Greg,
 
I have never ridden my bike in the area but have camped and visitied many times. There are some long stretches of road that have very little traffic. If you can catch the cacti in bloom its quite a sight. I beleive there is a bike ride near Ft Davis. They have a ride that you get a prize for just finishing! Its a very steep grade up to the observatory. I have ridden down the scenic overlook at Ft Davis national park campgrounds. Pushed the schwinn 3 speed bike up and blasted back down at 50 mph! Could have gone faster but the wheels started to vibrate and the pucker factor got really intense.
 
Richard

darn!  I wish I had my lowracer.  I'd love to break the 65mph mark.  I don't think I have the cojones to try it on the p-38.  After doing some checking, it seems that big bend is essentialy booked up.  We'll probably stay in Ft Davis or Marfa and tool around - tube down the big bend and such - and then ride in ft davis and visit carlsbad...
 
 
Quote from Richard on Mar 7^th, 2007, 10:24am:

Greg:  I've not ridden in Big Bend but have been to the Fort Davis Cyclefest several times.  It's a 75 mile loop that begins and ends in Fort Davis.  Some very daunting climbs, some long and steep, others steep and long!  Great scenery, usually great weather.  There are NO facilities and NO stores along the loop unless you're there during the official ride in September when it's well supported.  Only about 350 riders show up for this, which is hard to understand apart from the distance to get there, because there's no other ride like it in Texas.  It's worth the hours of near torture climbing all those mountains just for the thrill of the last 7 miles or so of very fast downhill.  Last year a recumbent club from Houston was there with maybe 15 or so bent riders.  I'd say it's not the ideal route for a bent with all the climbing, but I think some guy on a bent was second across the finish line last year.  Musta been a strong dude!
Go to www.peytonsbikes.com and click on the "Fort Davis Cyclefest and Hammerfest" link for maps, pics, profiles, etc.  This years ride will be Sept. 15-16.  I'm sure I'll go again.

I meant to say the Marfa Lights viewing area is EAST of town.

Quote from FlyingLaZBoy on Mar 8^th, 2007, 4:41pm:

 
 
Hey, I've got insurance - that'll cover it, right?    
 
I've been just over 55 before I hit the brakes on a long downhill at the Easter Hill Country tour.  A ladybug smacked into my knuckle and left a bruise.  After that, I figured I'd best slow up a little, since it was both my first pay ride ever and I'd only had the baron a month.  The best I've been able to get around here in 45.  Feels almost slow by comparison.   Unfortunately, that same hill only gets me to 38 on the p-38.