After work this past Sunday we drove out to and around Lake Travis.  Not a pretty sight.  Where once was a vibrant, shimmering lake surrounded by majestic cliffs…well, I bet you could walk clear across the width of the lake area from one shore to the other in some places.  So many boat docks on the ground and so much ground showing.  Lots of “waterfront” properties with for sale signs out by the road. 

In case you haven’t heard, we’re in severe drought here in this part of the Lone Star State.  The lack of rainfall is being compounded by the fact that we have had 60+ days of temperatures over the 100-degree mark since June.  Ouch. 

This summer in Texas is a prime example of why I eventually wanted to be able to head north during the middle months of the year.

On the other hand, we’re having some very nice skies in the evenings.

Here it is Sunday, August 9, 2009, the day following the time trials.  Yesterday was a long, but fun, day.

Dave’s start time was posted as 10:45:30 AM, so we were up at 4:30 AM in order to get ready and make the 2+ hour drive to Castroville.  This would give Dave almost two hours there before his actual start. 

Four-thirty in the morning sure comes early, especially for a day off!  We were both up no bother, me waking up, getting a light bite to eat and preparing to be the driver/support vehicle/photographer for the day.  Easy for me…Dave was the one preparing and downing pasta at such an early hour.  Oh my!

We made our goal of leaving the house by 6:30ish AM and made good time until San Antonio, where we ran into construction delays and narrowing of the freeway down to one lane from three.  One would think that early in the morning there would not be much traffic, but try getting three lanes into one….yeah, right.

Once past that, we were cruising down the highway again through the rest of San Antonio and then heading west on Highway 90 to Castroville.  Castroville is a nice, kinda sleepy, little town with shady parks, shops, B&Bs, cafes, and the like.  We had been down there last week on a recon mission for this day, driving and then Dave riding the course followed by a nice lunch at the Castroville Cafe.

On arriving, I was pleased to see that parking “Big Boy” would not be a problem.  I have to say, I had some reservations about the organization of the event this year; however, the entire event and day were well planned.  Plenty of easy parking was available.  We selected a spot and Dave set about to the task of readying his bike with last minute tweaking, etc.  Once ready and changed into race gear, he went off for a wee warm-up ride.  About 20 minutes later he was back and it was time to think about heading to the start area.  He took off on the bike and I followed in the truck after being told that there was indeed spectator parking allowed at the start area.

YAY!

After I had parked at the start, I enjoyed taking some photos and just soaking up the atmosphere of bikes, bikes, bikes everywhere!  This, of course, with keeping an eye on the time and an eye out for Dave.  The event had a for-real start house this year…way cool!…just like at the Tour de France.  Nice touch!  Very thoughtful to have canopies set up for the riders waiting in line so they would have some shade.  Having picked out a good vantage point, I was able to capture a video of Dave taking off on the course.

The videos I shot can be seen at http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=4741977346

Once he was out of sight, I trekked back to the truck and intended on sitting listening to music, chillin’ out.  Well, after about five minutes I knew there  had to be another way to kill the hour until he would be finishing.  It was too freakin’ hot to just be in the sun, etc.  So “Big Boy” and I went into town to one of the quiet shady parks on a square.  I spent some time wandering the quaint shops, took some photos, munched an oatmeal cookie and by that time it was time to head back to the race!

Timed it just right to get a better parking spot and get positioned at the finish to again capture some video of Dave crossing the line

::: Z  O  O  M :::: 

He was mega-hot, even with cooling down on the bike a bit, so I made sure he had water bottles at the ready and got him, the bike, and his gear into the truck and a/c as soon as we could.  Back at the parking area, some results were posted but his group would not be up for a while.  We made the decision to head back home.

Gotta tell you, I sure was sleepy on the drive home but toughed it out and got us back safe and sound.  Talk about wasted and hungry yesterday!  Whew!  Long, long day.

Dave did 1:03:33 – that’s one hour, three minutes and 33 seconds.  A very, very respectable time.  Especially considering the heat, humidity, wind and the fact that it was a different/tougher course than last year.  In fact, he shaved three seconds off his time from 2008 this year. 

After settling in back home, Dave was off to the market for some beer, the first since in training for the TT.  Whoohoo!  He certainly deserves it!

We enjoyed some snooker last evening and are taking it easy today and tomorrow before being back at work on Tuesday.

I’m so proud of you, honey, and honored to be your support team at races.  You are such a warrior, such a cyclist, such a husband and partner!  You sure do have a BraveHeart!

Peace, all!

Dog Days?  The Dog Days of Summer?  It’s too damn hot for even the dog to enjoy these days.

We’ve had so many consecutive days of triple-digit temperatures I’ve lost count.

Even as a native Texan, this has been the most miserable summer I have experienced. 

Dry and energy-draining hot.

Baby-dog stays indoors most of the time.  I miss our evening walks around the facility together, but it’s still too hot to do that even in the later evening.

A customer comes in the office and I ask, “How are you today?”  The responses are quite often “Hot” or “Waiting for October.”

We did have a nice outing over the Fourth of July weekend, taking our rig back up to Rusk for a few days and enjoying the company of Cousin Kenny and Janna and Terry.  Dave and I also enjoyed refreshing dips in the pool at the campground!

We’re working nonstop pretty much July and August while our relief person is on vacation out of the country.  We have off this coming weekend and then will be working straight through until the first week of September.  We figured we might as well work and make the extra money…it’s too hot to do much else. 

October and November will see us back on the road a bit, taking vacation with three nice trips planned here in Texas.  Two of those are centered around bike events, one being the LiveSTRONG Challenge in Dripping Springs and the Tour de Gruene near New Braunfels.  We’ll be spending a week around Thanksgiving back in Rusk.  We really like that area – the cycling, the KOA where we camp, all the trees and the opportunity to spend time with Terry and Janna.

We’ve invited Ian and Rose over from Scotland and we are hoping they will come during that Thanksgiving time to share camping with us. 

Listening to “Me In Honey” by R.E.M.  They do have a unique sound.

Talks for dropping by.  Hope wherever you are it’s cool!