I took off from Midlothian at 7:30 this morning and rode my Itasca Disasta 207k permanent route. It ended up being a solo ride. Most of the randonneurs around here are getting ready for the Texas Stampede 1200k, and didn’t ride anything as long as a 200k today. I don’t usually ride that long solo, but I’m going to be in DC next weekend and won’t get to ride at all, so I wanted my 200k this weekend.

This route goes from Midlothian out to Itasca, climbing Orpan Hill from the opposite direction as all other rides I do which go over it. With a front coming, that leg was pretty much against a southwest, then west wind. By the time I got to Itasca, it was already a northwest wind.

The next control is a long ways, over 55 miles, as the route next goes to Rice. It was pretty much a crosswind for this stretch today. The last stretch goes through Ennis and Waxahachie on the way back to Midlothian. It’s steady elevation gain on that stretch, and today, a lot of it was also against the wind. I was definitely a tired camper when I finished, 9:51 after I started. I ended up with 129.1 miles.

I haven’t crossed Lake Bardwell on a bike in quite a while, so couldn’t resist taking this photo on the bridge.

Itasca Disasta route.