Steve, Peggy, Ray, Nelson, and I rode Nelson's Cheeburger! Cheeburger! 200k permanent today. This route leaves out of Van Alstyne and heads straight west to Forestburg, then makes the return trip. It crosses the upper reaches of Lake Ray Roberts in four places, gving some great scenery there, as well as offering some great views of the rolling hills around Forestburg. We started the ride at 7:30 am.
 
I threw way more clothes than I thought I'd ever need in the truck before I left for the ride start, but when I arrived in Van Alstyne, it was 44 degrees, so I put on everything I had. It warmed up nicely within a couple of hours, and turned into a beautiful sunny day, in spite of the cloudy day forecasts. Forestburg is just 15 miles from Montague, where the worst fires were, but we saw no fire damage on the route, and there was no smoke in the air today.
 
The nice little ENE tailwind we had on the way to Forestburg quickly turned into a hard blowing ESE headwind after we turned around, making the second half of the ride much tougher. The 17.2 mph average I carried into Forestburg quickly faded as we headed back. I always seem to wear out late in these rides, when I've made one of my marathon bass fishing trips the day before, and today was no exception. I hit the wall at around mile 80, and was pretty much just turning the pedals after that. Any time I end up in that situation, I always think back to Mark Metcalfe's thoughts on the subject: "You'd be surprised at how many miles you can still ride, after you've reached the point of just being able to turn the pedals." That thought always seems to help me finish these rides.
 
Near Valley View on the return route, at mile 84, I passed the 10,000 mile mark on my Corsa. That's easily the most miles I've ever put on one bike. As usual, I had a blast riding with this group. Thanks for having me along, y'all!  We finished up with a great dinner, and I headed home, thinking I would get there before any rain arrived. I was mistaken. At 8:00 pm, I was sitting in the parking lot known as the Dallas mixmaster, in a hail storm. I think it was all small enough to not damage my truck, but I'll have to check in the daylight tomorrow.
 
I ended up with 126.5 miles, and finished the ride in 10:20. My Garmin showed 4,700 feet of climbing.

Steve is far too modest, even Bud too. First I must say that I had a great time with great friends.  Yes the howling wind for the ~64 mile return was tough, as well as the hills between Gunter and the finish.  
 
I was off the back a majority of the ride.  I've been nursing a really bad knee, assumed to be the same as what Metcalf and Shellene has.  My output relative to my ability was around 60-70% on flats, and about 50% on hills.  Oops, did I say hills. My Garmin read similar to Bud; roughly ~4600 feet of climbing.
 
Bud rode really strong all day.  We all know The Peddlin' Peggy is stong uphill, though Bud was keeping up with her most of the day.  Way to go Bud!  
 
Steve's training is paying off.  He could have finished in 8 hours or less, but he was patiently waiting for us, especially me.  He even turned around at one point fairly early in the ride and asked if I was ok.  While it was embarassing, it made me realize that I need to get an MRI and see if there is any damage and then rehab it.  
 
Frustrating yes... I barely recovered from Achilles surgery and now the knee.  If we have TTTT this fall, I need to start the road to recovery now.  
 
I digress...
 
Peggy rode real strong all day, and at times she would fly with Steve, and other times she would be the ambassador and help keep my mind off the pain.  Nelson often road 100 yards or so behind me, though I know it was a gesture of good will, to ensure I kept moving forward.
 
Thanks much to my great friends.  This is a challenging ride, without a 20plus mph wind in your face the last half.  
 
HAPPY EASTER ALL
 

Quote from aikigreg on Apr 12^th, 2009, 11:15am:

 
 
Greg, thanks for the "shout out". Yes ,the training has really helped for Peggy & I. I'm sure you've seen positive results from your training as well. We missed you on the ride yesterday. Yeah ,the wind made it a challenge ,but that's riding in the wind tunnel we call Texas.
 

Quote from Rose Pedals on Apr 12^th, 2009, 12:50pm:

 
Doesn't lurking & Ninja go hand-in-hand? I had better stop before the moderator gets "wind" of this. Oh,there I go again.

Uh-Oh, I awakened the sleeping giant. There will be NO sprinting from me on the 600k, I will make that promise. It will be"'survival mode" from mile 1 to mile 383 for me.  
 
Will have to wait until a May LSR ride, maybe  Bud's "Peachy Keene" or my "Bobcat Bite" route. We're in recovery mode for the next 2 weeks(I'm not sure what that means, the coach is sending a plan)for the 600K.  
 
Ray, keep us updated on the status of the knee.

Quote from FlyingLaZBoy on Apr 12^th, 2009, 3:31pm:

 
Yeah what are the odds?   I chose this route because the prevailing winds are south/southwest. Then ,as the week passed ,I see the revised forecast...winds from the east/northeast. Great.
 
Oh well ,a little resistance training. I believe Nelson said that he has never ridden this route without a return headwind.  
 
 

Quote from Kwijybow on Apr 12^th, 2009, 10:00pm:

 
 
Everyone please keep that in mind whenever you're planning to ride with Nelson...  Sounds like there's a curse involved...   

Quote from Killer Bee on Apr 13^th, 2009, 10:01am:

 
Better Saturday than Sunday...