There were about 30 riders total for this morning's LSR 100K Populaire ride, of which about 9 were 'bents (Steve, Peggy, Ray, Angie, Terry, KenW, Greg, Bud, and me -- did I forget anyone?)  
 
[On an early side note: Before the ride departed, Pam had a small ceremony to present Dan Driscoll with the "American Randonneur" award from RUSA -- pretty doggoned cool... ]  
 
It was a chilly start, but the sun was out, with minimal wind.  As expected, the ride broke up into several groups, with a bunch of regular riders speeding off, including Greg, Steve, and Bud.  I hung back with the rest of the 'bent group, at a more casual (~15) pace, which actually included Dan D and a couple others riding semi-sweep.  Got some fun photos as we wound our way through Richardson into Garland and beyond, out to and up Dump Hill (Ray gave the group about 200 extra "bonus yards", missing an admittedly unmarked turn to Dump Hill) , around to 66 and across the bridge to Rockwall to the first stop.  Terry P was struggling a bit, but pedaling gamely on his Rocket, keeping those 20" wheels moving.
 
During this stretch, I had good conversations with Ray and Angie about their XStream and V3, which they both are REALLY enjoying...
 
We then headed out northeast of Rockwall, into somewhat hillier territory, and the group started to break up.  Also, my camera batteries died, so no pics from that point on...    Peggy and I went off the front, and a few miles before the 2nd control / turnaround, encountered Steve and Greg coming back the other direction -- talked briefly, and continued on, expecting to see Bud soon...  but we got to the turnaround control 4 miles later, and...  NO BUD...
 
We checked the cue sheet and maps, and determined that Steve and Greg had missed an important turn, and were OFF THE COURSE when we had seen them, and Bud had made the correct turn, which is why we didn't see him...!!!  So Peggy called Steve's phone...  he answered, and she simply said, "BONUS MILES!!!!"   I believe Steve replied with an epithet or two...  
 
The control store was CLOSED and out of business...  So Peggy and I headed out with Dan and his pal Mike, making our way back through Lavon, Wylie, etc...  A 2 mile stretch of Hwy 78 was WAY too busy for comfort, and there were a couple of mismarked cue sheet roads (no name on sign) to interpret, along the way.  Fortunately, I pretty much knew where I was and where we needed to go, so I was Official Navigator for our foursome, correcting Dan D when he made a couple wrong turns.  
 
We four made it back to RBM at about 2PM, and there we found Bud, who got in about 15 minutes ahead of us.  Steve and Greg were still behind somewhere, working off their probable 15 bonus miles...  We went over to Q'doba to eat while we waited for various people to get back.  
 
Personally, I enjoyed the ride, partially because I was already familiar with 80% of the route just through other rides in that area.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day....  And Peggy's always fun to ride with!!!  We had a couple "mock" city limit sign sprints along the way....       By the time I left Q'doba, everybody was in except for Terry P -- Greg called him, and he was still a few miles off, and apparently OFF THE COURSE, despite having a GPS...  or maybe he just told Greg the wrong street name...  
 
 
Additonal note:  IMHO, this route is not well designed for newbie distance riders, with a severe lack of open controls for food and water...  granted, you can stop in wherever you WANT, but a new person isn't necessarily going to realize that....  and the cue sheet had some identification issues.  Plus, there was no "official" control all the way back to RBM, a distance of over 30 miles, AFTER a closed control point.  Dan and Mike both ran out of water with about 5 miles to go.  There was also fairly heavy traffic to deal with, both on 78 in Wylie, and in Garland after that.   However, overall road quality was decent, with a minimum of bad chipseal.
 
Good to see everybody!!!  I'll put some photos up later.
 
 
 

Paul, it was really good to see you again. It's been too long. Secondly, thanks to Greg for riding with me & listen to me complain about the route. I had run out of water at about mile 47(since the control in Nevada was closed ,riders had few areas to replenish water/food)& was quickly cratering.  
 
Greg & I were smoking from the 2nd control in Rockwall to Nevada. Then I missed the turn on Watkins Rd(CR 541), so we ended up with 11+ miles(into the wind & chip/seal). Then I was turning the pedals until we stopped at an unscheduled Shell station on Pleasant Valley Rd. Water re-fill,snickers,& Coke & I was fully recovered & good to go.
 
I understand why we had a Populaire at a popular starting point(I get that),but the to travel on major roads with HEAVY traffic(Arapaho , Route 66 , Hwy 78 ,etc...) on Sunday morning/afternoon was insane. It put riders in jeopardy. I would not recommend this route to any rider(experienced or not).  
 
Just my opinion. Others may have totally different views. Sorry I couldn't be more positive about the ride.
 
 I ended up with 78.26 miles for the day. 165.0 miles for the weekend.
 

