Do your hobbies develop serendipitously? I find myself drawn to trails and train tracks, little used roads, run down shacks, and ruins. I enjoy rambling through places few care about. Why not explore from a bike? It was sometime during 2019 when I became aware of a paved trail system connecting my workplace to my home in Dallas, TX. As long as I could find an appropriate mode of transportation to reliably cover 6-7 miles each way I would be able to make my daily commute without automobile or traffic. My mind initially fixated on an electric scooter (fashionable at the time) but part of the commute included three miles on the Katy Trail where electric scooters are not welcome. I lamented about this one day to my workmates and a colleauge commented “Dude, why don’t you just ride a bike?”
A friend of mine leant me a spare bike he wasn’t using and I never looked back….I rode that thing everywhere: uptown, downtown, to Richardson, Plano, Irving, to work and to soccer games, around White Rock Lake and with my kids. What took me so long to discover the humble bicycle?
Always Be Escalating
The distances grew. I became comfortable with thirty and forty mile rides. I savored early morning starts enjoying mild(er) temps and little traffic. As covid got underway in 2020 I only biked more as I was no longer hitting the gym. June 2020 rolled around and I wanted to do a big ride for my birthday.
Map of the North East Texas Trail
The North East Texas Trail is a collection of trails that connect a collection of towns on land that was “Rail Banked” by the Union Pacific and Chaparral railroads in the 1990s. Rail Bank means that the Rail Company reserves the right of way in case a future railroad is needed but in the meantime the right of way can be made available for trails.
According to Bikenett.com “The longest trail in Texas, the Northeast Texas Trail (NETT) follows old Union Pacific and Chaparral railroad rights-of-way for 133 miles, from just northeast of Dallas to within a few miles of Texarkana. The NETT passes through many charming small towns and peaceful rural landscapes.”
My family and I spent the night in New Boston near the Tex-Arkana border. 5am wakeup and feeling really excited I took off in the direction of Paris, TX under cover of darkness. The first two miles or so are paved but the NETT gets dirty real fast. I had my headlight on but man was it dark.
Out of nowhere something was running and snarling at my feet as I pedaled.
My heart about jumped through my throat. Finally my brain kicked on: dog! I pedaled faster and luckily the canine succumbed to either fatigue or boredom and gave up the chase. Serves me right for pedalling in the dark. I decided to pedal State Highway 82 until light. Highway 82 basically follows the route of the NETT and it has a decent shoulder for bikers. I wanted to be on the trail as much as I could but parts are impassable. Sometimes gravel, sometimes grass, here some dirt, there some mud, potholes, bushes, and all sorts of hazards await a biker on many parts of this trail.
I didn’t see any other people on the trail….gee I wonder why?
um yes, I doubled back here…..
In anticipation of the heat I had worn a CamelBack, wrong answer. Biking long distances is hard enough on my back without adding ten plus pounds of water weight. I made a gas station stop for snacks and aqua and visited with some other bikers who were following the NETT route but mostly staying on the roads.
Later in the morning I was once again on the rail trail and observed to myself that I was truly in the middle of nowhere. Trees everywhere, trail in front and back as far as I could see. No signs of life and kind of creepy. Of course that was where I had to puncture a tire. Of course it had to be my back tire. Of course I had never really changed a tire before on my bike. Fortunately I had brought a spare and a small hand pump. It took me almost 40 minutes to wrestle my way through the tire change; pretty lame by youtube standards. I took it real easy from that point on when I was offroad.
One decision that really paid off was to have a support crew. My family had stayed behind in New Boston to enjoy the hotel swimming pool and they were going to catch up with me, presumably when I reached Paris. I didn’t reach Paris. I pooped out around Detroit. I let my crew know and simply waited, nerves frayed, hungry as a jackal and back aching lying in the grass at a public park near the town square.
Garner Street Meat Market is a Texas-worthy lunch spot to eat brisket, fixings, sausage, and ribs. When my gang arrived we ate a trailhand sized lunch.
A few months later I returned to tackle most of the rest of the trail, this time from Farmersville to Paris. The weather a bit cooler but still plenty of dogs, I found myself again alternating between highway and trail.
For those in the Dallas area thinking about treking or riding the NETT I’ll chip in my two cents. Take a buddy, plan ahead for water stops, think about how you’ll handle stray dogs, and don’t feel too bad when you end up on the highway for part of the route. Stay safe out there!