Killer Bee
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Peggy & I rode 101.5 miles in Celina(northern Collin/Grayson county area). For those of you that rode with us last July on our rbent ride in Celina ,I don't need to remind you how NASTY the chip seal is heading north on Preston road & return to Celina. It has been awhile since Peggy & I have ridden this route(the 100 mile route consists of 2 loops a 55 mile loop ,then a 46 mile loop). We got a refresher real quick about the cheap seal! Typical for Peggy & I ,we hammered way to hard the 1st leg(35 miles-we had a 19.3 mph avg. as we pulled into the 1st convenience store for a brief rest). We headed south on 377 into the teeth of the howling wind. For whatever reason(maybe it's because there are very little wind breaks in this rural area) ,but the wind is 10x's worse here than our home in Frisco. We fought the wind for 13 miles then headed east to Celina. There are a series of nasty hills(short ,steep ,with that chip seal & heading into the wind...AGAIN). WE pulled into Old Town Celina Park with at mile 55 with a 17.2 avg. Time for a quick rest stop(bathroom break & food). Time for the 2nd smaller loop(46 mile route)-AGAIN on the chip seal on Preston-UGH! West to Tioga(birthplace of Gene Autry-the sining Cowboy) . Now the fun starts. At mile 72 ,the temperature starts to get "toasty". Peggy(who many of you know ,doesn't do well in the heat), says "she feels like she's riding in quick sand"-code for I'm in trouble with the heat. We pull into our rest stop in Tioga. 10-15 minute stop in a Citigo convenience store. Peggy pukes in the bathroom(which she didn't tell me until later). South on 377 -into the wind AGAIN! There seems to a theme here-wind ,chip seal. We head toward Celina gain(form 377) ,taking a different route(directly into the wind this time-GREAT...whose idea was this anyway?) Half way down FM 1385 Peggy pulls over & says she is seeing "spots". This is just perfect ,we're 11 mile from Celina ,10 miles from Pilot Point in the middle of no-where & she's going into heat stoke on me! HELP! Off the bike because she's seeing "spots" & has the "shakes". After a few minutes ,she pours herself back onto the bike ,we head back to Celina. At mile 92 ,I gulp my last sip of fluid from my camelbak. No problem ,I have 2-24 oz water bottles. Not much good when they're EMPTY! I had asked Peggy at our last stop(mile 78) if she thought we needed more Gatorade & she says "no". Lesson learned ,don't ask a person suffering from heat stroke about possible life/death decisions. Now the sun is really cooking us. I have nothing to drink. Suck it up ,there's only 9 miles to go...more nasty chip seal & hills. So what do we do ,we sprint-22-23 mph about 2 miles from the finish & then the final 1/2 mile. The finish-101.56 miles-avg speed-16.5 mph.I burned 4,392 calories. Bike time 5hrs-51 minutes.We both slither off the 'bents & seek shade & water. Sore & beaten down...we finished. I'm not a whiner about road conditions ,this ride kicked our butts. I'm a little sore today & I've ridden 200K brevets with more climbing ,longer distances ,& not been as beaten down as I was yesterday. This a great ride for scenery & riding through little towns ,on mostly rural roads with little vehicle traffic(Preston rd north of Celina has little traffic with a nice wide shoulder. The part of the ride I'm not crazy about is 377-but even it has a nice wide shoulder to ride on). There is some climbing(heading north on Preston ,south on 377 ,& sets of nasty hills coming into Celina on FM 455). I would guess about 3,000+ feet of climbing for the 100+ miles. Regardless of all the mistakes ,we finished(survived may be a better word). What some of us do for fun?!
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