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.

I took off from Arlington at 7:30 this morning and rode my Peachy Keene 200k permanent route. It was a small crew on the ride, with just John and Susan on their tandem, Mark M, and me. This route goes south out to Cleburne, then on south to just west of Covington, turns east and goes through Covington, then on to Itasca before finally turning back north and going through Maypearl and Alvarado on the way back.

The south wind wasn’t that bad early, but was really blowing by late morning. Those last few miles to Itasca were really tough. But we kept a fairly easy pace much of the ride, and I finished still feeling pretty good. I always have trouble keeping up on the stretch from Maypearl to Alvarado, and today was no exception, but John, Susan, and Mark slowed down before Alvarado, and I rejoined them for the rest of the ride.

Though a bit windy, it was a beautiful day, with all the spring blooming wildflower fragrances to take in along the way. Add good company to that, and it reminds why I like these rides so much. I ended up with 125 miles and finished the ride in 9:38.

The Peachy Keene route.

I headed out to Venus, Tx this morning to join Stephen, Mark M, Debbie, Richard, and Daniel on the Elm Mott Trot 200k. We rolled out of Venus at 7:30 am against a stiff south wind. This route is an out and back, with the first half pretty much all southbound, so you get a tailwind on the return leg.

Mark did most of the pulling against the wind, with Stephen also taking some turns. I was trying hard to stay with the group on the outbound leg, rather than have to ride alone against the wind. The pace was just about too much for me though, and I finally fell off the group a couple of miles before we reached Elm Mott.

I was feeling pretty wiped out at the Elm Mott control, with another 64 miles to go, much sooner than you want to hit the wall, but I have a history of being able to finish these rides by just easing up and riding an easier pace for a few hours after I get into trouble, so I was still optimistic about being able to finish.

I plainly wasn’t the only one blown up by the pace, as Richard fell off the back even before I did as we rode north back to Venus. I was by myself soon enough, as well, long before we reached the next control at Malone at mile 85. I had intentions of just falling back and riding with Richard, but when I talked to him at the Malone control, he said he was just going to take his time all the way back, so I left the Malone control just behind the group.

I was soon all alone again, and rode that way until around mile 104, when Daniel came riding up from behind. He had stopped for a nature break, it turned out, and I had passed him without even knowing it. When we arrived at Maypearl at mile 117, Mark, Stephen, and Debbie were waiting, so we stopped for just a moment and rejoined them.

I finished the ride in 9:11, with 128 miles, and a 15.7 mph on the bike average, and was as wiped out as I ever have been after a ride. I hate slowing down faster riders, and with Daniel, then Mark, Stephen, and Debbie waiting for me, I felt compelled to do my best not to slow them down any more than I absolutely had to, so I really gave it all I had for those last miles.

I’m feeling pretty cratered this evening, but I know this is the kind of ride that will help me get stronger again on these long rides, so I’m pretty pleased with the effort, if not the results. Thanks for hosting the ride, Stephen! Great ride, everyone!

Elm Mott Trot route.

I drove to Italy, Texas this morning and joined the Lone Star Randonneurs’ 200k brevet which rolled out at 7:15 am. This is the LaBella Rani Duecento route which is actually well over 200k. It goes from Italy south out to Dawson, then on to Groesbeck, then makes a more westerly loop back through Mount Calm. I never heard a rider count, but there looked to be around 30 something in attendance.

The winds were fierce right from the beginning. It was 57 degrees at start time, but the howling wind made it feel so much cooler that I started out wearing a jacket. The lead group quickly disappeared in the distance, but I found a group riding a speed I could hang with, and stayed with them most of the ride south. That helped a lot. Without them, I might still be pedaling somewhere on that route.

There were also 300k, 400k, and 600k riders, and at Mexia, all of the longer riders turned off, leaving only David, Debbie, and me to continue on to Goesbeck. It’s 11 miles straight south from there to Groesbeck. It’s always tough against a south wind, and with todays gales, it was a brutal slog. David is a very strong rider, and Debbie and I fell in behind him.

From Groesbeck, the ride got a lot easier, although there were still several stretches where the crosswinds were so bad, I couldn’t ride much faster than if I’d been going directly against the wind. It wasn’t long after we left Groesbeck before it became obvious that I had burned a few too many matches on the trek against the wind, and I had to ease up on my effort, knowing I would be in trouble later if I didn’t.

