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rbent Forum
https://rbentonline.org/YaBB.pl General Category >> Ride Reports >> Muenster Rally 4/30 https://rbentonline.org/YaBB.pl?num=1304218562 Message started by FlyingLaZBoy on Apr 30th, 2011, 9:56pm |
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Title: Muenster Rally 4/30 Post by FlyingLaZBoy on Apr 30th, 2011, 9:56pm It was a beautiful day for a bike ride... on a darned tough course... This was actually the first time I'd done this Rally, but had ridden the Forestburg - St. Jo leg with the Rando group a few times before, so I knew part of the terrain. I carpooled up with Dave Rothgeb, his son, and another friend of theirs... Announced registration was 1650 or so, so lots of folks there. Rolling around before the start, I greeted the various 'benters present (Shellene&Bryan, Greg&Alexis, Jay, Patti, MarkL, Carolyn, Ric Clark, and met other 'benters from Texas and Oklahoma), as well as the 20 or so GDB'ers that were there. Apparently, Sadowski and Corsa Ken took off an hour early, because they needed to get back, so I missed 'em. Rothgeb and I were in for the 100K, but weren't planning to hit it hard, and doing a stop at every rest stop, because Dave's still adjusting to the Stratus. The wind was in our faces most of the way during the day -- started out from the SSW, switch to the West when we turned that way, switched to NW when we turned north, and finally settled in from the NNW for the last two legs, giving us a nice tailwind for the finish. But it wasn't all that bad, and made for nice cooling, because the sun was out in force... This terrain up there is very pretty, overall, and the roads are still in pretty good shape. But this is a tough course - there were a LOT of hills that were climbed at 8mph or less, and the rest stops were typically set just before a climb began... but the downhills were a nice reward for the climbs! And Greg wasn't kidding the other day -- on one hill in particular after St. Jo, I hit 48mph just coasting... probably could have hit 50 if I'd tried to, but really wasn't interested... ::) because I was videoing with camera in right hand... http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae256/pbrown8js/th_102_4256.jpg (http://s977.photobucket.com/albums/ae256/pbrown8js/?action=view¤t=102_4256.mp4) North of St. Jo is a large wind farm area, with 60-foot bladed turbines... pretty cool... http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae256/pbrown8js/102_4273.jpg The 4th rest stop was starting to run out of goodies - and there were at least 50+ riders still behind us, we heard. After the 4th rest stop, there was one especially nasty climb, which I may have dropped to 4mph on.... but made it. After that, the last 7-8 miles were very nice and flat by comparison. Finished with 60.6 miles and a 15.0 average for the day, taking 5 hours to complete the route. By that time, we were ready for the beer, and went over to the Germanfest for about an hour... [smiley=vrolijk_26.gif] What'd the rest of you do? |
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Title: Re: Muenster Rally 4/30 Post by Patti on Apr 30th, 2011, 11:03pm This was my first time to ride in the area so I opted for the 35K since I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I was surprised to see so many trikes. I really enjoyed the ride out and was considering going on to do the 65K when my husband called and said he and the kids were going to come up and meet me. Just before I got back to town he called again and said they had been delayed and were just leaving the house. DOH! Oh well, I had a really nice ride and my knees gave me no trouble today so perhaps I can start doing some longer distances. Jay gave me his extra tickets (thanks again, Jay!), my family finally arrived and we ended up staying until about 8pm. Enjoyed meeting some new folks today and as well as getting reacquainted with others whom I have not seen for awhile. Guess I'll need to ride the bike tomorrow, just to be fair. Don't want it to feel neglected or anything. |
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Title: Re: Muenster Rally 4/30 Post by LightningPilot on May 1st, 2011, 7:09am Best Muenster ever! Beautiful weather, great company; it was nice, for a change, to have something left in the tank after the 65K [smiley=cool.gif]. |
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Title: Re: Muenster Rally 4/30 Post by FlyingLaZBoy on May 1st, 2011, 8:07am Here's a good representative shot of the climbs.... http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae256/pbrown8js/102_4268.jpg |
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Title: Re: Muenster Rally 4/30 Post by Ric_Clark on May 1st, 2011, 5:00pm Those were some tough hills yesterday, and I got a darn flat just past the 3rd rest stop. Man I was embarressedted to put my trike in the back of that SAG truck and had to be driven to the registration were I parked. I was hoping I didn't see anyone I knew, but to no avail. One of my friends saw me and had the biggest laugh of his life. I should have rode back with Patti when I saw her heading back, but nooooooooooooo, I had to try to climb all those hills. I will know better next year....... :-[ |
