This ride came up last minute ,so Peggy & I joined Nelson(Val & Robin Phelps-LSR regulars)& their friends from Colorado on a tandem. The ride leaves from Plano(Independence & McDermott)7-11.  For the first ever ,Peggy & I rode to the start(granted it was only 4.60 miles), but we have to cross SR 121 in Frisco.
 
The ride started promptly at 8:00am(chop-chop)heads east into Allen,Fairview & then Princeton on some really nice roads. At the first control(in Princeton) we noticed the wind was stating to increase(no bad in comparison to other rides this winter). I pulled into the first control with a 17.0 mph avg & maintained that average for almost the entire ride. Out from Princeton to Blue Ridge(a short jaunt with a nice tailwind & good roads.  
 
Shortly thereafter, Peggy runs over a dogs tail (while on FM 546)& then the couple form Colorado run over & kill a squirrel(death by tandem)on FM 1377.
 
Val & I sprinted off for approx. 4/5 miles easily hitting speeds between 24-31 mph. Time to regroup. We ride into our control in Blue Ridge long enough to get refreshments & head back out the way we came.
 
By this time,the wind had really picked up out of the south(headwind,of course). Again ,compared to other rides this winter ,the wind was pretty tamed(but noticeable). Nelson & I are chatting ,only to see a dog on the side of the road charging us,all of a sudden an on-coming truck's bumper grazes the dog(down he goes...temporarily) & comes back after Nelson.  He circles Nelsona few times & we leave him behind. Onto Princeton(short jaunt).
 
This was NOT a "chop-chop" stop. But we had fun clowning around & telling stories.OK, now the final 23.85 miles to Plano,via Fairfield & ,Allen. Allen had some traffic( it was approx. 1:00pm on Sat)., but Angel/Exchange Parkways are 4 lane roads ,so it wasn't that bad(did I just say that? Nelson is a bad influence on me).
 
We had to regroup on Exchange Pkwy as part of our group got stuck by a fire station traffic light(emergency runs). ,the rest of waited & rode back to the 7-11. Total bike time was 4hrs,55min.06 secs. ,with total ride time of 5hrs 25 mins.I ended up with a 16.8 mph avg.Total mileage-72.84 miles.(for the route).
 
Then Peggy & I rode back to our house(using a different route based on the time of day & vehicle traffic). Total mileage ridden for the day was 83.95 miles.
 
For those that have NOT ridden this route(and even those that have),it is a MUST. Great roads ,not a lot of turns,good scenery. Easily in the top 5 of my LSR routes. Thanks to Nelson,Val & Robin.
 
It was a beautiful day & we had FUN!  
 

Today was a great day, cool in the morning(so I needed leg warmers tights shoe covers , toe warmers short sleeve jersey with arm warmers then long sleeve jersey, with a wind shell jacket),by the first control I was striping off layers. Ended the day in shorts and short sleeve jersey, You got to love Texas.  
 
About the dog, I tried to miss him ,but he darted right in front of me. I felt a bump then I heard the dog yipe as it ran across the road. I think he was "OK".
 
...and Nelson you rode very strong today as always.  
 
I don't do this often enough ,I was so very proud of Steve's riding today. I know that 16.8 is not setting any land speed record, but that's not the whole picture. He could and did ride out front most of the day and he could ride at any speed. Steve  I,m so proud of you.    
 
 It was fun riding with Val and Robin and their friends.  
 
I had fallen off the pace a little at one point so Val rode back to pick me up, I was swept up at 20MPH . Val was helping me work on drifting, I still think its cheating. I would rather be able to hold those kind of speeds for long periods on my own.  
 
This is a great route. Thanks Nelson & the Phelps'.