Killer Bee
|
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.
|