Ride like the wind! Errr………… I mean, ride IN the wind! Yesterday morning at 7:30 am, Ray, Nelson, Mark H, and I rode out of Prosper to do Nelson’s new Live Long and Prosper 200k permanent, which is an out and back to Forestburg. And of course, the wind was howling.

This route works it way northwest until hitting FM455 west of Sanger, then stays on FM455 to Forestburg. It was a quiet, enjoyable morning that passed without any problems until we were almost to the second control at Bolivar, when Nelson had to stop to air up a tire. He made it to the control, then had to replace the tube there.

We rode on to Forestburg, through the grasslands, gaining altitude in the rolling hills. There aren’t many trees along this stretch, but the tops of the hills give a scenic view of the countryside. We arrived in Forestburg at 12:30, and took a longer break there, at the old Forestburg Country Store.

The first stretch coming back from Forestburg was almost a headwind, making those first hills a bit tough. The other stretches that were tough were two jaunts straight into the wind, one for a couple of miles on FM2153 and one for almost 5 miles on FM1385. But we handled the wind well, and navigated the course without any serious problems. We didn’t quite finish the ride before dark, arriving back in Prosper at 6:55 pm. I ended up with 129.2 miles. It was a good route and great company for the day. Thanks, guys, I had a great time!