Texas trails

The weather's fine,
The trails sublime...
clap, clap, clap clap!
Deep in the heart of Texas.
I've logged a little over a 100 miles the past couple days, on Texas trails.
Yesterday, I rode Lake Mineral Wells State Trailway and today, I blasted up and down the Trinity River Trail System in Fort Worth, Texas.
It was surprisingly warm for the Mineral Wells trail, but a bit windy.
Today's weather on the Fort Worth trails was perfect; low 60s w/ a slight breeze.
The Mineral Wells trail is a rail trail that runs from the town of Mineral Wells to Weatherford, Texas. It has a crushed limestone surface and a slight grade leading up to a whopping elevation of a little over 1200 feet. The only disappointment was when I found out that after tracking the entire trip using the Everytrail app, the system crashed somehow, and I lost all the coordinates, notes, and photos that I recorded on the iPhone. Bummer. I'll still be able to produce an Everytrail guide, but I'll have to draw in the map portion and use photos from my Panasonic camera and notes from my head.
That last one is the scary part.
The Trinity River Trail is a different story though. Everything worked fine. I got a little off track on the first leg of the trip, but I found a better route on the way back, so I'll make the necessary adjustments. I was pleasantly surprised by how beautiful the Trinity Trail is and how nice the city of Fort Worth looks from the trail.
If any readers have had experience on Texas trails, I'd love to hear about it. Feel free to leave comments or send an email.

Texas trails

Map of trails

Thanks to the folks at Everytrail.com, I am able to share a nice visual representation (aka. map) of some of the trails I've ridden in the past couple years. The markers below represent trails I've published trips or guides for on Everytrail.

I love my job!!!


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Map of trails

Mineral Belt Loop Trail Guide now available on Everytrail

A few days ago, I wrote about the great experience I had on the Mineral Belt Loop Trail in Leadville, Colorado. It was a beautiful trail, on a picture-perfect day, with fun friends.

Well since then, I've created a Mineral Belt Loop Trail guide on Everytrail.com. I've briefly described these guides in the past, but the more I work with them, the more convinced I become that these trail guides on Everytrail are the best trail development to come along in years.

Nearly everyone has a cell phone these days, and many cell phone users now have smart phones. And to take it a step further, most of us who have the technological do-it-alls are now in the habit of taking them with us on the trail. They're great for staying in touch with each other and they are indispensable in an emergency.

They're also good for:

• games if you get bored
• a flashlight if you're caught out after dark
• checking email, facebook, twitter, etc.
• music, if you're so inclined
• texting if you want to stay in touch w/ that special someone
• etc.

But now, they're more than just a convenience. In the case of the Everytrail app., they may be your map and guidebook all crammed into one little efficient bundle. But the Everytrail app/ guides are even better than a regular printed guidebook because they're a lot small, less messy, and much more inclusive and interactive.

If you plan on venturing out to a new trail, you can't go wrong with one of the Everytrail guides. They'll provide you with pictures to help you decide if you want to take the trail, show you a map with the exact route once you're on the trail, provide you with crucial information about the trail route, and give you tips about trail landmarks. They may tell you about a historical location, a hotel, a restaurant, or even a bathroom or drinking fountain.

And you can't go wrong with the price. Whereas a normal printed guidebook may cost you  over $10, most of the Evertrail trail guides are only $1.99. They allow you to choose the exact trails you want as opposed to a book that may have numerous trails you'll never need.

Don't get me wrong, I still like printed guidebooks, and I hope you do too. But the Everytrail guides are a nice way to get just what you need before you head out to explore that new trail.

Mineral Belt Loop Trail Guide now available on Everytrail