Bring it on skeeter punks

Oh the price we pay for rain. The recent frequent rains have been welcomed by all after the dry, very hot summer we experienced here in south Texas. What is not so welcomed is the return of the mosquitoes. A week ago, as I walked with my dog Penny through tall grass in the nearby creek I was attacked viciously by those nasty blood suckers. They were all over me! Stinging little turds! I ran out of there and headed home with welts all over my legs and arms. I rubbed down with alcohol and soon felt better.
I am not a fan of applying chemicals on my body, but needed to find something that will help against these nasty blood suckers. I searched and found "Badger" anti bug balm. It is made from all natural ingredients. After ordering it I patiently waited for it to arrive and stayed clear of the tall grassy areas. Although the skeeters found me on the upper levels of the creek too.
I was happy but surprised when my package arrived. 6 bucks for a .75oz tin of bug balm! I guess I hadn't realized how small an amount that is. Oh well, I readied for a run and spread a very light coating of the balm on my face, neck, arms, and legs. I soon found out a little goes a long way. The balm has a pleasant smell and is not at all uncomfortable or irritating.
What better place to try this stuff out than the tall grass in the lower levels of French creek, Where I was so viciously attacked a week ago. As I reached this area I saw the skeeters all around me. They tried but would not land. One brave one did land if only for a short time as it soon fell off! This stuff works! I had a pleasant run with maybe one more determined skeeter landing on my arm for a second. Keep in mind, this is a creek, with plenty of standing water. A perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes.
To add to my pleasant run, a mountain biker came to a complete stop as he saw me approaching. "Come on by" he said. "I am supposed to yield to you, Not everyone knows that" he said. "You are right" I resonded. THANKS!
As I headed home on this short 5 miler, the perspiration dripping from my body on this humid day made me wonder if the balm would hold up and keep it's potency. Arriving home I stretched on my front porch as perspiration dripped from all over my body. One sole speeder skeeter hovered over me trying to find a place to land. Here, No here, oh, there, no Here. It could not find a place to land. This stuff works!
As the Badger anti bug balm says "go ahead bug punks, make my day"
And the best part, "Good for the skin, bad for the bug".

Night Rider

This weekend the running group has a big run planned for Sunday at Government Canyon. 2 to 4 hours on the trails. Can't miss that! Brush pick up is also scheduled next week for my neighborhood. I need to trim some trees and lay out the brush by the curb. So when do I schedule my Bike ride? I have to put in some saddle time for the MS ride to river in two weeks.
I decided to start my ride at 5 AM Saturday morning. I have a "flea". A small but very bright red LED lamp I attach to the rear of my jersey. And I use a Petzl lamp on my handle bars as a headlamp. As I am about to leave my driveway my neighbor exits his house, coffee in hand, and tells me to be careful. "got all you need?" he asks. Yes, I reply. The only thing that worries me is drunks that may have been out all night I tell him. "yeah" he says. "they're out there".
I head out Mainland and onto Bandera road. My petzl lamp is bright enough, but does not stay stationary on my handlebars. It moves out of position with the vibration of my front wheel on uneven portions of the road. I continue to adjust it throughout the ride. The street lamps help somewhat with illuminating the road, but there are periods where the lamp comes in handy and helps in avoiding debris on the road. There are a few cars on the road, but mostly I have the road to myself.
As I reach Helotes, Tx at the 7 mile mark, I turn right on Scenic loop road. This road is a quiet two lane road with some homes on large two to maybe 10 acre lots. I pass through the sleepy town of Grey Forest. So small they don't even have a traffic light. Not even a blinking yellow light! But they do have a cop who likes to harass Cyclists into riding single file (Texas law states cyclist may ride two abreast).
Leaving Grey Forest the big climb begins. A three tiered hill about 3/4 of a mile long. Here the homes lay far away from the road. There is no lighting. It is pitched dark. I continue to adjust my petzl headlamp as I climb the hill. Over the top there is a short descend and a quick very short ascend then a one mile downhill. I am careful not to pick up too much speed for fear of something suddenly appearing on the road. A truck approaches towards me with it's bright lights on but quickly dims them. At the 15 mile mark it is almost 6 AM as I turn right onto Boerne stage road. It is still dark on the road and I AM 3 miles from Leon Springs, Tx. where Liza and Joe will be meeting at the Starbucks to run 16 miles on the road. I planned to surprise them.
I make it to Starbucks just as Liza and Joe are ready to start their run. what excitement! I have not seen Joe in months and Liza has just returned from Kenya where she was instructing tour guides on wilderness survival. We shook hands, hugged, and shared great big smiles. Liza shared a few stories too. I bid them farewell and I hung out at the Starbucks a while.
Returning towards home the traffic seemed to increase. I made it to the Leon Creek greenbelt where I road at a leisurely pace among walkers, runners, and other cyclist enjoying the overcast morning. Arriving home after 33 miles at about 7:30 AM, the neighbor was trimming his hedges and getting ready to mow. My wife and I hit some garage sales in the neighborhood. Then we returned home, she left for the gym and grocery store. I had breakfast, then trimmed trees, layed the branches out by the curb, mowed the lawn, showered, and took a well deserved nap.

