I’ve ridden to work all three days this week. Today’s ride came up 3 1/2 miles short. I had a blowout on the rear tire that was not repairable, and called Rose to come get me.

I knew these tires needed replaced, and had ordered new ones. I had close to 4,000 miles on them, most of that the heavy duty use that my commuting is. I usually carry a spare tire, but had neglected to put it back in the bag the last time I emptied it, obviously the wrong time to do that.

It’s been just short of a year since I started commuting, 151 rides to work, and this was the first time I had to call for a rescue, so I’m thinking that’s not too bad. Of course, when I got home, the new tires had arrived. What’s that old saying, a day late and a dollar short?

Steve Petty did a great report on this ride on the rbent forum, so I’ll post it here:

Bud, Peggy, Nelson, Bryan, Shellene & myself (along with about 20 other LSR riders), left Nolan River Mall in Cleburne yesterday at 7:00am. The majority of the group were riding the 200k route, which leaves Cleburne, onto Glen Rose & then Bluff Dale. This an out & back route. There were a few hearty souls riding the 400k route.

The goal for most of us was the ride the 200k easy as a lot of us are riding the Texas Time Trials next week. Well, after about 15-20 miles , I had a 19.0 mph avg as we cruised past the pavilion at New hope Baptist church in Cleburne. A lot faster than I had expected us to ride. Granted, then ride from the start to this point, is down hill, but still, this route has some significant climbs (dinosaur hill in Glen Rose coming & going-16% grade hill) & Johnson county line hill (coming & going-9% grade hill) & goatneck hill (coming & going) & finally a series of rollers coming/going into/out of Bluff Dale.

As we made the left turn onto CR200 , heading form Cleburne to Glen Rose, we pass several riders on the opposite of the road, presumably riding/practicing the TT course. Shortly after climbing Johnson County line hill, I realized I didn’t need to be riding this hard, so I back off from the group & rode the remaining 10+ miles alone into the control in Glen Rose.

At the control, a tandem suffered a flat, & Bud noticed his front tire was flat. So he made a quick tire change & we were off again, heading to Bluff Dale for another 37 mile jaunt. This section, more like the entire route has a lot of up/down rollers & the hills I mentioned earlier. We rolled into Bluff Dale (I love the blistering fast descent into town, oh wait, we have to climb out the same hill on the way back). So we climb out of Bluff Dale where Bryan, a tandem , & our friend Steve Barlow were nice enough to wait on us. So we all rode back to Glen Rose together.

The section from Glen Rose to Cleburne ain’t easy, we noticed after climbing out of Bluff Dale that the wind had picked up significantly from the S/E-so we pretty much had a stiff head wind to the finish. It started to get a little toasty on the final section.

Bud was super strong all day, Peggy rode well & is ready for the TT. Bryan always rides strong, & Shellene was back on the bike & riding again, which is great news. Bud & I sprinted into the wind,uphill the last few miles & finished a few minutes ahead of the other. Total ride time was 9hrs,30 mins. Peggy got her revenge on this 200k as this was the same route she had to DNF last year.
Bike avg. 15.5 mph. My Garmin should 5,338′ of climbing. Heat , wind, & climbing, more training for the TT’s.

Nelson unselfishly DNF’d , he rode from Cleburne to Glen Rose & wanted to start painting the TT course (turn arrows on the pavement) while has was there, so he started painting & I told him that Peggy & I would meet up with him after finished. He was waiting for us in Cleburne, we grabbed a quick subway & headed back to Glen Rose to start painting. We finished up around 8:30pm.

A huge thanks to Bud & Rose for letting up spend the might Friday night & serving crappie & hush puppies. Just for Peggy. After 2-3 years of riding with Bud & hearing about crappie, Peggy finally got to taste Bud’s fresh caught crappie.

In the process , I managed to complete my ACP series for the year (200,300, 400, & 600K) & Peggy tells that I just qualified for my Super Randonnuer. Bonus. Thanks to all that has ridden tons of miles with me in the process, especially Peggy.

