Only one more training weekend before Bike MS: Sam’s Club Round-Up Ride in north Texas during the first weekend of May! The ride goes from Frisco to Fort Worth with an overnight at the Texas Motor Speedway, 102 and 67 miles respectively. This is my 7th year participating in a Bike MS ride, fundraising for the National MS Society in honor of my godmother and other family members that have been affected by Multiple Sclerosis. If you can, please consider making a donation in support of my participation.

This past Saturday was forecast to be not windy early in the morning, progressing to a south / east wind. Sure enough, that’s what happened. I planned an 83 mile route that headed east from home and then south pretty quickly, eventually hitting Elgin, Texas and then heading home. It was a good route, with the exception of a few roads with higher traffic than I expected. I ended up averaging 16.5 mph for the ride and enjoyed wildflowers the whole time.

I started early and saw the sun soon after sunrise.

 

Bluebonnets under the early sun:

 

 

Around mile 20 I went through Manor:

 

 

Pink winecups and two cyclists on Old Route 290:

 

 

Industry in the middle of nowhere:

 

There is a fake ghost town near Manor. One of the signs was about an Easter egg hunt.

 

Straight open road and blue sky:

 

New road, old road:

 

Bright red barn:

 

My shadow, cows, and some calves:

 

White prickly wildflowers:

 

Bluebonnets hiding between the trees:

 

Indian paintbrushes and a tree stump:

 

The scenery was just so green:

 

An old bridge:

 

A lonely looking house:

 

An old farmhouse, no longer in use except for the barn:

 

So many wildflowers!

 

A pack of cyclists coming at me:

 

Longhorns looking at me:

 

Lovely house and wildflowers:

 

Elgin town square:

 

Train station in the middle of the Elgin square:

 

There was a farmer’s market:

 

A church in the middle of nowhere, called Lund, Texas

 

Riding, riding, riding…

 

Bluebonnets and a bike lane on Howard Lane:

 

Near Dessau Rd, I went through a neighborhood that had the exact same style houses as our neighborhood. And I saw these bright houses:

 

 

 

 

And then I was home. On Sunday, it was windier but not ridiculously so as it was the last few weekends. I rode 35 miles around town.

Related articles

• Bike MS Training, April 12 – 13: A windy weekend
• Bike MS Training: April 5 – 6: Spokes N Spurs ride
• Bike MS Training: March 29 – 30th, checking out Salado