Sunday Afternoon Ride 03-06-11

I couldn't have asked for better weather for today's ride, it was perfect. As is usually the case I rolled out of the house with no particular destination in mind, so this post is kind of rambling, just like my ride.

Fresh pavement-nice.

I rode the new bike lane down 7th Street towards Montgomery Plaza.

I pulled into the Montgomery Plaza parking lot and headed to Starbucks for a drink. The parking lot was crowded and required extra vigilance.

After working my way up the dreaded "Radio Shack Hill" I headed towards Sundance Square.

Sundance Square ahead.

I took a break on the way to the bike shop. The tall building in the background is the Omni Hotel.

I pulled up to the bike shop and ran into Nickolas (and his Surly Big Dummy), he informed me that the shop was closed. We talked for a bit and I learned that he had found a purse laying on 7th Street. He contacted the owner and informed her that he'd leave the purse with the guys at Trinity-since they were closed he made arrangements to leave it at Spiral Diner instead.

Since we were headed the same way, I rode with Nickolas to the diner.

Spiral Diner-Nickolas ran inside to take care of the purse business, I continued on my way.

Avoca Coffee, this place is directly across the street from Spiral Diner. There are lots of people eagerly waiting for this place to open, especially me. Fort Worth desperately needs independently owned coffehouses.

Leaves and flowers are starting to spring forth, it's like somebody flipped a switch.

Sunday Afternoon Ride 02-01-09

I had planned to drive out to Oak Cliff to take part in a group ride but my wife warned me that the inspection sticker on the Landcruiser, our official bike hauling vehicle, was expired. The fenders on my bike prevent me from taking my wheels off and throwing it on the backseat of my car. I opted to just take a short ride. I didn't have a real destination so I just rambled around downtown.

This is a newly constructed section of the Trinity Trail system located on the east side of the Trinity River.

I believe that this section of trail was built in preparation for a bicycle/ pedestrian bridge that will span the river.

This is the view looking northeast.

The trail ends at the intersection of Forest Park Blvd. and 5th Street. This is the view on 5th St. as I climb eastward from the river.

New lofts and office space

The Bass Performance Hall

This is the view on Main Street as I ride north towards the old courthouse.

My Christmas Day Ride

It's afternoon on Christmas day. The roads were incredibly quiet so I was compelled to ride. The temperature started off in the low 70's but the wind picked up a little and it felt like it was getting colder mid-ride. It was almost too quiet.

An almost car-free Montgomery Street heading north from I-30 to the Museum District.

There's lots of construction taking place at the Fort Worth Museum of Science. 

Nice brightly colored sculpture on the lawn in front of the Kimbell Art Museum.

Me and my wife are originally from McAllen which is way down on the southern tip of Texas. Eating tamales for Christmas has always been a tradition for our families. Every year my wife's parents will spend Christmas with us and they bring 10-12 dozen tamales with them. We'll feast on these for days. My wife's parents couldn't make it this year so we ended up ordering a few dozen from La Familia. They were very good but not quite as good as my in-laws' tamales.

New business and construction is popping up everywhere in Fort Worth. I think Fort Worth is faring better than most places during this economic downturn.

Montgomery Plaza. This was the headquarters for Montgomery Wards. This building was vacant for many years but has been converted to business and office space on the street level with lofts on the upper floors.

This place was a madhouse yesterday. All quiet now.

Saturday Afternoon Ride 11-01-08

I rode from my house this afternoon to gather a couple of things I needed for my bike. First stop was Performance Bike (about 1/2 mile from my house) where I picked up a cheap rear rack. I rode home with rack secured to my handlebar bag and attempted to install it. It didn't fit. The rear fender was coming in contact with a crossbar under the platform. The legs were just slightly too short and there's no way to adjust their length.

I stopped messing with the rack and rolled on to Ace Hardware to pick up a bolt and some wingnuts for a ghetto handlebar camera mount I'm going to build. It was on the warm side today, probably in the 80's which meant once again I was a sweaty mess when walking around the store. Maybe the older I get the more I sweat, that's not good.

I made a short side trip to a small park in the center of a traffic circle. Some of the trees were actually changing color which was nice. I then rode home dodging smashed pumpkins the whole way. Since I'm trying to expand my comfort zone when riding in traffic, I managed to avoid the bike trails and all but a 1/4 mile of a marked bike lane. I did have some problems setting off the sensors for a few traffic lights.

The park in the middle of Bluebonnet Circle in south Fort Worth.


Comida Mexicana on Bluebonnet Circle.

These bull sculpures were all over town at one point. There was one in the park across the street but it was damaged by vandals.


Here's a link to instructions for a really cheap camera mount. You basically just drill out the hole on a headlight mount.


This is another link to instructions for a different mount. It's shown here on a motorcycle but it will work on a bicycle. It's a little more work but I think you could place some foam between the handlebar and plastic body for extra vibration dampening.

Thanks L.B.J.

Believe or not today is a holiday, at least for State of Texas employees. It's Ex President Lyndon B. Johnson's birthday and we were actually given the option of taking the day off, which I did. Here's a few photos from today's ride.

The Trinity river looking north towards downtown


That's the Radio Shack headquarters complex on the other side of the river.


Radio Shack HQ


Scooters! Business is good these days.


The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

Sunday Ride Through Downtown Fort Worth

I took some time ride around and explore downtown yesterday. Here's a few random photos.

I don't know if this is a business or somebody's home. I tried taking a picture of the classic Alpha Romeo's displayed inside. I ended up with this shot instead. My daughter thought the picture was kind of neat so I kept it.


Artwork near the federal building


This building suffered a direct hit from a tornado back in 2000. We were living in Abilene at the time. It was boarded up for a couple of years before it was renovated and turned into apartments.


This what it looked like just after the storm. You can click here to see some more photos of the storm damage to downtown Fort Worth.


Sundance Square


Heading west towards Lancaster Ave.


Beautiful old house with copper roof near downtown


Lancaster Ave. Bridge


Lancaster Ave. Bridge looking Northeast towards downtown.


This is Cowtown.