Steve Petty

Good report, Steve. This route is always challenging. There was heat, humidity, plenty of hills, and even where the roads haven’t been made boulderseal yet, most of them are rough. There’s lots of great scenery, though.

I felt good on this ride, but as always, my legs were feeling the hills by the return part of the route. Steve, Peggy, and I looked like Team Rbent, all wearing our rbent jerseys. It was great to see Shellene on the bike again. I’m betting she’s tired today.

Congrats on the series, Steve! Great ride, all!

Goatneck 200K brevet route

It was a beautiful day for HHH, not hotter ‘n hell at all this year, but the south wind got up earlier than I would have liked. I took off at a 22 mph pace with a paceline of tandems and recumbents, but by mile 20, I couldn’t hang any more and fell back. By mile 65, I had really hit the wall, and by mile 80, I was hardly moving at all. The only riders I was passing at that point were the ones stopped at rest stops that I pedaled by.

I only made one five minute stop at mile 70, and finished the 101.7 miles in 5:42. I wasn’t very happy with that time; I’ve ridden HHH faster twice. I thought I was stronger than that this year. Last month, I had finished the 70 miles of hills at Goatneck with an 18 mph average, and thought I could do much better than that on the flatter HHH route, but couldn’t do it, ending up with the same 18 mph average.

I guess it’s all relative, though. Shortly after I first started riding, I decided that my biggest goal was to some day do a 6 hour century, and I wondered if I ever could. Now, I’m an almost 60 year old lung cancer survivor, and complaining because I can’t do a 5 hour century. I probably shouldn’t complain.

I rode down with DJ, and the trip was a blast. I always love the consumer bike show at the convention center, even though I never buy much. And cutting up with old friends at the community center gym is always fun, as well as meeting new recumbent people (email me, Andy; I’d really like to have your regular commentary on the forum).

I was passed by a lot of recumbents that I didn’t know. For those who don’t know me, I was on a black Corsa with HED wheels, and was wearing a red Bacchetta jersey. As always, I had a blast at HHH.

I did the FWBA River View Backwards ride today, and Steve P came over and joined me. Mark and Linda M rode it, too.

It started at 8:00 am in Rio Vista, and Steve and I drove over there without having any idea where the route went. Some of the roads ended up being very familiar, while others were roads I’d never been on.

It first headed over to Glen Rose, where it did a loop of the TTTT course, backwards. When Steve decided to join me, I’m thinking he had no idea he’d end up on the TTTT course again……LOL.

The other part of the route was a loop in an area where I’d always wanted to try a ride, but never had. After going up Goatneck Hill on the return from Glen Rose, the route cut off on CR 1117 and went along the Brazos river, passing Painted Rock and Hamm Creek Park, before heading back to Rio Vista on FM 916 and CR 1106.

Painted Rock is a favorite fishing spot of mine, and looking at it from my boat on the river, I’d always seen bicycles riding on the road that passes right by it, and wanted to give it a try. Today ended up being the day that I did. It’s a very scenic and low traffic area, a great ride if you don’t mind a hill or two.

I enjoyed the ride a lot, but with this heat and those hills, 75.2 miles of it was definitely enough. Thanks for joining me, Steve!

I rode to work today. It was my 93rd commute by bike of the year.

Remind me to never take a whirlwind lightly again. I was blown down by a really strong one on the ride home. I was southbound on Lubbock Avenue, about a half mile from work, when I saw a whirlwind cross about a block in front of me. Like most, this one was moving west to east. It had cleared the road and I thought it was gone, but for some reason, it turned and crossed the road again, hitting me squarely before I knew what was happening.

I didn’t have a lot of speed, and the strong swirling winds instantly stopped me completely, then blew me over on my left side. In a moment that made me glad I was on a close to the ground bike, I put my left hand down and stopped my fall, feet still clipped to the pedals. There I was for an instant, using just my left arm to keep me off the concrete. I managed to unclip, got my left foot on the road, and used my left leg to upright myself, without anything other than my hand and foot ever touching the concrete. It was a strange feeling maneuver that I’d never attempted before. My handlebar had been tweaked crooked, but there was no other damage to either bike or rider. I quickly straightened my handlebar and continued on my way.

