We have all had a rough year. A year ago yours truly had a Covid 19 diagnosis on my birthday. The silver lining for me was loss of appetite. Covid 19 re-wired my cravings, and I lost a lot of weight. Eating properly and drinking a LOT less beer has transformed my life and energy levels for the better. Thanks for that. However, many people have lost their lives and even more had outcomes making their recovery difficult or incomplete. We have a long road ahead, adjusting to a very well – engineered viral killer. For all of you, I just want to send out virtual hugs and sincere empathy.

It has been a minute plus about 13 years since we developed the AdBirds.com website. Recently after having my own comments unfairly moderated on other platforms, I started looking for ways to upgrade, optimize or find a partner for this thing of ours. It occurred that I could simply add an Opinion category to our site and upgrade that with a comments section to be enabled or disabled by the user.

Ok I am half way there. Or so it seems. What we need now is a new partner – and a programmer who will be the next developer on the team here at AdBirds.com and the sooner the better.

Randall Stephens, #AdBirds Founder

 Introducing the ABUS BORDO Combo 90cm  – also available in keyed versions and in various sizes and colors.

The ABUS BORDO is very popular in the EU. and is available everywhere.

ABUS BORDO comes with a dedicated holster which can be mounted to the frame or easily carried in a

backpack or handlebar bag.

ABUS BORDO mounted atop the frame, as shown on the author’s commuter road bike.

It is easy to set the combination and release with a button.  This lock works like a folding ruler, taking up much less space than

a standard U-lock, yet it’s high quality steel construction makes it as tough as most u-locks.

 I bought this lock from The Peddler – one of many great bicycle shops in Austin, Texas.

Price:  MRSP $130.00  Weight:  Approx. 2.2lbs or 1 kg.

Support your local bicycle shop!  Click here to list your bike for free or post an entire store inventory as an Unlimited subscriber for only $30 per month or $330.00 per year.  Unlimited ads run for 365 days, and you can support Meals on Wheels and More! when you sign up with the coupon:  meals

Are you ready to do a ride and camping trip in the Texas Hill Country during wildflower season?

Announcement – drum roll please…

Tour the Texas Hill Country with us (at your own risk) on a self – supported bicycle tour.  If we get 30 or more interested parties we will plan a sag or maybe even entertainment.  So far there is no charge, as in free as a bird!    See the full 405 mile route here or scroll down for segments.  Google Maps would not give a short URL for the complete route.  So I will update and add the segments below.

– Route has been pre-verified.  Simply pay your costs for campground entrance fee (about $5 per night or so) and be ready to roll at 8:00 a.m. daily.  We may change a couple of overnight locations adding a B&B or motel in kerrville / Ingram and Comfort so please bookmark this page, follow for updates.  Entertainment options will be listed as well.

– Contact and signup form to be linked here.

See proposed route and campgrounds below…

ROUTE

Day One:  Starts at  Avery Ranch Golf Club 10500 Avery Club Drive, Austin TX 78717  to 

Inks Lake State Park just West of the town of Burnet, TX.  approximately 55 miles.  No big climbs.

See map:  http://goo.gl/maps/gFF1E

Day Two:  Inks Lake State Park to Enchanted Rock State Park, approximately 51 miles.

See map:  http://goo.gl/maps/HJvA6

Day 3:  Enchanted Rock to Kerrville-Shreiner Park – Kerrville, TX – approximately 50.4 miles

Day 4: Kerrville-Schreiner Park to Lost Maples State Park  approximately 50.3 miles

Day 5: Lost Maples State Park to Flat Rock Ranch near Comfort, TX approximately 56 miles

Day 6: Comfort, TX to Blanco State Park – approximately 38 miles

Day 7:  Blanco State Park to Avery Ranch, NW Austin approximately  78 miles   OR;

Day 7 option: Blanco State Park to Austin’s downtown rail station (takes riders to Lakeline Station near Avery Ranch)

What to bring:

  Your happy self with a touring bicycle,  bright smile and outer layers up top (ok layers optional), camping gear as light as possible (they don’t call it Texas Hill Country for nothing).  We can pick you up at the airport in Austin or you can take public transportation most hours during the week to the Lakeline Transit Station nearby (see http://www.capmetro.org).

