing on the South Plains, and my allergies are flaring up with the same sort of intensity. The local cotton farmers have had a great year, so the ginning season may also be unusually long this year...bad news for me, but GREAT news for the local farmers!


I was able to sneak in a quick 25 mile ride to Buffalo Springs Lake and back last week. Unfortunately, I have been very busy at work and home, so I am just now getting around to posting pictures of the ride.

Although we haven't had a freeze yet, most of the fields have been sprayed with a defoliant and the cotton is either being stripped or just about to be! It's great to see such a good cotton crop on the South Plains, but I am more than ready for them to be done. I think this is the worst year I've ever had as far as my allergies are concerned...it's killing me!


Cotton modules galore in the stripped fields...bumper crop! In all the years that my dad was farming, we had VERY FEW years like this one!


This is a view of the cottonseed mill and wind farm coming back into Lubbock on East 50th Street. This is typically the route I take to get to the canyons for some hills and long rides. I sure hope I'll get to ride a little more than I have been lately...sure missing it!

I was dreading the hills today since I've only ridden once or twice in a month's time, but I felt just as strong today as I did the last time I rode. I know that won't last forever, so I'll have to make a concerted effort to get some miles in on the trainer to prevent losing too much fitness!