7 of us, all on recumbents, rolled out of Rockwall at 7:30 am yesterday morning to do the Ferris Wheel 200k permanent. There was Steve, Peggy, Greg, Ray, Nelson, Bryan, and me. Greg only lasted 4 miles or so when boom issues on his new bike cut his ride short. Toward the end of the ride, it started looking iffy whether or not Nelson would be able to finish, after rear wheel hub damage showed up, but he did finish.
 
This route goes southwest out of Rockwell, goes through Forney, then crosses the Trinity River near Combine, and on to Ferris. Then it turns southeast, getting hilly for a bit, then turns northeast on SH34. It angles more north from Scurry, going through Crandall and Terrell, before heading back to Rockwall. There are some rough spots, and some stretches of chipseal, but the roads on this route are pretty good, overall. The traffic, though, is just about a deal breaker for me, with lots of high speed roads with no shoulders.
 
It was pretty chilly early in the morning, with lows in the lower 40's, but warmed up into a beautiful day. The north wind never blew really hard, although it seemed to change around enough to be in our faces on three fourths of the ride.
 
No matter what speed you like to ride, we rode it at one point or another on this ride. Nelson sprinted often and far, scattering us out, then we'd regroup. I stayed with Nelson a couple of times when he took off, but more often watched him disappear ahead. I can ride fast or I can ride far, but riding far and fast isn't working too well for me.
 
All of us managed to get bonus miles. We missed a turn early for a half mile of bonus distance. Then, leaving Crandall, Steve set a brisk pace and Bryan fell back a bit. Nelson stayed back with him while the rest of us went on ahead. We missed a turn onto FM148 at mile 85 and were rewarded with 2 1/2 more bonus miles. Nelson and Bryan made this turn, so were ahead of us. But they missed a turn in Terrell at mile 95, and we were very surprised when they weren't already at the control in Poetry when we reached it.
 
In spite of some harrowing traffic at times, it was more great riding fun with friends. It was 5:34 pm when we reached the start/finish, and was almost dark. I need to remember to take my light for all these late fall/winter rides, even when I think I won't need it. We had less than 8 hours of riding time, but over two hours in controls (CHOP! CHOP!) made us finish later than I expected. My total miles were 129.1. I was a lot more tired than I should have been after a 10 hour 200k. Either the route is tougher than I thought, or the occasional sprinting turned me into a tired camper.
 
We finished up by joining Paul and Terrie for a good meal at Luigi's Italian Cafe. Thanks, everyone, I had a great time!

Yes ,I t was great to see Old friends(Nelson) & ride with the usual suspects ,again. FYI- I have submitted all the perm.cards/waiver info to George Evans.  
 
I would echo would Bud stated, I would scratch this route off of my "to do" list(another route bites the dust). Not one of my favorite routes for the reasons mentioned. I was disappointed for Greg. Sorry Greg. When Nelson mentioned that he was having mechanical issues at control #5(approx.miles #103),I was getting nervous for him. He said he would have to "limp" back to the finish. Limp my butt ,he blew past me as was sprinting for 6 miles.  AND Nelson gave up a training session at the Velo track in Frisco to ride with us.  
 
Not one of my stronger rides(right knee pain) ,but I finished ,so I can't be all that disappointed. Bud & I had our usual fun. Ray,rode super strong after making a seat adjustment at Control #3(miles 68). Congrats to Ray for riding after being sick all week. Peggy was strong all day. Bryan from Waco continues to impress with me with relatively few miles on his Corsa. He get going all day. Bud had a very strong ride all day. He was either hammering with Nelson or me(when I had something to hammer with).  
 
We made it through another 200K,SUCCESSFULLY! I have to admit ,I underestimated this route. I thought it would be easier than it was(shame on me). With bonus miles,I ended up with 131.01 miles.

I actually didn't think it was TOO bad, though there were a couple spots I was nervous riding through for sure.  I still want to get back out there once more on the carbent for some sweet revenge.  
 
I have no idea why I had trhe problem I did, except that I must have overtightened the boom bolt, and then cracked it witht that magnificent artie johnson right outta the box.  Because the boom had slid inward and the chainring bolts were rubbing the clamp.  I stopped to see what was up, pulled the boom out and when I tried to tighen it, the bolt exploded all over the road.   .  I'm not exactly the luckiest guy with bikes.  Obviously that title goes to Nelson!    Glad you made it through ok, man.
 
Today was fun once we made the turn.  I was sucking wind until the 70 mile control.  Paul and Bob would leave me and I just couldn't muster the energy to combat the chipseal, hills, and wind to catch up,  After that I was fine and we were able to really kick it into gear to make up for lost time.
 
It was SO MUCH COLDER than yesterday and the wind was howling.  But I managed to turn in my best 200k time yet.   I'll take it.  Sorry i didn't get to finish with you guys yesterday.  Nelson and Steve - thanks for turning back to check on me - I really appreciate it.  Thankfully a guy who turned in to put up signs was co-opted into taking me back to the car.  

You guys also rode on Saturday, which probably made the traffic ten times worse, too.

Some pics and a video from yesterday:
 
Ferris control
 

 
 
 
For some reason, this caught my eye....
 

 
 
Anyone else see the Virgin Mary?  
 

 
 
Rival biker gang, on Hwy 34 (notice the lack of shoulder?)
 

 
 
Wide load passing...
 

 
 
Unique way to build a barn...
 

 
 
About 9 miles to go
 

 
 
 
Fun with birds....
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Quote from FlyingLaZBoy on Nov 9^th, 2008, 9:00pm:

 
Sounds like Bob did a outstanding job keeping pace with Yall.   At the end of TTTT he said he had fun.