I stayed in contact with Debbie and David for a little while, and left the next control at Mount Calm at mile 93 with them after Debbie had slowed and waited for me at one point, but it wasn’t long after that Mount Calm stop before they pulled away from me. Even though they were obviously keeping what was for them a fairly easy pace, I couldn’t hang with it.

I finished stronger than I thought I might, though. I had the usual issues with my aching toes later in the ride, which has lots of boulder seal pavement, and my left shoulder did hurt some, but it did a lot better on this ride, and I finished with 131.6 miles in 9:48 with a 15.1 mph on the bike average, which isn’t bad for me in my present condition (or lack of it), for a ride this long and under these conditions. I need to do more long rides this year than I did last year. And it looks like my shoulder is no longer an excuse for not doing it.

The Labella Rani Duecento 200k route.

I decided to build a new set of wheels for the Xstream. The only wheels I have for it are a set of heavy, bombproof commuting wheels and a set of HED aero wheels. Since I’m no longer commuting, I’ve been wanting something nicer and lighter than the commuting wheels. And the HED aero wheels are a bit too much in crosswinds for every day riding. Both those sets of wheels are 559 wheels. The Xstream can use either 650C (571) or 559 wheels, but I want to stay with 559 wheels on it so I can run a wider tire on the rear wheel.

I always scratch my head as I read Randy Schlitter’s writings about how bone jarring the ride of a high racer is, compared to that of a long wheelbase bike. I’ve always found exactly the opposite to be true. A high racer has a better balance of weight ratio between the front and rear tires, and with a very reclined euro style seat like that on my Corsa, my own weight is spread out all along my back. A 650c x 23 tire gives a passable ride on the Corsa.

On the other hand, with my Xstream, Stratus XP, Nimbus, and every other long wheelbase bike I’ve ridden, almost all of my weight is on the rear tire, and with a more upright seat, almost all of my own weight is on my behind. A 23mm wide tire just gives an unacceptable ride. Even a 25mm tire rides too harsh to suit me. On my Xstream, I want at least a 28 mm wide tire on the rear wheel. I have two sets of Conti Grand Prix tires that still have some miles left on them. One set is 28mm wide and the other is 25mm. I’m designating them as two sets of tires for the Xstream, but with the 28’s as rear tires and the 25’s as front tires.

I decided on Velocity A23 rims for the wheelset. These are performance road rims, but they’re one of the new generation of slightly wider road rims, so I figured they’d be perfect for 25mm and 28mm tires. They’re also one of the few performance road rims made in the 559 size. I bought a 28 spoke rim for the rear and a 24 spoke rim for the front. This is a combination that’s worked well for me for years on the Corsa. I bought Sapim CX Ray spokes and Rotaz road hubs for the wheelset.

I went with the standard 3 cross lacing for the spokes on the rear wheel. I have over 13,000 miles on a wheel with this same spoke count and lacing on the Corsa. The Xstream is more heavily loaded on the rear wheel, but running a wider tire, I’m hoping the same setup will hold up well on it, too. I considered radial spoke lacing on the front wheel. The 13,000 mile wheel on the front of the Corsa has this lacing, and it’s a more heavily loaded wheel than the front wheel on the Xstream. I’m not sure the Rotaz hubs are as strong as the Velocity hubs on the Corsa, though, so I decided to just go with a 2 cross lacing on the front wheel. With 3 cross on the rear and 2 cross on the front, all of the spokes ended up being the same length, 264mm.

I finished building the wheels Monday evening. I loved everything about the wheels right up until the minute I started mounting tires on them. I’d never owned a Velocity rim that was hard to mount a tire on before. That statement is no longer true. Even with Velo Plugs in the rims rather than rim tape, there’s no way I could have mounted either tire on these rims without my VAR tire lever. I’ll be carrying that bead jack on the Xstream as long as I run these wheels. I was thinking I’d eventually run Conti Gatorskins on these wheels, but there may be no way to mount them. I have a used one I’ll try mounting just as a test before I consider buying new ones for the Xstream.

I’ve done two rides on the new wheels, 25 miles yesterday afternoon and 25 miles this afternoon. They do ride nicer than the commuting wheels. I think I’m going to love them, except for flat changing time.

