One week after doing my first century of the year, I did my first 200k ride. It was the Rio Vista Rumble permanent route. 17 Lone Star Randonneur members left out of Lynn Creek Marina at Joe Pool Lake at 6:30 am this morning, heading southwest through Alvarado and Rio Vista, then looping back east, but more to the south, through Blum for a return ride through Itasca, Maypearl, and Midlothian.
The south wind was howling early, but the clouds with it were certainly welcome. That wind was brutal on the first part of this ride. I managed to stay with the main group all the way to the first control stop in Blum at mile 59. With that first control so far away, we also made an unscheduled stop at a store in Alvarado at mile 30. On the rolling hills coming back from Blum, I was dropped fairly quickly, as were a number of others, and I joined and split with a number of riders all the way to the last control at mile 95 at Maypearl. Ophan Hill, just east of Itasca, especially seemed to spread the group out a lot, and I was very slow getting up this hill. I kept catching individual riders on the downhills after it.
I left the last control with the main group, but as fried as I already was, and with the hills I knew were coming, I had no intention of staying with the group, instead getting up close and personal with my cue sheet, and riding at a comfortable pace, by myself the rest of the way. 1 mile north of Maypearl, the route turns onto Old Buena Vista Road. I don’t know how many of you have ridden the hill on this road, but it can be a pretty tough hill when it’s 100 degrees, and you’ve ridden 100 miles already. I was at 4 and 5 mph for a good stretch of it, but I didn’t stop.
The ride finishes up blasting down the big hill on Lake Ridge Parkway from Cedar Hill. I flew down this road so fast I ended up finishing just 7 minutes behind the group. I finished in 9 hours and 25 minutes. Total miles were 127.0, total climbing was 4500 feet. My on-the-bike average was 15.5 mph. 9 hours and 25 minutes isn’t exactly a blazing time for a 200k, but it’s faster than I thought I’d be able to do the ride today, and I had no health or mechanical issues, so I was pleased with the ride.
Rio Vista Rumble route
