I did the Wildride today.  www.Wildridebikerally.com   in spite of the early morning rain,  They had an above average attendance.  According to some organizers I talked too, Average attendance is around 1000+ this year was 1400+  
 
I rode the 40 mile route that turn around at the end of the dam.  The weather was great.  The route was good too.  Only a few down/up roller=coaster hills and one killer climbing  hill to the dam. We received some light drizzle early in the afternoon then the clouds cleared and the sun baked on us.   At the end of the ride they served 600 pizzas and ran out!  Recomended for a repeat next year.
 
I was riding my EZ-Tandem dating machine with a lame stoker babe, Since Richardson is  close to where I live, I decided it would be easyer to Opus down to the start line rather then mount/dismount the 60+ lbs of Cro-Mo steel on the Draftmaster and drive.  Plus I planned to do the 40 mile route, so I figured the whole tour would be about 56+miles.  When I got out to the garage I discovered that the rear tire of the tandem was flat!  I fixed it but it put us behind schedule.  Didn’t leave until 7:45AM and the tour started and 8:00AM!  To make up for this I didn’t go to the Rally starting line and caught the stream of riders as they headed north into Plano and turned west on 544.  
 
It was a well managed ride with police controlled intersections. Had a great ride to the 40 mile turn around at the end of the Lake Lavon dam (a rest stop).    I informed the stoker babe “Here is where we turn around”.  She protested at the thought of heading back   I was feeling good so I unwisely compromised and said OK lets go on the 64 mile route to the 51 mile bailout.   A few miles into the 64 mile route turn off we received our first escort.  A ride marshal was doing the last patrol for stranded bicyclists.  We where the back of the tour!  Gregs favorite riding spot.  
 
The area east of Lake Lavon where the 64 mile route looped is Bubba Paradise.   Its filled with  1 to 5 acer lots with double wide’s.   Typically owned by respectable hardworking tradesmen (plumbers, contractors etc).  We past a group of them standing out front near the road, looking like a scene from the sitcom “King of the Hill”.   I waved and told them that we where the end of the parade.  
 
We continued on and took the turn out for the 51 mile bailout.  We lost our escort as he continued patrolling on the 64 mile route.  Continuing back to the Wild Flower Festival (the start of the ride)  My stoker babe began to update me on her status “Im tired My legs hurt”.  We slowed to a crawl.  The 64 mile stragglers all past us by and the ride marshal returned as our escort.  
 
It was after 12:00 noon and the ride was officially over at 2:00PM.  I pushed forward as best I could and skipped the last rest stop.  I felt it was very lame not to finish the ride by 2:00PM.   Imagine every intersection we went though was a signal to ride volenteers and cops that Hey! here is the last rider you can home.  Stoker babe didn’t care she was having fun!  When we reached the home stretch on Campbell Rd it was getting close to 2:00PM !  We picked up a second escort.  A police cruiser!   A rider was hit on Campbell, so I wondered if the police was getting extra protective.    VIP service for sure.  The policman pulled ahead and turned on the bubble-lights to stop traffic for us.  
 
FINALLY we reached the Wildflower festival.  No Pizza was left for slow-pokes.  So we went into the Wildflower Festival didn’t stay too long.  Ate some BBQ watched some acrobats, listened to some folk music.  Sun was baking so I soaked in the Dancing Water Fountain and headed back to Plano.  
 
Final Opus Tour stats where:  Average speed was 11.1MPH  for 67 miles.    Almost exactly 6 hours on-bike.  Leaving an unblieable 3 hours of lollygagging at rest stopps  (another favorite Greg activity).  I think that this was my all time biggest 1 day workout ever.  Who needs 600K Brevets when you can have a Ez-Tandem CroMo hog and a lame stoker?  
 
Terry

Here's my ride report, reposted from my blog because a) I'm the copyright owner and can, b) because I'm too lazy to say the same thing in a different way, and c) there is no 'c'.  
 
