Kwijybow
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Well I'm glad to have gotten that out my system, no need to ride a very windy brevet on the fixed gear again. Slower on both the outbound and inbound legs due to gearing and aerodynamics. I expect I barely managed 10mph for the second half! As the longest ride on a DF in a long time the butt and shoulders were complaining as well. Starting out with the 30mph tailwind I was spun out and dropped before the turn of Lake Ridge so it was a pretty lonely day as well. I stopped and took some pictures along the way to pass the time. I did pass Bruce Richards and before they broke off I passed, was caught by and passed the George Evans, Geo, and Jeff Elmer 300K trio. Also due to some navigation error Jerry Austin Surprised me by arriving at Maypearl as I was preparing to leave, and finishing up the world's worst cheese personal pan pizza. The climbs out of Itasca and on Old Buena Vista road were tough, but the worst has to have been the shallow inclines up the service road on 67 directly into the headwind. It was a long 4 miles at 7-8mph. Surprisingly I caught Jerry near the turnaround stopped to put on reflective gear. We had leapfrogged twice again on the last section, as he caught me after Maypearl but stopped for a phone call, and then I stopped at the Walgreen's for a quick break and he kept going. Being able to coast he took off down Lake Ridge Pkwy, and his blinky was out of site by time I got down to the last bridge. Boy was I glad to be done. Mark looked like be really did Blaze away, I only saw him at the start, I think he finished hours ahead of me! Total Time 11:20, bike time 9:51 for 12.7 avg over 125.34 miles. I managed to spin my 72" gear up to 27.5mph (128rpm) down the hill into Blum from the River Stop control. Fresher legs after the stop, I had trouble on the downwind sections much past 24-25mph, if I had the Corsa I'm sure I would have been well up in the 30's with the tailwind. I'm sure I'll remember it fondly someday, but right now I'm still feeling it! missed everyone, hope to see ya next month for a perm. Take Care, Nelson.
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