Did I mention that 103 degrees makes for a very hot ride home?

I rode to work all 4 days this week so far. It was some nice northbound with a tailwind rides to work in the morning darkness, but the afternoon southbound trip against the hot wind was a bit tough.

Just after I turned onto the shoulder of Crowley Road this afternoon, a very pimped out car pulled up beside me. The rap music blasting from it was deafening, even with the completely blackened windows all the way up. Before I had time to wonder what was going on, the passenger window came down, and a gangsta-looking young man behind the wheel turned the music down, leaned over, looked at me, and said, “Your kickstand’s down!” I thanked him, stopped, and raised my kickstand.

I took off from the Bicycles Inc in Arlington this morning at 8:00 am to do the FWBA Bicycles Inc club ride. They had a big breakfast and lots of door prizes, and got a great turnout. I didn’t hear a count, but it had to be well over a hundred riders.

When they asked how many were doing the 100 mile route, 15 or so raised their hands, but after we all rode out on Sublett Rd together, when we got to Calender Rd, which is where all the routes except for the 100 mile route turn off, I was the only rider that went straight. I kept checking my mirror for people further back in the group who might stay on Sublett, but no one did.

Some of the roads on this route have too much traffic to be much fun for a lone rider, so since I was by myself, I just kind of made up my own route as I went, and used some quieter roads. I didn’t skip Texas Plume, though. I figured I needed the hill work there. When I got south of Midlothian on FM663 though, instead of turning left on FM875 like the route does, I turned right, then left on to Singleton Rd, and rode small county roads to Maypearl.

From Maypearl, I took the same route to Alvarado that Peachy Keene uses, then more of the same after Alvarado, until I had to cross SH287 to get back to Bicycles Inc. I finished up just after 3:00 pm, and ended up with 95.2 miles.

I rode the FWBA Goatneck Preview club ride today. It started at the Cleburne High School at 8:00 this morning, and followed the route that the Goatneck Bike Ride will take in three weeks. It was another muggy day, but the rain held off until after the ride. I should do this route more often; these hills will give you a good workout. Stretches of the boulder seal were pretty rough, but much of it has been packed a lot now, and isn’t nearly as rough as last year.

Today’s ride became the first time that I’ve ever ridden up Goatneck Hill in my middle chainring. So, while I’m still painfully slow about getting myself up hills, I’m still improving. I only made one stop during the ride, in Glen Rose. I ended up with 69.9 miles and an on the bike average speed of 17.0 mph.

Goatneck 70 mile route.

Today was the annual LSR 200k 4th of July weekend brevet. We left out of Lynn Creek Marina at Joe Pool Lake at 7:00 this morning to do the Rio Vista Rumble route. I didn’t get a count of riders, but there looked to be around 20. Recumbent riders in the group included Steve B, Daniel, Steve P, Peggy, and myself.

This year’s brevet had something extra, though. At mile 65, we stopped at a small country church 5 miles west of Covington, and had a short ceremony where Steve and Peggy, who recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, renewed their vows. Afterward, there was cake, fruit, and other snacks served.

Bryan and Shellene were there too, but both being off the bike, they drove the course, attended the ceremony, and took photos. Nice seeing both of you!

The entire ride, there were heavy clouds that looked like could turn loose rain any minute, but we got 120 miles with no more than sprinkles. The last 5 miles, though, I rode in a downpour. The last section of the ride has quite a bit of climbing, so as usual, I was behind quite a few of the riders. Coming down Lake Ridge Parkway on a Saturday afternoon is no bargain, on the best of days, and doing it by myself in a downpour had me pretty paranoid. I was hammering for all I was worth to finish the ride as soon as I could.