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The Richardson Wild Ride benefits the Richardson Regional Cancer Center and is held in conjunction with the Wildflower Arts and Music Festival each May. I rode in the rally two years ago, before I made the switch from my Trek 1500 road bike to the recumbent. That year, the weather was sunny and surprised a lot of us with a high temperature in the upper 90s. I went out fast with the long riders, bonked hard before the second rest stop, and barely managed to limp back to the finish for 40 miles. Still, what I'd seen of the event impressed me, and I was eager to see how things looked from the seat of my recumbent this year.
 
When we rolled out of bed at 5:20 on ride day, I heard rain pounding on the roof. I groaned inwardly, because my wife has a history of having to skip rides because of bad weather, and she was really looking forward to this one. But a quick check of the weather radar revealed that the rain was much lighter elsewhere and would likely pass through before the start of the ride. We continued our preparations, and by 6:30 the rain had stopped. At 8:00, when the ride started, the streets were still damp and puddly in spots, but we weren't getting rained on. And it was cool. Oh bliss!
 
"Squirrel Bait"—one of my MS 150 teammates—was there too, and we planned to start at the rear of the pack with my wife so that we could ride out with her. She was headed out to do the 16-mile route on her handcycle;  SB and I would ride together as far as the second rest stop, which was the turnaround for the 40-mile route. I'd decide at that point whether to return with her or continue on the 64-mile route.
 
Starting at the back, we knew that we'd have to fight our way up through the slower riders, but by 15 miles the pack had thinned out a bit. When we go to rest stop 2, SG stuck to her plan and continued on the 40-mile route. I was feeling strong and headed into the hills to the east of Lake Lavon to bag my 5th metric century for the year.
 
At rest stop 3, I pulled in for a snack and a potty break, and I was pleased to see Mr. & Mrs Stevewagon, a couple friends I'd met on a previous ride were standing next to their brand new, fire engine red Bacchetta Stradas. We rode on together, forming our own little pace line and having a ball.
 
It was quite relaxing to ride with a couple people whose rhythms allowed us to ride together without anyone having to wait for anyone else, and we got some strange looks from our fellow riders along the way, including a priceless moment during a climb when we passed a line of wedgies. On the way down the hill following the climb, Mrs. Stevewagon rolled up next to me.
 
"Did you hear that?" she asked. I hadn't, so she explained. "I didn't get all of it, but one of the women in that group we just passed said something about us passing them, and one of the guys told her, 'Don't worry. They won't be able to keep it up for long.'"
 
They were right, of course. Once we got out of the rolling hills, we did ease the pace to 17 mph or so, but we never did see that group again. I guess they couldn't keep up our pace for long either.
 
When we arrived at the finish, we thought it would be neat to line up across the road, side by side, so the event photographer would get a shot of the three of us together. At least, until we discovered that there was no even photographer at the finish line this year. Ah well. We just consoled ourselves by sitting under a tree while noshing on cold cheese pizza.
 
And the sun came out. It was a very good day and among the most fun of the rallies I've ridden during the past few years.
 
In terms of the ride organization itself, it's the about the best I've ever seen, from registration and packet pick up, to parking direction, to staging at the start. The rest stops are not as extravagant as some, but when you get to the finish, it's pizza and beverages galore. Traffic control on this ride is outstanding from beginning to end, with peace officers controlling most intersections and volunteer flagmen on some of the busier streets to make sure riders make needed lane changes in time. The only possible down side is that riders can become complacent and ride right through un-controlled intersections, assuming that they have right-of-way—but that's absolutely not the fault of the organizers. Another knock peculiar to my wife's situation is that they hadn't provided a single handicap-accessible porta-john. She was pretty hot about that, but the ride director made it right, comping her ride fees for both this year and next year's ride, as well as giving his heartfelt promise that the oversight would not be repeated next year.
 
Thus making the Richardson Wild Ride one of the premier rallies in North Texas.

Easier than that, just click the "WWW" button on this posting.