Author Archives: Jeff C

Wild fire

September 7, 2011 by Jeff C | 1 Comment

Wow. Last weekend (Labor Day weekend), I drove to Austin (or at least started that direction). There were wildfires near Bastrop, and the highway closed — you could see the smoke and flames just a mile or so from where I had to U-turn. Traffic was chaos as about 1,000 cars and I (I’m probably exaggerating) headed up a small road toward highway 290. Soon, traffic was stopped again, and this time as I U-turned, my car was hit in the back right-hand side by a truck coming the opposite direction. Not a huge impact, but a good thump that knocked the car to the roadside. I was fine, and quickly hopped out to check with the other driver (who was also fine).

About 2-3 minutes later, as I stood 30 yards or so from my car talking to the other driver, a gawking passerby pointed at my car and yelled, “That car’s on fire!” Indeed it was. (And completely independent of the wild fires that happened to be raging just a few miles away). Standing there empty-handed in shorts and flip-flops, there was nothing I could do but watch. It pretty much burned to a crisp. Sadly, there are no pictures — my phone (the only camera I’d have had with me) was in the car, whose charred remains were towed away just as I left. I wound up hitchhiking to the next town with the folks I’d had a wreck with. I borrowed a phone to call my friend Scott, who heroically drove 2 hours to rescue me from the Smithville convenience store parking lot.

Adding insult to the injury: it had a personalized Texas license plate. Red and white: “SOONERS”. (Remember: this happened on the way to Austin).

Hottern Hell Hundred — lived up to its name

August 29, 2011 by Jeff C | Comments Off

Another summer means another trip to Wichita Falls for the Hotter’n Hell Hundred-mile bike ride. For the one-millionth consecutive year, Scott and I sported the yellow G&B jerseys, based on the hopeful belief that the lighter yellow color would reflect the sun and keep us just a little cooler. The temperatures were well over 100 degrees by the end.

The lowlight of this year’s trip was the flat tire I had in the first 10 miles. It was still just after daylight, and when I stopped roadside to fix the flat, I was swarmed (and bitten) by so many mosquitos I broke out in hives. Worse, I thought the hives were more mosquito bites (like 1,000 of them!?!); I was a little freaked out. Thanks to my loyal HHH team — Shane, Scott and Mike — for helping me with the flat, calming me down, getting me Benadryl, and letting me draft behind them for an hour or so while the symptoms subsided.

Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race 2011

August 15, 2011 by Jeff C | Comments Off

First, you should know that less than a year ago, neither I nor any of my friends rode mountain bikes. And you should know that the Leadville 100 is perhaps the most “epic” mountain bike race in the U.S. Lance Armstrong won it a couple of years back. It’s a 100 miles, and it starts at 10,000 ft. elevation. And when I tried to ride just a portion of the course, there was a five-mile stretch during which I crashed (hard) three separate times (to say nothing of the thin-air climbs up bumpy trails).

There’s a lottery to get in, and Shane and Ned wound up getting “slots” in this year’s race; for better or worse (almost certainly better), I didn’t. They trained like crazy, especially Ned, who spent about six consecutive weekends in Colorado (ask him about the oxygen tent over his bed in Houston – no kidding). They both rocked it! At least I got to tag along, drive the chase car and take pictures.

Oh: And it all took place on my birthday. So I got a nice present from the gang — a Payday (candybar). Long story.

The Parkers in the Virgin Islands

July 31, 2011 by Jeff C | Comments Off

I got to spend ten days or so in the Virgin Islands with my sister’s family (Jana and Bill Parker, and their ‘kids’ Tyler, Caitlin (in pink dress) and Grace. We stayed on St. Thomas and then St. Johnr. In the middle, we took a sailboat trip to Jost Van Dyke (one of the British Virgin Islands, which gave the Parker clan a chance to get a real stamp in their newly-minted passports).

These few pictures surely don’t do the place justice, but since most of our activities were water-based and my camera isn’t waterproof, there weren’t many pictures except for a few on the sailboat trip and an impromptu photo shoot the final night’s trip to dinner. The stranger is Captain “Hollywood” Joe, who owned the sailboat.

Colorado Multisport Week

July 19, 2011 by Jeff C | Comments Off

Ned’s spending a couple of weeks in Colorado — mostly riding bikes and training for the Leadville race in August. I joined him for about five days. Day 1 we hiked Bear Mountain near Boulder (and saw a mother bear with 2 cubs at a distance of about 40-50 yards). Seeing a mother bear up that close sure is thought-provoking; it made me think: “I wonder if I can outrun Ned in an all-out short sprint?” Day 2 we rafted the Arkansas River near Royal Gorge. The rest of the days we mostly scouted and mountain-biked part of the course of the Leadville 100, and even did a kayak tour of Lake Dillon on the way back to the airport.

Royal Gorge is a suspension bridge about 1000 ft above the Colorado River. Ned was dubious as we approached — scoffing a bit that so much touristy enterprise had sprung up around something that, he said, “frankly doesn’t seem like it’s all that impressive.” Ha. About five minutes later, as we actually drove onto the bridge, he stopped the car dead in its tracks — voice nervously giddy and spewing expletives. Suffice it to say that he was impressed. This was the funniest moment of the trip.

Forgive some of the mediocre photography — this is mostly pocket camera stuff.