Mrs. Pondero and I traveled down to south Texas (Corpus Christi) to be with family over the holiday weekend. Oh yeah, and the bike came along. It was nostalgic to ride some of my old routes from 1996-1999 when we lived there.
Not wanting to spend too much time away from the main reason we were there, my rides weren’t long and involved early starts. Perfect coffee brew-up micro-tour opportunities. The first one was at an inland park…
And the second was at the downtown bayfront…
Things have changed a lot since 1999. Some of those changes have been discouraging. But I am thankful for many things that keep life pleasant and comfortable. Especially my family and my early morning excursions awheel.
Pondero 
I grew up in Louisville, Kentucky and still have family and friends there. It is a whole lot of fun to take a bike back with me nowadays and relive the good ol’ days on two wheels. It gives me the same sentiments… gratitude for where I am and appreciation of where I came from.
Those sentiments come through on your blog and Instagram posts. I always enjoy them.
“Things have changed a lot since 1999. Some of those changes have been discouraging. But I am thankful for many things that keep life pleasant and comfortable. Especially my family and my early morning excursions awheel.” My thoughts exactly, my friend.
Thanks, Gary.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks, it was a good one. Happy holidays!
I normally ride with the web of my hands on the hoods. As I anaylze it, your hand postion on the Nitto Albaross bars must be quite similar to what I’m used to — just much farther back toward the saddle. Over the next few months, should you decide you wish to revert to a slightly more frontal leaning position, you could swap your quill style stem for a Nitto Technomic stem with 120mm of reach ($57). Your Albatross bars present a more eye catching look than did your previous drop bars — my personal take. The bars are as beautiful as they are costly. You are a talented photographer! ~Keith
Thanks, Keith, for the photo compliment, but I’m just a point-n-shoot kinda guy.
Regarding the 120mm stem, yep, I’ve actually got one that was used in my earlier Albatross bar experiments. I’ve thought about using it again, but I’m reasonably comfortable for now. You are right about the positioning, however, and I might try it again at some point.
Things change, as you said. It has ever been thus.
So true, and yet I am ever the commentator. I lament changes that don’t go as I’d like, and take for granted the good things I have counted on for years.
I’ve never been to Corpus Cristi, but your photos especially of the harbor areas look very nice. I was stationed in the Army in two places with a seaport. One was in Turkey (Sinop), the other was in Japan (on the island of Kyushu near Fukuoka). Being far inland today, I really miss the feeling of a seascape and boats!
The picture of the waterfront is lovely. I should really say that is my favorite.
Things change. Change is good, sometimes; as you have noted.
Paz 🙂
I spent an enjoyable evening with the family at that Corpus waterfront once…it was a long time ago…the kids were…well, kids.