I missed the clowns at the lake but had to do the Freeze Your Fanny, I used to live in Longview so much of it was familiar. Saw sstexex and a couple of guys from last year on a Volae and I think an Easy Racer but that was it for the recumbents, I did the full ride which turned out to be 58.5 miles. Most of the road surface wasn't that great with the usual chipseal.
 
After the initial fast west stretch into Gladewater the rest was HILLS and some HILLS and a few more HILLS! 3690ft of HILLS.....I'm very glad I've lost 20 pounds over the last 2 months because I would have hated dragging that extra weight up those HILLS.
 
Did I say it had HILLS?  Funny but I don't remember them back in the mid 80's but then I wasn't on a bike either. Temperature I think was upper 30's and at the finish it was around 44 but felt colder. At the finish I could barely walk and had several toe cramps which is very annoying.  
 
Easily the hardest pay ride in a long while but still glad I went and did better than I thought I would but I have work to do on my endurance

I'm not sure just toe covers help, since it's the bottom of your shoe that faces the wind...  I think my "Dr Scholls" inserts help insulate, and the ToastyToes adhesive heat pads are always good extra warmth...
 
... but I still haven't really decided if the TT's work better on the bottom or the top of the sock near the toes...   any thoughts from other experiences???