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Texas Forts Tour – Jacksboro, TX — 5 Comments

1. This was an excellent 3-day tour. Being the first year held, the attendance was probably not more than 25 riders. Friday night was an ice cream “crank off” and spaghetti dinner for a small fee. I drove up to Jacksboro early Saturday morning and was greeted by the staff, offered breakfast burritos and coffee and they quickly got me registered. The goody bag was huge and had trinkets in it from the participating towns, a T-shirt, and a Hotter Than Hell Water Bottle. (hence, Chip and Roby, the leaders and originators of HHH were at the event and are strong proponents on making this a success). Registration this year was insanely cheap at $40; however, for everything they provide to the cyclists, I do not see how this will not increase.
   Two women were present from historical society efforts in the region and one was a photographer. There will be a Flicker website up for viewing in the very near future.
   We mounted our bikes at Fort Richardson after celebratory gun fire from the soldiers and off we were on our journey to Throckmorton. We had the town of Graham wlecome us with a rest stop and volunteers and also a stop in Fort Belknap. Food was plentiful. There were numerous support vehicles on the course. The course was quite hilly, scenic, and with low traffic.
   The day was overcast and cool, with temps expected to fall during the night. We were all prepared to camp; however, the support arranged for us to stay in a heated building with real bathrooms and a kitchen. There was a local school bus running every 15 minutes to the school showers and the town square for us. People lined the streets as we came into town with yet another goody bag. That evening was just for us on town square. The town people came out and build a huge fire, brought out the chuck wagon with brisket that had been cooking at least most of the day, an old fashion coffee kettle over an open fire, beans, corn bread. Wow! It was great. They entertained us with cowboy poetry and the Biggest Liar contest. Worth the experience!!
   The next morning, huge pans of egg casserole and bacon, etc. were brought in, we mounted our bikes and headed off the Breckenridge. As we passed town square, the chuck wagon was fired up and the towns people were cheering us on.
   We rode on to Fort Griffin and Albany en route to Breckenridege. Along the way, the Wild Catters resort on Hwy 16 had a young cowboy set up by the road with fresh chocolate chip cookies from the resort and drinks for the riders. Fort Griffin rest stop was set up under a vine covered pavillion…with chicken tenders, fruit, snacks, drinks, etc. and a great welcoming committee and the town of Albany had people greet us with more food, drink, and camaraderie in front of their spectacular courthouse.
   We fought a pretty hard headwind the rest of the way to Breckenridge. One of our pace group broke a spoke and the support vehicle was at the corner and quickly changed his wheel out so he could continue on.
   I can’t say what happened on the third day because the staff graciously carried me back to my car in Jacksboro (long drive) so I could make haste and drive home in time for a 5:00 memorial for a riding friend that died last Saturday. They even offered to accommodate me on Monday if I drove back up but that was too much too ask. Others will have further and more detailed ride reports.
   Next year they are committed to do the ride again and I strongly recommend this one. It’s hilly and challenging but the staff is willing to accommodate all levels of cyclists. If you don’t like to camp, the little towns have hotels and they would love the business. I was happy to be a part of the first inaugural ride.
   Debbie Breaud

2. Thanks for the fabulous ride report. I will have to check this ride out!! The people along the route and the route support people were really committed to this ride. Great job folks!!

3. Glad to hear you had such a great time…we did too. I’m the photographer for the Texas Forts Tour, and wanted to let you know all the photos will be posted by Sunday night…many good ones are up already. Search for Texas Forts Tour on flickr, and if you have photos you’d like to post there, just let us know!

4. I will check out the photos. I was on the Pineywoods Purgatory on October 3rd and we went by an old reproduction of a Spanish fort from 1716 to 1730 on the Old Spanish Trail out in the middle of no where. According to the historical marker the fort guarded the missions along the OST.

5. Great pictures. The vivid colors of the riders and the scenery was delightful.

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