  There’s lots to do in Austin too!   More links to come so watch for updates.  Please feel free to contact me or share this blog.

  Randall (512) 796-5339

  Ride happy 🙂

  ______________________________________

Sponsors welcome!

Today I finally took the new touring bike someplace I haven’t ridden before,  so the vibe is good.   A decade ago, the State of Texas enabled new toll roads in HB3588, which has provisions for funding adjacent bike commuting pathways.  I dislike some provisions of HB3588, which directs funds to bicycle trails but also facilitates conversion of existing state highways and commuter roads into toll roads.

Today’s ride from my home in Avery Ranch started as a little spin after a dog walking warmup.   Up Parmer / Ronald Reagan Blvd.  about a mile, I turned left into Breakaway Park to get away from the noise.   Breakaway Park has a private runway with hangers and homes built for a small community of pilots, and has a nice quite residential road around the single runway surrounded by oaks and well – fed deer in many of the yards.
– Not many roses however.
After turns down Wildlife Run and Adventure Lane,  I found myself back at Brushy Creek Blvd. and decided to ride over to the new 183A Toll Road and check out the new bike path.   This pathway runs along the east side of 183A from Avery Rancy Blvd to FM1431 (known as Whitestone Blvd in Cedar Park).

It is a great way to cross town on a bicycle,  with minimal intersections or traffic.  Kudos to the State Legislature for this new bike path.   The path is currently interrupted only by work being done to a small bridge over Brushy Creek at the Brushy Creek Regional Trail intersection.    I asked a heavy equipment operator if I could cross the bridge, and he told me “one more week”.  I thanked him with a thumbs-up and rode back to Brushy Creek Blvd to reach Parmer and ride to the house.

Avery Ranch residents can now ride from home to the Natural Grocer in Cedar Park and back with only a couple of intersections to cross, depending on where they access the trail.    Now it’s time to get Cedar Park to paint bike lanes on Brushy Creek Blvd.  and a number of other streets,  or for a small grocer like Wheatsville or Natural Grocer to open up in Avery Ranch.  That would be great for us!

A long – awaited day came with the delivery of my new Surly Disk Trucker.   Having ridden the Salsa Vaya and taken a peek at two other bikes including the Marin Tour and a Novara Randonee the decision was clear for me.  Two main factors for me were top tube length and the stock Avid BB7 disk brakes on the Disk Trucker.  A Marin Tour can be easily adapted for disk brakes, but has a shorter top tube.  My torso and chest are long enough to make the case for the .

In case you want one, any bike shop with a QBP account can order a Surly bicycle.  Although I took a look at a Disk Trucker downtown, my trusty nearby bike shop is also quite the competitor and will not lose a sale based on price.  One of my first rules is; take care of your local area bike shop for the best service.  You can’t go wrong buying locally.   Another guidepost for gear is; “buy the best you can afford”.  This has always worked for me.

The good proprietor at AJs Cyclery also did me a little better turn by matching the best bike price, and discounted accessories to beat the competition downtown.  That said, it was a matter of getting the bike order in along with the accessories I still needed to complete the touring bike.  These included the Garmin 500 and a Surly back Nice Rack as I already have the front rack as seen on my first blog entry.  You might remember how I loaded up the old Bridgestone RB2 and decided the whole idea warranted purchase of a real touring bike.

Delivery day came, and I took the virgin out for a ride as soon as possible.  The Disk Trucker shifts smoothly and takes long hills with speed I found difficult to keep with my road bike.  The Disk Trucker’s gearing has been well engineered to take the steepest climbs.  I love it!

When the time came to install the Surly Nice racks it was a matter of making good use of their instructions and a nice supply of stainless steel hardware.

While installing the Surly Nice racks on my Disk Trucker was rather easy,

I will agree with the Surly instructions regarding the front rack, as it is not a fast installation.
It takes a little while to select your angles and decide which of the hardware you want to use.  Once mated,  the bike and racks look like a perfect match.   Leaving room for the front wheel to come off required the addition of a spacer not accounted for in the parts provided, so I adapted by using several small stainless nuts and everything worked perfectly well.