It was a good turnout for this permanent. A group of 25 or so rolled out of Lynn Creek Marina this morning at 7:00 am. This route first runs south from Joe Pool Lake to Venus. I was surprised at how bad these roads have become.  I rode these roads quite a bit last year, and they did not have as many gravel spots, and holes as they do now.
 
From Venus, the route turns west, going through Rio Vista, then turning south through Blum, and taking a more southerly route back through Maypearl and Midlothian. I ended up with a group of five strong riders, which included Val and Robin, Shellene, Clay, and Sharon. As expected, it was hot and humid, with a pretty stiff southwest wind that we fought until we made the turn at Blum.
 
I felt great most of the way, but the pace of this group took its toll, and I seemed to hit the wall between Maypearl and Midlothian, at about mile 105. About this same time, Sharon, seeing that she was going to have her best 200k time, by quite a bit, picked up the pace. This strung out the group a bit, and I could no longer match the pace, and was dropped. I kept the group in sight most of the time, and on one downhill just south of Midlothian, actually made brief contact with the group again. But, I could not stay with the group, and by the time the group turned from the Hwy 67 service road onto Lake Ridge Parkway, I was a good half mile behind.
 
I just typed the magic phrase: "Lake Ridge Parkway". Going down these big hills, I blasted past the entire group. The gas tank was pretty much still empty, so predictably, the group caught me on the flat part of Lake Ridge. Val proceded to lecture me on how uncool it was to drop the group. I was like "HUH???" I never did manage to understand why it was ok for a rider to pick up the pace at mile 105 and drop me, but not ok for me to pass the group at mile 120, knowing they would catch me shortly afterward, so I wasn't a happy camper at the end.
 
I ended up with 125.6 miles and 3600 feet of climbing. My on the bike average was 17.0 mph. Official ride time was 8:06.

Hey Nelson,
 
I was leaning towards riding my Seven v.s. my Aero for this Saturday's 200k.  Primarily because all my lights are still mounted on the Seven from the recent night time Brevet, and I have the Aero set up 'race ready'.  
 
Dennis Cook called me this morning and asked what bikes we were going to ride.  I'm pretty sure it would have scared him away if I said we both were riding our bents, so I told him that he would see me on the DF. He also asked if I would pick him up Saturday morning.  Of course that means about an hour added driving, as I have to backtrack from Flower Mound to NRH, but Dennis is well worth it !!!
 
If anyone else wants to ride the 200k Prairie Hill Roundup leaving from Italy at 7am this Saturday, please call me so I can print sufficient cards and cue sheets.
 
Ray Torrey
817-975-8638