Amen! Peggy & I and about 30+ other LSR riders(including rbents own Mr. & Mrs. EV Blazer)decided to ring in the new year with a 200K ride. The ride started PROMPTLY at 7:00am ,& travels from Arlington to Duncanville ,Maypearl, Italy, before turning back north to Waxahachie ,Duncanville & back to Arlington.
 
It was a little brisk this morning-37 degrees(that's cold to me), & almost immediately our friend the WIND(who accompanies us on all of our rides) decides to start to BLOW(no,HOWL)!  
 
As we headed out toward Duncanville ,there's a hill at mile 18+(on mountain Creek Parkway) that just kicks butt. I've ridden my Corsa SS approx. 6/7 times & today was the FIRST time a noticed a HUGE difference between this bike & my Strada. I'm not sure what the % grade this hill is(I'm guessing 15-18%),but it's a long winding climb. The Corsa blew up the hill. It was the bike ,not the rider. Peggy & I settled & rode with Ranni Freeman, Brad(not sure of his last name) & a guy from Midland,Tx.  
 
Right after this killer hill is a control(Valero), I can tell this going to be "chop-chop" stops. Barely enough time to use the facilities ,get our brevet card signed & drink & it's time to go. By this time ,we're riding into a very Stiff S to S/E wind. The next control(stop) is 43 miles-YIKES. I almost made the control without stopping ,but 4 miles(I answered nature's call thinking I could save time by not waiting in line at the next stop(Italy).
 
AS Peggy & I pulled into the Tiger Mart in Italy, Gary Gottleib(LSR & FWBA member) was there to greet everyone & take pictures. Gary recently suffered a broken collar bone during a crash on a FWBA ride. He's the life of the pack & it was good to see him greet us. We pulled into Italy wind battered(Greg & Bud sound familiar) just before 12:00. Another "chop-chop" stop.  
 
By this time Sharon Stevens(LSR) member & her tandem riding partner Daniel pulled in behind us. We left together we a nice tailwind (off to Waxahachie) & regular speeds of 25-30 mph.  Along I-35W service roads are some really nice rollers & with a nice tailwind,we took advantage of them.
 
I took us only <55 minutes to travel the 18.3 miles. We arrived in Waxahachie & Gary G. was there again to greet us. The 4/5 of us are still together at this point. Another "chop-chop" stop & onto to Duncanville. We rolled into Duncancille  around 2:35. Short stop(it's a theme).  
 
We're really making great time after the 60+ miles into the headwind this morning...until we start coming into the outskirts of Arlington on Camp Wisdom(oxy moron)& Sublett roads(Bud knows these roads & I can only image what he might be saying right about now)...YUK! Traffic(and I HATE riding on busy roads) & stop lights. You spend more time clipping in\out more & stopped at traffic lights than anything else during the section of(especially on Sublett). Up until this point ,we were on pace for 8 hr,30 minute 200k(not bad considering the early morning HOWLING winds). As a side note,the 200k permanent "This ain't no club ride" ,does NOT use Sublett because of past complaints about traffic. Apparently there is a trail that the permanent route uses instead. I guess the New Years riders are "special" & get the priveledge of stop lights & traffic.
 
So we finished with a ride time of 8 hours 55 minutes(avg speed of 16.0 mph). I have to say this was Peggy's first foray on my Strada & she rode the wheels off the bike. On a return section along hwy 67 service road(Midlothian area) Peggy was easily cruising at 30+mph for several miles with a large grim on her face.  
 
It was great day. The ride back from Italy was WARM! Not sure what the temperature was ,but I was riding in just my bacchetta jersey & long riding pants(left over from this mornings cool temps).
 
We enjoyed great food,drink & stories at Dan Driscoll's home after the ride. I was a great day. Bud ,Ray ,Nelson ,Greg ,& Paul were all missed.  
 
 
 
 
 

Glad you had a good ride. Yes, back when we decided to do the Magical Mystery Tour route, this is other route that was being ridden that weekend, that I rejected because of the Sublett and Bowen traffic. I hadn't thought about it, but the Fish Creek Trail would be a good alternative to Sublett, although the last I knew, it only went as far as Matlock.
 
I thought about y'all when I looked out my back door and saw all the wind. It seems to be a common theme in the winter and spring here. I had thought about meeting you somewhere on the ride, but decided I should just hunker down at home, instead. I don't need to be around anyone until I get over this crud. I hope to join you on a ride soon.

This is a call out to Christine and Mark.  Please let us know how you did.  I called Steve around 6pm to check on everyone and he/Peggy were worried about you too.
 
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE...

WOW! We were worried about you. Glad you & Christine made it back safely. As you know by now,these LSR "rando" rides really test your mental toughness.  
 
Ask Dan to see if can still receive credit for the ride yesterday. You rode the route & put forth the effort ,all he do is say no.
 

And a new randonneuse is born.  Very nice job, y'all!
 
I had plans to attend this one, but had the entire 14 person family guilt me into staying at the new year's celebration.  Was still planning on it until I had some sleeplessness and couldn't get to sleep until 3.

I'm so glad you both got back in safe and sound. It's so great to have your partner out there on this long rides with you. To have started the year out with your personal best, the year is off to a great start. Looking forward to see you out on more rides this year.
 
                                            Congregations on your first 200k
                                                                Peggy

Christine, I'm very proud of you. And it's great to see the positivity in your ride report.  You nailed the key learning experience.  A 200k is much harder than a 100 miler, even tough it's only approx. 25 miles more.  Since Randonneuring is "self supportive", thus there are no rest stops or support, this sport reallyl becomes mental.  From years of Randonneuring experience, I can attest that many of my rides ended up being much more mental than physical.
 
Great job in your first Rando. ride, especially considering you've not had time to train for long distance, you'd been sick, you just made a major change to your bike set-up, etc...
 
Mark - great job supporting Christine.  Are we going to see you both on a Challenge Tandem soon?
 
WHAT A GREAT WAY TO START A NEW YEAR.  CONTRATULATIONS TO CHRISTINE AND MARK.