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Title: Re: Muenster Rally 4/30 Post by aikigreg on May 1st, 2011, 5:29pm Alexis and I got there later than I had wanted, but we made it to the church in time to only say hi to Paula nd Dave - sorry we couldn't chat longer, but I was desperate for the bathroom! Saw a couple of neon colored catrikes but didn't get to talk to them. Chatted with Shellene for a bit and rolled my way up to the start, where I saw Bryan M. ready to take out the paceline! Unfortunately after the start he pulled over with a loose front wheel and it was just me representing the bents - so I thought. I made it through the craziness as quickly as I could while still being careful. Of course that puts me way out back of the main paceline. I kept catching broken remnants of them as we rolled at 25+ through those first miles and kept them in sight for a long time. Once they made the turn at the first rest stop I lost them up the next hill. Mark L rolled up and passed me somewhere between mile 13-15 I think. Kept him in sight but he was quickly gone. As usual, there was no one riding my pace so I was hung out in the wind until St. Joe. Quick bathroom stop and I was gone. Bryan caught up to me then and he and I chatted a bit until we hit a long section of uphill and I let him go. My knees didn't want to push hard anymore and the extra weight I'm carrying just doesn't let me keep up at the moment. :(. Passed Ken and John S along the way - how they got ahead of me I'll never know. [smiley=whistling.gif] Had a good time. Great weather even with the wind. Finished in 3hrs and 11 minutes. Not bad. Alexis got back about 35 minutes later, having sagged in at mile 30 with her longest ride to date on the new F5. Considering she had only done trail rides this year, she had done spectacularly well. She only has water on the bike, which I know keeps her form doing longer rides. We're working on that. The food at the fair was nice and we had a great time seeing everyone. Not too many bents on our route, unfortunately. |
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Title: Re: Muenster Rally 4/30 Post by jcsadowski on May 1st, 2011, 8:24pm Quote:
You just gotta try that new energy drink. |
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Title: Re: Muenster Rally 4/30 Post by mleuck on May 1st, 2011, 11:14pm I did pretty good and finished with a 19.8 average which is about 1/2 mph faster than last year. That was my third time and it's always a funny ride in that I always forget just how many hills it had. The last hard one on the north side is one that you know it's there but never sure just where until it magically appears. Wind was about perfect for me, I figured it would be hard on the last south stretch but the wind changed at exactly the right time. I had several groups try to close but couldn't seal the deal on that part :) |
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Title: Re: Muenster Rally 4/30 Post by mleuck on May 1st, 2011, 11:14pm [quote author=Ric_Clark link=1304218562/0#4 date=1304287250]Those were some tough hills yesterday, and I got a darn flat just past the 3rd rest stop. Man I was embarressedted to put my trike in the back of that SAG truck and had to be driven to the registration were I parked. I was hoping I didn't see anyone I knew, but to no avail. One of my friends saw me and had the biggest laugh of his life. I should have rode back with Patti when I saw her heading back, but nooooooooooooo, I had to try to climb all those hills. I will know better next year....... :-[/quote] No spare tubes? |
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Title: Re: Muenster Rally 4/30 Post by Ric_Clark on May 2nd, 2011, 10:36am mleuck wrote:
A cut on the side of my left front tire exposed the tube. Same tire which I had a flat on last week. That, plus my legs were wet noodles by that time, and my shoulder was hurting (had surgery on it in February where they reattached my bicep, had roter cuff torn, etc..). Just glad my doctor does not view this site... Spent yesterday working on the trike. Moved some stuff around and took some stuff out of my bags. Got a new wheel, and some spare tubes today. Ready to go again. I am doing the Mayday Classic in College Station on Saturday.....nice semi-flat course. Really great people, but a small number of riders. Sometimes you can look around and not see another rider in front or behind, just you, the cows, and trees... [smiley=thumbsup.gif] |
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Title: Re: Muenster Rally 4/30 Post by AustinSkater on May 2nd, 2011, 11:10am My love/hate relationship with Muenster continued this year. Last year I wasn't in shape for this ride, went out with the big dogs and paid for it dearly. This year, I was in shape, and was going to run with the big dogs to the end, and that's what I did. I stayed with them to the end of the flat section; ended up with unbelievable speed wobbles on the first downhill. I was able to slow the bike down using the grass and both feet, checked the wheel and other parts, everything seemed ok, so I tightened the wheel and continued. Next downhill, same issue. This time I was prepared and already on the shoulder. Stopped, removed and reset the front wheel and headed for the third downhill, figuring that if it happened again my day was done. No wobbles at all, but for the rest of the ride I was taking it even easier than I normally do on descents. Once I got rolling, I had a chance to pass a large number of people, slowing and talking to those I knew, or if they were on a bent even if I didn't know them. Since I had planned to run hard, I didn't stop at any rest stops and saw Greg just as he left one. Now that I had a rabbit I ramped it up to catch him, rode with him to the first downhill, and then had to play catchup again. I left him on the major climb north of town and solo'd the rest of the way in. After that, met Shellene at the car and off to the festival. Since this is a traditional ride for us, with the nieces/nephews we will be back again next year; who knows what will go wrong for me then :( |
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Title: Re: Muenster Rally 4/30 Post by aikigreg on May 2nd, 2011, 1:04pm Just think of it as working the kinks out.... [smiley=whistling.gif] |
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Title: Re: Muenster Rally 4/30 Post by FlyingLaZBoy on May 2nd, 2011, 11:14pm Here are my 'bent-related pics from Muenster -- no titles, but uploaded... http://s977.photobucket.com/albums/ae256/pbrown8js/MuensterRally2011/ |
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