31 riders turned out for this 200k brevet. We left out of Lynn Creek Marina at Joe Pool Lake at 6:30 am. The first 51 miles of this ride is mostly elevation gain to Rio Vista, and against the kind of south wind we had today, is really tough. I rode out with the intention of trying to stay with a group of riders for a little help in the wind as much as I could, but was dropped pretty quickly by every group, so was on my own for most of this stretch. You have to be able to hang onto a group on the hills, and I have a tough time doing that. Once I was out in the wind, there’s no way I was going to catch anyone.

I did manage to ride some with Steve, Peggy, Mark M, and a few others from before Venus to most of the way to Alvarado, but on the first hills of CR 401 after Alvarado, I was dropped and riding straight into the wind.

I was even more discouraged when I turned onto FM 916 at mile 37, and found it was new boulderseal all the way to Rio Vista. I slowed down on this stretch. Between fighting the wind and boulderseal, and thinking I had probably put out too much effort early in the ride trying to stay with other riders, easing up seemed like a good idea on this stretch. It’s really hard to ride an easy pace against the wind on boulderseal, though. You seem to be getting nowhere. I really felt slow, like I had no strength at all, and couldn’t keep up with anyone. Looking back, I think it was just the wind, and the fact that there were a bunch of strong riders on this brevet.

I didn’t make a stop until the first control at Blum, at mile 57. I left this control with a group again, but again was soon off the back. At Covington, mile 69, the route turns south on SH 171, and it’s a tough 4 miles to Osceola straight against the wind. It was on this stretch that I had started to crater the last time I rode this route, from too much effort with a low tire against the wind. Today, I paced myself on this stretch.

At mile 73, as I got ready to turn east on FM 934, I saw Steve, Peggy, and Greg coming from the opposite direction and also turning onto FM 934. I pulled up along side Steve and told him that if he would just miss enough turns, I thought I might could keep up with him. After Itasca at mile 78, it’s on to Orphan Hill. I took my time spinning up this hill. Rio Vista Rumble isn’t a route with a brutal amount of climbing, but the toughest hills are all after mile 80, and it was starting to get very hot. Managing my effort seemed like a good idea for these hills.

I pulled into the Maypearl control at mile 93 at 12:47 pm. In spite of my inability to keep up with anyone, and not feeling very strong, 93 miles in 6:17 isn’t all that bad, and the idea that I might be able to complete this 200k in less than 9 hours started to creep into my head. I had not managed a 200k in less than 9 hours since having my lung sliced and diced on, and this seemed like a worthy goal and accomplishment for the day if I could do it. But, there were tough climbs up Old Buena Vista Road and Singleton Road waiting, and I knew I’d need to not blow up on these hills to have a chance.

I needed a good cool off break at Maypearl, and some time with my shoes off, and it was 1:08 pm when I left the control. Still, if I didn’t completely crater on the last part of the ride, under 9 looked possible. Old Buena Vista Road is always tough for me, and when I got a hint of a leg cramp on the hill, in spite of how slowly I was climbing, I started to have my doubts about how much I had left. But after an also slow trip up the Singleton Road hill, I felt good, and I started making calculations about how much time it would take me to finish as I rode toward Midlothian.

On the downhill stretch toward Midlothian (I made it past that circle driveway without stopping this time, Nelson), I felt great, so I started to push a little more as I rode through Midlothian, still trying to ride within myself well enough to finish strong. As I approached the turnaround at Mt Lebanon Road, under SH 67 at mile 114, with only a short stretch against the wind remaining before an easy downhill then flat finish, I was thinking that I was going to get this done. As I rode under the underpass on the turnaround, I was surprised to find Steve, Peggy, Greg, and Mark stopped here.

I stopped for just a few seconds, then continued on to try and complete my quest. The rest of the group started up again just after I did. I really pushed hard against the wind on the short stretch before the turn onto Lake Ridge Parkway (Steve easily caught me, anyway), knowing that it was all big downhills and flats after that.

But if I thought this was going to be an easy finish, I was seriously mistaken. At 30 mph going downhill on Lake Ridge at about mile 116, when I hit a bump, my seat reclined more. When I hit another bump, it reclined even more. I could hardly reach either the pedals or the handlebar. Steve and I stopped at the bottom of the hill, and I saw that my seat clamp had moved, but didn’t really find the problem until a stop a half mile further along.

My seat recline system on the rear seat stays had collapsed, and there was nothing keeping the seat from reclining onto the tire. I had always wondered if the little pneumatic cyclinders I had used for this were strong enough. This wasn’t exactly their intended application. They lasted for thousands of miles, but on this day, they were done. I didn’t see a ready fix, so I got back on the bike to try and finish the ride. The only way I could ride was by pulling myself forward enough with the handlebar to keep my back off the seat. I sat on the very front edge of the seat to help rock the seat forward, and thus take less effort to keep myself pulled forward. This is not an easy way to ride a Corsa.

Another mile or so down the road, Steve pointed out to me that my Fastback bag was rubbing the rear wheel. I instinctively reached down to feel the bag over the wheel. Let me take a moment here to recommend against doing that. I decided that it hadn’t been a good idea right after my left ring finger hit the spokes, which promptly lopped a small chunk off the tip of my finger.

Now, I’m hanging on for all I’m worth, trying to keep my back off the seat, while bleeding all over the handlebar. Yes, just another easy finish to a randonneuring ride. And finish I did. I ended up with 124.8 miles, and finished in 8:44.

One last thing: why is it that the guys using GPS’s to navigate usually seem to get more bonus miles than anyone else on these rides?

This is NOT what you want your seat stays to look like after a ride.

Rio Vista Rumble route