The Human Spirit

Today I left home with Penny, my three year old Chocolate lab for a walk on the trails. Wearing my vibram five fingers we headed out on french creek then on to leon creek. Walking at a slow pace and enjoying the cool overcast evening. Penny was excited as deer frequently ran across the trail ahead of us. She made me proud as she calmly watched as mountain bikers came toward us on the trail and whizzed on by. As we reached the newly paved trails in the creek, two young boys about 5 and 7 rode up to us and asked " can we pet her?" Sure I said, but she's gonna lick you! the two boys smiled ear to ear as they pet Penny. "Why is her tongue hanging out?" they asked. She's been walking over two miles now I explained, and she is overly excited at the attention you are giving her.
As I bid farewell to the kids and headed back home, a young lady on a mountain bike came riding up and said Hi. I said Hi, and asked her how long she's riding today. "oh, I came from Babcock" she said. Wow, I responded. That's 4 miles to this point (Bandera Rd). Yes she said, but I do it almost everyday and it doesn't feel like 8 miles round trip. We struck up an interesting conversation and she explained she suffers from Diabetes. She tries to keep it in check by watching her diet and exercising. You all know me. I suggested vegetables and fruit to eat, to which she responded, "I do eat all that." She told me she was a runner in high school. I asked if she still runs, hoping to recruit a new runner to our group, she went on to tell me she also suffers from poor blood circulation in her legs and restless leg syndrome. And, she later explained "I also have low bone density, and scoliosis." All this she told me while smiling often. "Wow, you ARE sick" I said laughing. "Como una vieja!" she said (Like an old lady). I asked her age (I know, don't ask a lady how old she is), and she said she was 37. She did not look a day over 30. Due to the exercise and good diet, no doubt.
"Keep up the exercising" I told her. And "keep smiling and thinking positive." I will she replied. Nora rode off and I could not help but think what a great joy for life she has. She suffers from many illnesses and still smiles and tries to help herself through diet and exercise. So many others let such conditions rule their lives. But some like Nora fight through it.
Many of us are so fortunate to have good health. If you are one of these, Treasure it. If not, Keep smiling, and keep pushing on.

Spiders and Snakes

I had no plans to run Saturday morning. I awoke early as usual, had my coffee and decided to head out to Government Canyon State Natural Area. I headed out at 7:15 AM for the 15 minute drive. It was surprisingly cool. The ranger at the check in station joked about needing to don a wool cap this morning. 70 degrees, a cool breeze, and low humidity is a welcome change from this awfully hot summer we've been having.
I filled my camel back with water, a hand held with water and stuffed my waist pack with Succeed electrolyte capsules, my camel back pocket with my phone and keys, and my handheld pocket with a lara bar. Where's my hat? Oh s%$t! I forgot my hat. Well I reached for my bandanna and as I checked for my reflection in my trucks windows to wrap my bandanna on my head, I saw my hat on my head.
Going up the trail I walked the steady incline at a fast pace on the Sendero Balcones trail for about the first mile then running the flat, downhills, and slight inclines to the twin Oaks trail at mile 2.5. Twin Oaks from this point is a steady descend. I was surprised to be running through spider webs. I thought for sure some one had been up or down this trail before me today. I had arrived late and had seen more cars than usual at the main parking lot. I wasn't looking for webs and just took it in stride when all of a sudden I caught a SPIDER in my mouth! Right between my lips! Phew! Plaw! Spit, Spit! Phew! What are the odds? RIGHT IN THE MOUTH! Thank God I was in the process of exhaling! It felt like a fuzzy gummy bear with legs! I wiped my mouth over and over again with my bandanna, Rinsed my mouth out with water, and spit over and over again. I was afraid to drink water. What if the spider regurgitated or excreted on me? AAHHH! I've eaten bugs many times in my life running and biking and joked about extra protein but spiders I can do without. Thank you very much!
The rest of my 10+ mile run was great and I felt better as I went on. Even picking up the pace and working on my speed as I attacked the hills and sped up on the flats and downhills, when all of a sudden a mountain biker up ahead waves at me to slow down. As I approached him walking I saw what he was looking at. A checkered garter snake had caught a toad and was in the process of swallowing it. WOW! what a sight. We discussed helping the toad but hey, we've got to let nature play itself out. The toad seemed to have resigned itself to it's fate. Soon another trail runner came by and we watched the process for a while but realized the snake was going to be busy for quite some time. I took some photos with my cell phone camera and we moved on.

RAIN!

