Don in Austin

What's riding like out there? I don't do extreme off-road, but off-road or on-road OK. I like hills. My daughter is not a cyclist, but she tells me she heard there are terrible goat-heads everywhere. Any and all ride info appreciated.
Planning to go latter September.

Don

Creakyknees

The road riding is great out there, if you don't mind a little wind. Most of the time you'll be on quiet / empty highways, with perhaps a bit of chip seal shoulder.

Try to do the Fort Davis loop. Park at Fort Davis, pedal clockwise South on Hwy 17, right / west on 166, right / East on 118. Big climbs, big descents, one of the best rides in the whole state.

Also for an out / back you could try Ranch Road 2810 (Pinto Canyon Rd) going SW from Marfa toward the Rio Grande.

Don in Austin

Thank you so much! I will look into these. Is there really a major problem with flats? My daughter seemed to think you had to fill you tires with Slime even on the highways.

Don in Austin

10 Wheels

I have been out there twice. no flats.

Don in Austin

The Fort Davis loop might be a little much for me given the altitude factor, but I am considering it.

What about the 50 miles -- by my understanding -- 2810 ride from Marfa to Chinati Springs?
How bad is the last unpaved 20 miles? Could it be done on a hybridized MTB, front suspension but street tires, or would it require full MTB rubber? I can put anything on the MTB, but I would like to avoid 30 miles on the highway on big knobbies.

That sounds like a very doable ride. Probably David and I would take of by bike and my wife would drive down later to check on us, hang out and take us back.

Perhaps we would do one or two legs of the Fort Davis loop.

Just don't know how the altitude will effect this ex-smoker old buzzard.

Don in Austin

StephenH

I just rode the Hotter-n-Hell 100. No flats for me. But I'll bet I saw at least a 100 people off beside the road fixing flats. At one of the grassy rest stops, I noticed a little thorny burr stuck in my shoe, and I'm wondering if that wasn't what was doing the bikes in. The bike flats were spread out all over the course, not at one place like if there was broken glass or something. Anyway, moral being, make sure you have some reasonably flat-proof tires.

Now, they just happened to have an info table there for West Texas, so I looked to see what literature they had:
-Brochure for the Texas Forts Tour, www.texasfortstour.com or www.weechita.org.
-"Big Bend Ultra" race, only when I pull up the website, it's a running race, not biking. www.bigbendfriends.org.
-The Marfa100 (that's 100k, not 100 miles)- a new charity ride- www.marfa100.org.
-A sheet from the Gage Hotel in Marathon, which "offers large oversize rooms for stowing bicycles" among other things. www.gagehotel.com.
-A sheet from the Texas Mountain Trail. "Trail" in this case means roads, like they have the "Lakes Trail" and "Forts Trail" and stuff. Anyway, the sheet lists things of interest to bicyclists, which is also on the website. www.texasmountaintrail.com/bike.

On the Marfa 100 and the Forts Tour, even if you can't make the dates, those might give you an idea of some decent routes. Keep in mind they can set up rest areas with water in the middle of nowwhere, so you might need to make some extra provision there.

Hopefully some of this helps. I've been to Marfa, been to Presidio, Alpine, Marathon, etc., but didn't do any cycling out there. Down around Big Bend, there's lots of wide open roads. Probably the biggest concern is that you can have long stretches with zero services, not even a house, so you want to make sure you know where you're going, are reasonably self-sufficient, and have all the water you could possibly need, and then some. Expect lots of sun.

Emergency Tip: I read where a guy unicycled across the US. He didn't have any way to carry enough water through the deserts, so he made a sign that said "Need Water". He said with that sign, about every third car would stop and give him water.

Edit: Also check out "Best Bike Rides- Texas" by Andy White, which has several rides listed in the area.

Jamesw2

I looked up Marfa up a few days ago and found out Lance Armstrong was from there(?)
Also they have a art shoe store in the middle of noware.

It's the kind of place I would like to visit.

tcs

For those not familiar with Texas, Wichita Falls is over 450 miles from Marfa.

tcs

Nope. Infamously born and raised in Plano.

tcs

Stellar road rides: Balmorhea to Ft. Davis & return, Alpine to Ft. Davis & return, Ft. Davis to the observatory*, Presidio to Lajitas, Rio Grande Village to the Basin.

tcs

*How is it possible, except due to the author's sheer ignorance, that this ride didn't make "The Complete Guide to Climbing by Bike"?

StephenH

My point was that on a road ride where I didn't have any flat problems, and wouldn't expect any flat problems, lots of other people did; not that Big Bend and Wichita Falls have the same flora.

10 Wheels

You would like Mafa and Marathon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLGEI...eature=related

Don in Austin

Well we did it! But being an ornery old buzzard I decided we would do it CCW! Got the BIG climb out of the way first, taking off from Fort Davis NW on 118. The ride just got better and better. 118 was nice, but 166 was MUCH nicer and NO traffic at all. My partner had full road gear, but I rode my home-made flat-bar CF bike with $6 platform pedals pumped with my favorite steel-toe work boots. Didn't set any speed records, but what the hell. Left at 9:30, done at 4:30 with lots of stops. I can't wait to come back in the spring when the terrain is in bloom.

We had a disappointment in that Chinati Springs was closed for a private party. We WILL be back in the spring.

Thanks so much to everyone who encouraged us to do this ride.

Don in Austin