No Chain: Dallas/ Fort Worth

I was pretty homesick by the end of last week; I think some of the small towns we had been traveling through really reminded me of home so I was missing my family and friends quite a bit as we rolled into the Dallas/Fort Worth area on Friday afternoon. Luckily the weekend would provide exactly what I needed. The ride through the country from Ranger was beautiful following a spring storm the night before and the weather was absolutely perfect for the first time all week, even the wind cooperated for the most part. We covered a lot of territory through the back highways of Texas before getting into the suburbs of the Dallas/ Fort Worth metroplex and the stop lights and traffic that come with it. Cyclists keep track of century (100 mile plus) rides like golfers keep track of holes in one and this was our second of the week, a major accomplishment for any cyclist. The group was staying in cabins at Camp Carter, a YMCA summer camp for young children, but my dad’s sister (Melody) and her husband (Bob) live just a few hours away and with the day off from riding on Saturday they took the opportunity to drive over to Fort Worth and absolutely spoil me for the weekend. I ate a lot of great food, answered a million questions about the ride and got to see quite a bit of Fort Worth. We had a great time getting caught up as I hadn’t seen them since the previous 4^th of July, we stayed at a hotel five minutes from the team and I got my own personal bed for the first time in one month, IT WAS AMAZING! It also happened to be my little cousin’s birthday weekend so we all got to be together to celebrate that as well. Fort Worth was a lot of fun, it’s a big city which has a lot of cool neighborhoods, the riders spent a lot of time in the historic stock yard district which gives you the true Texas experience, you could people (cowboy) watch for days but if you tire of that there are a lot of great restaurants and bars in the area too which were all heavily patronized by us over the weekend. Getting to spend some time with my family definitely helped me refocus for the miles to come; supposedly Wednesday we hit the half way point of the trip in terms of mileage (We’re going to have a big party!). I arrived back at camp before we left for the morning and another day cycling refreshed and ready to get back on the saddle. I can’t believe how far we have already ridden, how many adventures we have already had, how close I’ve become to these people and yet how far we still have to go as we cross the country. Another century from Fort Worth to Greenville on Sunday, just one more to add to my count! No Chain!

My super cute cousin on her 14th birthday!

On Saturday my uncle and I took the tour of the brand new Cowboy football stadium, one of the most impressive structures I have ever been in. The word big, huge, biggest and world record are used more times during the hour tour than I have ever heard before.