There were twelve of us that went, but not all rode.  Two wives don’t ride, and another was recovering from a crash several weeks ago and didn’t want to take a chance on re-injuring herself.  My roommate, Paul Szafran, and I were the only singles.  It was about 640 miles from here to there and we caravanned, leaving here Thursday, August 30.

From L to R: Sharon McCord, Richard Grilley, Lee McCord, Me, Jimmy Calk (making that obscene t.u. gesture), Regina Grilley, Roger Vandeventer (with wife Debra hidden behind him), and Jennifer Calk.  Not pictured are Paul (taking the picture) and the McCord’s son and daughter-in-law who came from Phoenix.

The McCords rented a house and the rest of us stayed at a hotel.  Ft. Davis is small, with a population of about 1200, and most of the locals seem to make their living from the tourist trade.  It is popular with motorcyclists and about twenty were parked there overnight, but over a hundred were spotted riding each day.

Friday we rode 29 miles North toward Balmorhea and except for a few gentle hills and one steep mile at the top of Wild Rose Pass where we turned around, the first half was all downhill.  Two years ago there was no wind and we pedaled very little on the downhill, but had an average speed of about 19 or 20 mph.  This time, the wind was strong and we had to pedal all the way and our average was less than 15 mph.   It was different coming back – we coasted down from the pass at 41 plus mph and then started the uphill climb back to town.  The wind pushed us and the average speed was a little faster going uphill than it was coming down.

At the hotel Thursday.  L to R: Jennifer, Jimmy, Me, Regina, Richard, Lee, Sharon, Debra.

Paul at the top of Wild Rose Pass on Friday

Saturday, we rode the 75 mile loop from Ft. Davis to Ft. Davis.  Beautiful country, but except for a state park, McDonald Observatory, and one small community (Bloys Camp), there are no stores or anything else except for a few ranches that sit a long way off of the road.  We had four rest stops and Jennifer and Debra provided drinks and food to keep us going – they were very much appreciated.

The first 15 miles to the observatory are the hardest, with one steep climb after another.  I had changed to lower gearing this year and didn’t have to get off and walk because it was too steep, but I did have to stop several times to pant (and so did most of the others) because of lack of oxygen due to the elevation. 

The observatory is on top of the mountain just to the right of center, but is still several miles away.  They claim to have the world’s largest telescope mirror -- see the picture at the end.

The first rest stop near the observatory.

We saw some Pronghorn antelope, but didn’t get a picture.

We were all pretty well wiped out by the time we finished, but it was because of the 3100 plus feet of climbs rather than the distance.  Some had tired legs, but it was mostly sore aching butts.  The balls of my feet bothered me badly on the last half of the loop, and I couldn’t stand up off of the seat much to relieve the pain in my butt.  

There is a state park a few miles out of town and most of us hiked several miles from there back to the old fort.  While we didn’t see any animals (but did see many signs of something that had been eating the prickly pear fruits), there are warning signs telling people to beware of bears, mountain lions, and javelinas, and to not leave pets or children unattended.

Looking down on the old fort from the end of the trail

Sunday we repeated the ride up to Wild Rose Pass with the same result – it was windy and faster uphill than it was downhill.  It was a fun trip and all went well except for the speeding ticket I got for not noticing that the speed limit dropped from 80 to 70 east of Pecos.

McDonald Observatory – the biggest telescope is in the background.

This shows the 75 mile loop and elevations but instead of starting at the Prude ranch as shown, we started at Ft. Davis