Steve, Peggy, Ray, Nelson, and I rode Nelson’s Cheeburger! Cheeburger! 200k permanent today. This route leaves out of Van Alstyne and heads straight west to Forestburg, then makes the return trip. It crosses the upper reaches of Lake Ray Roberts in four places, gving some great scenery there, as well as offering some great views of the rolling hills around Forestburg. We started the ride at 7:30 am.

I threw way more clothes than I thought I’d ever need in the truck before I left for the ride start, but when I arrived in Van Alstyne, it was 44 degrees, so I put on everything I had. It warmed up nicely within a couple of hours, and turned into a beautiful sunny day, in spite of the cloudy day forecasts. Forestburg is just 15 miles from Montague, where the worst fires were, but we saw no fire damage on the route, and there was no smoke in the air today.

The nice little ENE tailwind we had on the way to Forestburg quickly turned into a hard blowing ESE headwind after we turned around, making the second half of the ride much tougher. The 17.2 mph average I carried into Forestburg quickly faded as we headed back. I always seem to wear out late in these rides, when I’ve made one of my marathon bass fishing trips the day before, and today was no exception. I hit the wall at around mile 80, and was pretty much just turning the pedals after that. Any time I end up in that situation, I always think back to Mark Metcalfe’s thoughts on the subject: “You’d be surprised at how many miles you can still ride, after you’ve reached the point of just being able to turn the pedals.” That thought always seems to help me finish these rides.

Near Valley View on the return route, at mile 84, I passed the 10,000 mile mark on my Corsa. That’s easily the most miles I’ve ever put on one bike. As usual, I had a blast riding with this group. Thanks for having me along, y’all! We finished up with a great dinner, and I headed home, thinking I would get there before any rain arrived. I was mistaken. At 8:00 pm, I was sitting in the parking lot known as the Dallas mixmaster, in a hail storm. I think it was all small enough to not damage my truck, but I’ll have to check in the daylight tomorrow.

I ended up with 126.5 miles, and finished the ride in 10:20. My Garmin showed 4,700 feet of climbing.