Yesterday morning at 6:30 am, Steve, Peggy, Nelson, Ray, and I rode out of McKinney to do the Boomer 200k permanent. This route is an out and back that goes north to Tom Bean, then west to Collinsville, then back. Like these long rides have a way of doing, this one turned into an adventure.
We had a tailwind as we rode the rolling hills north to Tom Bean at mile 33. We rode a fairly easy pace, and it was a pretty much uneventful leg of the ride until a scary moment coming into Tom Bean when I had a close call with an old man in a Dodge pickup. He probably should have given up driving years ago, and on this morning, he passed me just before a stop sign, then cut in front and slammed on his brakes.
On we rode, turning west toward Collinsville. Just after we crossed US 75 in Howe at mile 42, we hit a 5 mile stretch of gravel. Worse, they had just poured water on it, so it was gravel over slick mud. By the time we got past this stretch, my bike was the dirtiest it’s ever been, with dried mud everywhere. It took serious cleaning on my bottle and Camelbak bite valve just to be able to drink from them again.
Scary moment number two came just a few miles before Collinsville. I was on Peggy’s wheel, when she looked over at horses on the right and made a comment about them. I turned my head to the right and looked at them. What I didn’t realize was that Peggy had stopped pedaling while I kept pedaling. By the time I turned my head back, I had pulled up halfway alongside Peggy, just a couple of inches to her left. When I saw how close we were, I was so startled that I jumped, wobbled the bike, and hit Peggy’s left arm with my big chainring (sorry, Peggy!).
Thankfully, neither of us went down, but when I looked at her arm, I saw a chainring tatoo, and a trickle of blood running down her arm. Once we got to Collinsville at mile 62, and she got her arm cleaned up, I could see that it was a scratch that wasn’t very deep. I was glad of that, but still felt bad. I’ve never hit anyone with a chainring before. It’s a reminder of how careful we need to be when we’re riding close together.
We headed back east toward Tom Bean. Steve and Peggy went off the front for a few miles, and we regrouped in Dorchester. Scary moment number three came just a couple of miles before Howe when, riding beside Steve, he did a big wobble as he was fighting off a bug of some kind. It was really getting hot by now, and we made a quick unscheduled stop in Howe. Ray was having trouble with his knee, and I stayed back near him most of this stretch. I didn’t mind the easy pace on this hot day. It appears that if I want to survive these really hot days without cratering myself, this is the kind of pace I need. I did kick up the pace for the last mile or so to Tom Bean, at mile 93.
The remaining 33 miles back to McKinney were brutal. It was against the wind, and another over 100 degree day where you could really feel the heat radiating off the pavement. And there are no stores on this stretch for an unscheduled cool-off stop. Steve and I rode off the front, and at mile 115 got a call telling us that Ray was at a Mexican restaurant at Westminster and mile 103, and was going to DNF. Steve and I rode on, and my energy level was fading fast as we neared the end of the ride, but we reached the last control in McKinney at 4:30 pm.
We debated the easiest way to get Ray and his bicycle back to the start. An Xstream won’t fit just anywhere. But Ray had given Nelson his keys, so we ended up just waiting on Nelson and Peggy, driving all the vehicles back to Westminster, and Ray treated us to dinner at the Mexican restaurant (thanks, Ray). I ended up with 126.3 miles, and finished in 10:00. Thanks for the great adventure, everyone, and I promise to try hard not to tatoo anyone else with my chainring in the future.