And I finished with no problem. My total miles were 125.0, and my total time was 10:02. My on the bike average speed was 16.1 mph, which is pretty good for me, for a 200k. I felt great at the end, but the peach margarita I downed afterwards pretty much finished me off. Great ride everyone, thanks! And congrats, Steve and Peggy!

Here is the poem Steve and Peggy asked me to read at the ceremony:

What can I say, in a positive way? How can I sway you to come out and play,
On a lean, clean machine in a beautiful scene? Who of you will dare to put wind in your hair,
Rain in your face and leave never a trace, of having ever been there?
When it’s all said and done, what makes cycling fun? Is it better in winter, or in the hot sun?
Do you like warm wherever you go? Or when your tires go “crunch” in the snow?
Do you like racing with crowds that cheer? Or touring along with a bird’s song in your ear?
I can ride for hours by beautiful flowers. Mile after mile with bugs in my smile.
I find rolling hills to be so sublime, and even the hardest, mountainous climb! Can you tell why my heart pines,
For quiet country roads with Burma Shave signs? Sometimes I get a thrill from “screaming down hills”,
Or a fog covered road laced with daffodils. It’s easy to see what it all means to me.
I’ve seen places and faces as fine as can be. Often at night, stars so bright,
I ride with my love in the pale moonlight, past farms with cows and stacks of hay.
Crickets and frogs cheer us on our way. We ride in the morning and then at sunsets,
And know that this is as good as it gets. Not even flat tires can alter our mood.
When I’m tired I dine on the best tasting food. What can I do to get through to you?
Why should you ride? I haven’t a clue. Sometimes after long rides in a group we might sit,
And all with agree, “IT FEELS SO GOOD WHEN WE ARE DONE.”

The bride and groom:

Good job, y’all! This route is an out and back that goes from Italy to Abbot, to Valley Mills, then on to Gatesville, and back. The Valley Mills to Gatesville leg has a lot of climbing. The early pace was way too much for me. I left the second control right behind Steve, Peggy, Nelson, and Mark, and caught up to the group, but as soon as the hills started, couldn’t stay with them.

I did not realize how blown up I was, though, until I stopped at Valley Mills at mile 67. With the hilliest part of the ride coming up, going out to Gatesville and back, I didn’t see any way I could make it, feeling like I did. But I took a long break to try and recover. Greg rode in while I was resting, and we rode on together. I had to ride up the hills very slowly, using all the gears I had, but I made it to Gatesville, and felt a little better. We took another long break there.

By the time we got back to Valley Mills, though, at mile 120, I was feeling bad again. I layed down for a few minutes, and we took our time taking off again. There’s a tough hill as soon as you leave Valley Mills, after you cross the Bosque River and climb out of its valley. It’s a long hill with a steep stretch. I was sure it would finish me off, and I climbed it slowly. But after I reached to top, I felt fine, and I felt fine for the rest of the ride. I didn’t have much power for pushing on the hills, but that’s nothing unusual for me late in a ride when I’m tired. Sometimes you just have to ride at an easy pace for a while to recover, it seems.

It turned out that I had forgotten to zip up my Camelbak Unbottle in my Fastback bag, and it fell out right after I crossed the Brazos river at mile 140. I ran over it and Greg ran over it. It seems fine, though. I haven’t found any damage. But after I retrieved it and caught up to Greg waiting for me at the top of the hill, I noticed that his rear tire was falling apart. Ah, the joys of a long ride.

We took another long break at Abbot, at mile 154, and finished up with a blazing time of 15:50. Total miles were 191.7.

Stomach issues can be a biggie on these long rides. I made mine a lot worse than usual on this ride by forgetting to take my acid blocking prescription on Saturday. I bought two rolls of Ultra Tums at the second control, and almost finished both of them by the end of the ride, but I still had more stomach issues than usual, especially after I made the mistake of trying to hang with the big dogs too long.

Even during the times when my stomach was telling me that it absolutely wanted nothing, the dried fruit I carry went down very well, and played a big part in me being able to finish the ride, I think. It’s going to remain a mainstay of my riding food.