It's been SOOOO long since we've had any rain in south Texas. On top of 45 consecutive days of 100+ degree days, we haven't had any substantial rain all year.
Today as I left work I dreaded running in the 100 degree afternoon again. Should I just go to the the gym and hit the elliptical trainer? As I arrived home I felt a cool breeze and off to the west I saw dark clouds! Wow, is rain on it's way? Thunder and lighting off in the distance was exciting! I checked the radar and noticed most of the rain was developing south of my house and moving away, with more moving in from the north, but a big void right over my running route. Aw shucks, no rain for us. Well the cool breeze was pleasing and summoned me to RUN in the creek trails. I wore my gore tex running shoes just in case and wore my iPOD. It felt so nice running under a cloudy sky and a cool breeze. 3 miles into my 6 miler small raindrops were falling on the dry parched dirt trail. Drops of rain were causing subtle puffs of dirt to rise from the dry powder like trail. With more thunder and lighting around I decided to put my iPOD in my camelback pocket. I had read a report where the iPOD acts as a lighting rod and people have been burned in thunder storms while wearing an iPOD. The rain became heavier and I was enjoying every minute. In most of my runs during this summers HOT dry weather I would stop 2 to 3 times on a 6 miler to rest. On this run I did not stop once. As the rain got more intense it felt even better. One block from home. I took off my hat and walked with my face facing the sky. Raindrops hitting my face, I wiped the water off with my hand. Arriving at home I stood on my drive way enjoying the rain as it continued to hit my face. RAIN, So good, so good.

Spinning

I was once asked what I like better, Riding my bike or running. I said running because I just put on some shorts, shoes, and head on out the door. As opposed to biking where I have to load up the bike, drive to a safe location, air up the tires, don all the special gear, ride and then reverse the scenario to drive back home.
I was out for a 45 miler on the road bike today. Sure, It's a great form of cross training. But sometimes I feel like I am missing out on a great trail run. Once I am out on the road though it is such an exhilarating feeling. There is nothing like reaching a steady cadence of 100 revolutions per minute! Spinning the legs and feeling the wind in your face.
I headed out on a training ride in preparation for the up coming MS 150 bike to the river with some friends. A group of 7 of us headed out from Helotes Tx. to Rio Hondo for a great ride on roads following the "Texas hill country trail".
We came upon a team time trial competition on Hwy 471. Those guys were Moving!
At the 30 mile point we stopped at a convenience store and soon a group of about 50 riders came in.
After re-fueling we were off to tackle the toughest part of our ride. A 7 mile stretch of steep rolling hills. Once we crested the last hill we thought it would be clear sailing for the last 8 miles to the finish until we hit a strong head wind!
Zack, The "KID", blew us away as he steadily faded off into the distance.
Josh, Tim, and I formed a pace line to the end.
What a rush! Spinning at 20+mph, inches behind your buddy's wheel in a pace line.

The common Poorwill

Yesterday was a surprisingly cool July Saturday morning. A welcomed respite from the terribly hot days we've been having. 100+ degrees for over six weeks! The cool morning was a result of the previous evenings rain no doubt. It seems a little cooler up in the hills of Bandera too.
Arriving at the Hill Country State Natural area two hours before dawn, Chris, Liza and I met Bridget and her friends Katie and Roger. It had been awhile since we'd been night running at Bandera. Donning our headlamps, We headed out. I led the way. Being up front I was able to see the nocturnal wildlife on the trail. Rabbits were everywhere. I saw a baby armadillo! I call out to announce what I see and try to shine my hand held flashlight on the animals. As I Shined my flashlight on a large spider to watch it's eyes glow, I see a bird sitting on the trail. Hmm, I thought, that's unusual. As we continued I saw another, and another. Short plump, black/gray colored birds with glowing red eyes. Some in groups of two or three. These birds would not move until we were almost on them. I stopped and pointed them out to all.
Daybreak was quickly upon us. It is a beautiful sight to see the sun rising above the hills out here. Chris noted that there was no cloud cover though. Pretty and cool morning yes, but soon the the sun would be hot over head. Our route today was over all the major climbs. This was a no drop run, so we waited for all to catch up once we crested the hills. This allowed us to enjoy the views while visiting with Bridget and sharing stories with new friends as we regrouped. What a nice morning for trail running. Reliving this years Bandera 100K where Bridget and Liza battled in what was the fastest pace among the top 5 women in the history of the race was interesting and fun. Two very talented Ladies.
Bridget and her friends left us after about 15 miles. Roger had a self defense class to teach. We bid them farewell, but not before Bridget shared some of her water with Chris who was almost out. Chris and I then continued over the sisters behind Liza as we challenged her to run up the hills. We watched in awe at how she seems to glide up those climbs. After 18.5 miles I was cooked.
Later I researched the birds we saw. The birds,it turns out, were the Common Poorwill. A nocturnal bird that feeds on moths and other insects at dawn and dusk. This is the only bird that hibernates in the winter. Don't know what's common about that. One of the joys of trail running is what we get to see in the wild. Always something different and/or new. No trail run is ever the same. That's the joy of our sport.