Bill in Houston
Posts: 71
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« Reply #27 on: December 03, 2012, 01:09:56 PM » |
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Did I not post a trip report? Maybe it was a different thread. Last Friday I rode 39.4 miles from Ladonia to Celeste and back. Here is my story.
I pulled into the Ladonia Lodge and unloaded my bike. The drive up had been good, and I felt ready to have a great ride. I rode around town for a few minutes to make sure everything was mechanically good to go, and then hit the trail at 12:57pm. My previous ride on the Chaparral trail had been on the Farmersville to Celeste segment, and I was pleased to see that the trail near Ladonia was similarly clear and smooth as I headed toward Wolfe City. So far, my hopes of covering the 17 miles to Celeste in 2-2.5 hours seemed easily within reach.
However, the trail quickly became rougher and more overgrown. For the sake of posterity, I was recording my time and distance and taking a photo at every bridge and road crossing. I was able to duck under or bull through most of the overgrowth, but a couple of times I had to stop and duck paddle through a section. There were a lot of places where I ended up going very slowly and standing on the pedals to keep balance, and I dismounted for every bridge with exposed ties. In spite of the overgrowth, my bike and gear were working well, and I was feeling good about life.
However, that was about to change. I was expecting flats, so I had my big pump strapped on my rear rack. Unfortunately, this made it a pain to get to my water and food. So I was gradually running behind on water, calories, and electrolytes. My fault completely, and a rookie mistake.
By the time I covered the ~9 miles to Wolfe City I felt pretty beat, and was starting to get a cramp-twinge in my right quad when I would put my right foot on the ground. In Wolfe City I drank a lot of water. I should have hit the electrolytes hard too, but didn't. I had a little food, too. I saw El Arbol, and wished I had time to eat there, but time was ticking, and it was becoming apparent that my progress was much slower than I would have hoped.
I set out from Wolfe City for Celeste, doing math over and over in my head to see if I could make it work out such that I was not riding in the dark on the way back. But, no matter how much I tried, it was obvious that I was going to have to ride part of the way home in the dark unless I cut my trip short. I considered it, but decided that shortening the distance was unacceptable. So I kept pedaling my way toward Celeste. Random thought: It must be a lot harder to throw away a TV than I thought, because that is the most popular item found discarded along the trail.
I finally made it to Celeste around 4:20. Anyone wondering what kind of trail surface to use should definitely park at the Exxon in Celeste, and head northwest. I had no idea that cracks in a path surface could even look like that. If you do decide to walk out that way, let us know, and if you aren’t back by dark, we will come looking for you. I got a 7up at the store, sat down to drink it, and pondered how in the world to get back home to the Ladonia Lodge. My GPS has all the little back roads loaded on it, so I used it to put together a path toward Wolfe City that was off the main roads, but still relatively direct. At 4:30, I headed back to the northwest, hoping to make good time. I met a few groups of dogs on the way back, but they were all friendly or understood the boundaries of their yards very well, so nobody got pepper-sprayed. I eventually made it to Wolfe City. A couple of kids were excited to see a person riding a mountain bike, and one of them directed me to the Quick Chek. On the way to the Quick Chek I went by the middle school, timeless and imposing in its classic dark red brick. It appears that Wolfe City must have been quite a bit bigger at some point. Anyway, at Quick Chek I bought some water, mixed myself a stiff electrolyte drink, and finished it off right on the steps of the store. No time to rest, though, because at this point the question was not whether I would be riding in the dark, but how far I would be riding in the dark.
The wind really picked up out of the north. For a while I wasn’t sure if I was getting chills because I had been pedaling for so long, or if it was actually getting colder. Eventually I put on a jacket and felt a lot better. The sugar and electrolytes I pounded at the Quick Chek seemed to be improving my function and attitude. Just north of Wolfe City, I looked for a road that was supposed to cut fairly directly from Hwy 34 over to Ladonia, but couldn’t find it. I decided to stay on 34, figuring that if I totally bonked, I was more likely to get help on 34 than out in the sticks somewhere anyway. I don’t like riding on roads, but I knew that 34 doesn’t really see that much traffic anyway.
I soldiered on, with the combination of headwinds, hills, and general exhaustion requiring me to use my lowest gears pretty often. I pedaled and pedaled and pedaled and pedaled some more. Eventually around 7:45pm (although it seemed much later) I rolled into Ladonia, where I made myself some dinner and fell into my hammock, where I dreamt of, well, where I dreamt of absolutely nothing as my body and mind recovered from 8 long hours on the bike.
I was supposed to ride even farther the next day, Saturday, but a combination of factors compelled me to take it easy.
-My body was thrashed
-With the trail being as overgrown as it was even in unfenced areas where vehicles had obviously been driving through, I can’t imagine what it’s like in places that are fenced off.
-The idea of riding 60 miles AND lifting my bike over several fences was not appealing.
-As you ride, you are constantly in contact with some kind of vegetation. Even just 5 minutes of rain would wet the vegetation, and you would get soaked to the bone as you rode through.
-I figured out that I really like to have someone else along on a sufferfest like this.
That’s all I have! I’ll do my best to answer any questions you may have.
If you and some friends would like to try out this ride, go for it. I’d recommend doing it just one way. Starting in Celeste, having lunch in Wolfe City, and finishing up in Ladonia would be a strong day for most people. Once you get to Ladonia, have some friends come meet you at Ladonia Lodge(972-979-7482), and camp in the yard or rent a room. Have some dinner at Gloria’s Kitchen, and toast marshmallows out in the yard at the lodge. Disclaimer: There are lots of ways to get seriously hurt or killed out there. Do not undertake a trip unless you know what you would do if some serious stuff went down. Don’t ride by yourself. Be aware of the edges of the trail and bridges at all times. Don’t zone out and get run over at a road crossing. I think you need to have a mountain bike so that your tires are wide enough to absorb impacts with some of the stuff you will roll over, and to get a little flotation on the gravel. Have a friend on standby who can come extract you if something goes wrong, which also requires having a good enough map/GPS to direct them where to go.
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