Like Paul said, it was a nice turnout on a beautiful day. The wind did pick up some as the ride went (big surprise, huh). Early in the ride, the lead group was riding a pretty moderate pace, so I joined them, along with Steve and Greg. The closer we got to the first control at mile 22, the faster the pace got. I was dropped on a couple of hills, but managed to catch the group.
 
But on the Hwy 66 bridge, just before the control, I was huffing and puffing along at 24 mph, and still being dropped. I wasn't quite ready to leave the control as the group started to leave, and realizing I wasn't going to be able to hold their pace as the ride became more hilly anyway, I just took my time leaving the control, and rode alone, at my own pace, for the rest of the ride.
 
I thought the three biggest problems with this route were traffic, traffic, and traffic. That kind of traffic is even worse for a single rider, than it would be for a group. With 20/20 hindsight, I guess I should have fallen back to the group behind me.
 
I ended up with 66.6 miles total (does that sound like the devil's ride or what?), with an on the bike average of 15.1 mph. I finished the ride in 5 hours and 2 minutes. Steve and Greg had gotten quite a distance in front of me, and I was very surprised to not see them or their bikes when I reached the finish, and had no idea what might have happened to them until Paul showed up and told me. Gotta love those BONUS MILES!

The only positives were seeing all our friends, seeing a great bent turn out, and my biggest positive was riding with Angie and Amanda on their longest ride (~67 miles).  Angie rode real consistent and strong all day.  Amanda starting having arm, neck and butt pain on her upright at about mile 35.  Angie and I would ride ahead a half mile or so, then wait up for Amanda.  
 
I'm very proud of how well Angie has been riding this year.  And her only time to ride is on the weekend.  She simply doesn't have time to work out during the week.  I wonder what she could do if she worked out 3-5 days a week.   WOW...
 
Back to the ride report.  This is definately not the ride for attracting prospective Raneonneurs.  Way too much traffic and turns.  I will not ride this one again.

Here's the funniest photo of the day....  and somewhat of a forecast....
 

 

Bud ,shouldn't the T-shirt read " Butt-hole Fartacus" ?  

One of my coworkers saw us going across Arapaho yesterday morning, passing under 75 eastbound...

I for one had a great time on the ride.  After having been off the bike for 3 weeks   it was nice to be able to ride at all, and even better to have had the chance to blow the dust off a little, even if I was hacking stuff up every so often.  And getting to stop and chat for a while afterwards is always the icing on the cake.
 
 I was even happy with the bonus miles.  I KNEW Steve and I were only a tiny distance away from rejoining the route, and that going back would mean a double slice of into the wind, but I was happy just being able to ride with Steve and have fun.   What's 15 extra miles between friends?    Steve is always great company!
 
I've done routes that crossed those same stretches of roads near RBM, so I expected them, but there was one that really needs a light.  And 78 (or whatever it was) just had no business having bikes on it even for a 1/4 mile, much less 3 miles of white knuckle riding, a tight bridge squeeze, and a LEFT TURN ACROSS 80MPH TRAFFIC.  Might as well ride on I-35.  Horrible route for a populaire.
 
I'm probably to blame for the breakaway pace.  Some thingy-weed started making comments about bents when Steve and I moved up towards the front of the pack.  "Why can't they sit up like everyone else?"  "Hey, did you bring a six-pack or the whole keg?"    Of course my reply was "does that WHOLE seat wedge itself into your arse, or just some of it?"  
 
That's why I was hauling butt up dump hill, and Steve and I left that mofo in the dust.  Then when we got separated at the light before the control, I blew past them all to catch up with the lead group and the chase was on.  I was way ahead and slowed up a bit, and was nearly caught.  Turned it on again to keep them from drafting me, and slid in behind the leader of the lead group.  Stayed on their tail till the control.    
 
Ah well, c'est la vie.  Had a great time riding with ya, Steve, and lunching with Emperor Fartacus and the Crew.

Quote from aikigreg on Feb 3^rd, 2009, 9:10am:

 
 
Greg ,yeah the 1st 36 miles were fun. It was cool to see us hangin' with the lead 5/6 riders. Then, the missed turn & I got down mentally.   . Thanks for picking me up & I enjoyed(even though you wouldn't have known it)your company.  I needed the conversation. Sorry I wasn't in better spirits. Not one of my better efforts.  
 
It's funny, on a relatively short rides(like this "pop"),you expect to be done in a short time. When you don't finish as quickly as you had hoped, mentally it takes a toll. Funny, on longer rides, you just resign yourself to the fact that you're on the bike until you finish.  
 
The Fartacus shirt was epic. "Good Job" Greg.  
 
...And Rose , we DO have to be around Fartacus on our Rando rides.