Steve, Peggy, Nelson, upright rider William, and I rode out of Cleburne at 7:00 am this morning to do the Cleburne Goatneck 200k permanent. This route is an out and back from Cleburne to Glen Rose, then from Glen Rose to Bluff Dale, then back. I knew this would be a tough ride. The roads from Glen Rose to Bluff Dale were already pretty rough, and quite a bit of the roads from Cleburne to Glen Rose have just been re-paved with new boulderseal. The route has 7,500 feet of climbing with some pretty tough hills. As the elevation chart below shows, there aren’t many flat stretches. Add all that to a 100 degree afternoon, and you’re sure to have a tough ride.
My plan was to stay with a pace I could sustain, and not worry about trying to keep up with anyone, or even stay close. Steve had said that he and Peggy and Nelson weren’t going to be in a hurry, so I figured they’d probably be waiting for me at most of the controls. We stayed together at the beginning until the hills started to get tougher at around mile 11. By the time I started down Goatneck Hill at mile 17, there was no one in sight in front of me.
The new boulderseal started at mile 9 and went most of the way to Glen Rose. We regrouped at the control in Glen Rose at mile 37, and left together for Bluff Dale. I had everyone in sight in front of me until the tough climb up Dinosaur Hill at mile 43, and I was on my own again after that. As the chart shows, the real climbing begins on the trek from Glen Rose to Bluff Dale. I made a point of spinning up these hills and not getting carried away with my effort, and still felt good after the fast descent into Bluff Dale, the turnaround point at mile 64.
William DNF’d at Bluff Dale. I can’t remember exactly what he said hurt, but he had an event coming up and didn’t want to take a chance on injuring himself before it. Steve, Peggy, Nelson, and I left Bluff Dale together, but with the big climb that starts instantly at that control, and goes on for a couple of miles, I was by myself pretty quickly.
There are some great views on this part of the ride. Tall, rolling hills are everywhere. You could see where a recent fire had charred a lot of trees on Chalk Mountain Hwy. I huffed and puffed mostly at 4 mph up Dinosaur Hill at mile 85. It’s even tougher on the return leg. It was getting pretty hot at this point, and I kept pouring water on my arm coolers. That did seem to help.
I still felt good when I reached Glen Rose again at mile 91, although I did want to sit down long enough inside to get cooled off well. Steve, Peggy, and Nelson were already doing that, and said they didn’t mind staying longer while I cooled off. Everyone had gotten hot enough that when we left Glen Rose, the pace eased, and we rode together all the way to the New Hope Baptist Church, which was the starting point for past TTTT’s, and we stopped there for a break, at mile 110. Peggy was overheated, we were all hot and tired, with aching feet from all the rough roads.
It’s only 18 miles from the church to the finish, but it’s a tough 18 miles, with a climb up Goatneck Hill as soon as you leave the church, and mostly uphill riding to the finish. I still felt good at the stop, but knew my pace on all the climbing that was left would get me dropped, or hold up the group, so I took a shorter break than everyone else, and took off up Goatneck Hill, figuring everyone would catch me somewhere on the climbing.
With 5 miles to go, I was still riding alone. It seemed only fitting to finish together, and I started debating how to wait for everyone else. I was almost out of water, so stopping at a store had more appeal than just stopping in the shade and finishing my last bit of water. But the ride finishes on Nolan River Road, which really doesn’t have any stores before you reach town. I wasn’t sure if there was even a store before the finish. So, I just slowed my pace (pretty easily done, as tired as I was getting), and sure enough, just a couple of miles before the finish, Steve and Nelson caught up with me, and informed me that Peggy had had to give up on trying to finish on this brutal day, and stayed at the church (dangit, so sorry, Peggy!).
Steve, Nelson, and I pulled into the Cleburne control together to finish this epic ride at 6:13 pm, for an 11:13 ride time. Total miles were 128.5. Someone remind me again why it is that we like rides this tough…
From my Garmin:
Goatneck 200K