All the parts (except for the Velo Plugs – I robbed them from an old wheelset later).

Just built.

Front wheel with 25mm Conti Grand Prix tire.

Rear wheel with 28mm Conti Grand Prix tire.

Ready to go.

I joined 12 other riders and took off from Italy at 7:30 this morning and rode the Jailhouse 216k route. It reached 82 degrees this afternoon, a very warm December day, but I hesitate to call it a beautiful day, because the wind gusts of over 30 mph made it a brutal ride.

This route heads southwest out of Italy (directly into today’s wind), and goes to Valley Mills, then takes the same route back. I fell off the back of the faster group fairly quickly and ended up joining Daniel Schaaf for most of the ride out to Valley Mills. It took us five and a half hours to reach the half way point. I had a 13.0 mph average at that point. That gives a good idea just how tough the wind was.

I rode with Vickie Tyer much of the ride back to the next control at mile 102. I started fading at around mile 90 and watched Vickie disappear into the distance ahead of me. This was the first time I’ve ridden with Vickie since she got her recumbent. Riding that stretch with her, I realized something I hadn’t noticed before. She doesn’t hammer the hills, but doesn’t let up on the downhills either. She rides with a more consistent effort than anyone else I’ve ever ridden with. That probably goes a long way in explaining how she does so well on really long rides.

By the time I reached the control at mile 102, I was completely wiped out. I think the big effort against the wind had caught up with me. So much of this route is now boulder seal road that my toes were killing me, and I spent too much time thinking about that and stopped drinking my maltodextrin drink. As I sat at that control, I honestly didn’t think I could finish the ride, but after ingesting sugar, maltodextrin, and salt, followed by some slower riding, I started feeling better before the end of the ride. I followed Stephen, Sharon, Steve, and Debbie, who were on two tandems, the rest of the way in.

My shoulder felt better on this ride, but I’ve done too few long distance rides this year, and fading at the end of this one was another reminder of that. But I needed the miles to have any chance of making my mileage goal this year, and managed to finish the ride, so I’m calling it a good day. As always, I enjoyed the company along the way. I ended up with 135 miles even.

The Jailhouse 216k route.

I hadn’t been on a bike since last Saturday. I’ve been so busy with the contract work I’ve been doing, job interviews, drug testing (when did recruiters start doing drug tests right in their offices?), and everything else, that I just haven’t had time to ride. My mileage goals for the month as well as my mileage goals for the year are circling the drain.

But it was a beautiful morning this morning, so I took off on the Corsa, rode through Burleson, then headed for quiet Johnson County roads. The ride wasn’t without its challenges. The dogs seemed especially aggressive this morning. I punched one on the nose twice, and got wobbled for a second by another when he hit the back of my bike and got his foot run over. I also got pinch flats on both tires when I hit a railroad track that was suddenly much rougher than I’ve ever seen it.

But it was still a great ride. It was so nice to be out riding in shorts and short sleeves on Thanksgiving Day; that doesn’t happen most years. I ended up with 59.4 miles. Now, it’s time to gather with family and eat much more than I should. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

This morning’s route.

I drove to Rio Vista this morning and joined the FWBA River View club ride. The 70 mile route goes from Rio Vista past Hamm Creek Park, passes very near the Brazos River at Painted Rock (with some great river views!), crosses the Brazos at Brazos Point, then heads on to Glen Rose. It returns by way of Nemo and Cleburne State Park. There were some modifications to the route for today’s ride because of road construction.

I fell in with a group of seven other riders doing the 70 mile route. I’m recovering from a serious cold, sinus infection, or whatever you want to call it, so I wasn’t too sure how well I would ride. But I know these roads well enough that I wasn’t worried about getting dropped. I did better than I expected, only falling back from the group on long hills, and catching up soon afterward.

I chatted with fellow rbent member Frank, who was on his P-38, for a few moments as I rode through Glen Rose. Nice meeting you, Frank! It was pretty chilly this morning, but turned into a beautiful afternoon. The reasonable pace and numerous stops suited me, since I was thinking I’d better not overdo things while recovering from being sick. I felt good at the end. Even my shoulder held up better than it has been on rides of this distance. It’s slowly healing. I ended up with 74 miles even.

FWBA River View modified route.