Here's the latest on the 2014 Heart of Texas Recumbent Rally and Rodeo.....
 
Need a road trip in February? Set your GPS to "Austin, Texas" and plan to have a FUN weekend doing Bent things! The HOT was originally scheduled to be held February 22-23. We just cannot stand it -- we are rolling Friday, February 21 into it now! The Easy Street Laid Back Social will be Friday starting around noonish. We are setting up a pavilion (fancy name for a tent) and asking those coming to bring a pot luck SNACK. Chips, cookies, cupcakes, finger sandwiches --- whatever. Bring a lawn chair (a trike will do the trick if you have one!). Sit and visit with lots of Bent folks and share some stories and lots of laughs. Plans are to have a test ride corral (hey - not a "corral" but that just sounded appropriate for the HOT Rodeo, ya' know?) with recumbent bikes and trikes to try out. I am after Mike Librik, owner of Easy Street, to once again have one of his KILLER garage sales to clean out his store rooms. WOW at the goodies for PENNIES!!! DO you have a spare part, gizmo, anything related to recumbent riding that you don't want/need? We're going to have a Swap Meet Friday afternoon to swap or sell unwanted stuff. Have some friends that are curious about recumbents but don't want to participate in the HOT? Tell them to come on over Friday afternoon to hang out with bent people and test ride some trikes or bikes and get a taste of the INCREDIBLE fun recumbent life!!
 
Due to popular demand, I am adding a TANDEM division to the 2014 HOT!! There won't be three classes like there are for the bikes and trikes divisions, but we will have a Speed Race and a Straight-Away Barrel race (bikes and trikes do cloverleaf Barrel Race). Should be a HOOT watching those tandems roll! Hey -- the RODEO QUEEN (Sweet P) will even be competing!    I am looking into getting some noise makers for the rodeo crowd to cheer everyone on! Got a cowbell? BRING IT. HEY -- I am going to go hunt up my old cheerleader megaphone!!! Y'all know I wasn't exactly a quiet bystander at last years rodeo  If you got cowbells, whistles, horns -- whatever -- BRING THEM!  
 
Recumbent University (Bent U.) looks to be shaping up into a REALLY good morning! There will be a Recumbent 101 class for basic maintenance and troubleshooting for your bent. For the Geeks in the group -- there will be a High Tech class featuring the incredible gizmos that tell distance, speed elevation, calories burned, allow people to follow your ride ONLINE in real time -- I am willing to bet it will even feed the dog back home and get the mail while you are away -- they are THAT smart!  Should be a great class for the techies in the group!!! And a class that EVERYONE  will benefit from is the PERFORMANCE class -- covers nutrition, personal prep, keeping your engines running smoothly during the ride, how to set your bent up for maximum performance. Whether you consider 40 miles a short ride, or have a personal limit of 15 miles -- EVERYONE can benefit from this class!!!
 
We are currently working to get the HOT we site ready to unveil. I will let y'all know as son as it hits cyberspace with the address. I am really looking forward to keeping up with the "Who's Who at the HOT" page -- send me your mug shot when you register and we will include you on the "A" list of those attending the 2014 HOT! It was a blast watching the photo book grow as the HOT neared last year!!!!
 
You can keep up with the latest by following the "Heart of Texas Recumbent Rally and Rodeo 2014" Facebook page. Sorry -- I don't Tweet.  I am MUCH too long winded for Twitter!  
 
Mark it on your new 2014 calendar -- "HOT"!!!    )