This morning at 7:00 am was the start of the LSR Two Flags Brevets in Denison. There were 200k, 300k, 400k, and 600k routes to choose from. I didn't hear a count of how many rode, but it looked like a pretty good turnout. I rode the 200k. This route went east from Denison through Telephone and on to Direct, before turning around and following the same roads back for a ways, then dipping into Oklahoma and looping back.
 
I really liked this route. There are some hills at the beginning, some rolling hills at mile 100, and some tougher hills near the end, but most of the route is fairly flat. There is an abundance of the tall trees that you always see in East Texas, and the majority of the roads were really low traffic roads.
 
I didn't get off to a great start, discovering at mile 11 that my Corsa's cassette nut had unscrewed itself. I knew there would be no cassette tool to be found on the route, and I almost turned around, rode the 11 miles back, and called it a day. But through all the trials and tribulations I've had on these long LSR rides, I've never DNF'd one. I decided I wanted to finish today's ride, too.
 
I tightened the nut the best I could by hand, and rode on, but by the Ivanhoe control at mile 33, it had backed off again. Nelson jammed a multi-tool in the end of the nut while I turned the wheel, and we got it tighter that way, but by the Direct control at mile 60, it had backed off again. I managed to get it tighter at that control. It wasn't as tight as a cassette nut should be, and the smaller cogs made some noises here and there, but the bike shifted perfectly and the nut never backed off again.
 
Big surprise, the wind was tough. That seems to be an unchanging theme this spring, and today was no exception. I was very glad to get the tailwind at mile 90 where the route turns north and crosses the Hwy 78 bridge over the Red River into Oklahoma. The road soon turns more west, and starts climbing out of the Red River valley near mile 100. It was on that climb where three big dogs came after me. I remember thinking that a hill at mile 100 on one of these long rides is tough enough without three huge dogs chasing you.
 
My asthma didn't seem to like the howling humid wind, with all the spring stuff in the air. At around mile 110, I thought I was hearing coyotes yipping off in the distance, then realized I was hearing my own wheezing (It probably can't be good when you mistake the sound of your own breathing for coyotes).
 
At mile 126, the route crosses the Texoma dam back into Texas. This is a great view from a bike, but going south up on that dam against today's wind was brutal. Then right after that are the toughest hills of the day. I ended up with 133.9 miles and finished in 10:12. I chatted a while after the ride with Mike and Nancy Myers, a couple from Kansas who ride a RANS Seavo, then had dinner with LM. I'm sure we'll have some great adventure stories from the 600k riders, but 200k definitely reached my quota of riding pleasure for today.

Congratulations to ,Bud, Nelson,Bryan & Shellene. Job well done. Obviously ,the riding conditions this past weekend were not the best(scattered rain showers & wind-lots of WIND), but we all persevered(or survived). Just over 36 hours to complete the 616K(which included 4-5hours of sleep).  
 
It was really cool to see all the Bacchetta's at the start of the ride Saturday morning. 6 total, 5 riding the 600k.  We saw Bud briefly(at the start) and the 1st control(just as were heading out of the control). Nelson helped Bud with his cassette, then we headed out. Bud,glad that didn't get any worse for you.
 
I think Peggy & I made some Rbent history this past weekend. The first Rbent members(husband/wife) to complete an ACP rando series(200,300,400 & 600K's), within the calendar year. So no pressure Ray/Angie ,Bud/Rose ,Mark/Christine ,Paul/Terrie ,Mark/Linda Metcalfe(wait,that's nothing for the Metcalfe's).  
 
A HUGE thanks to Nelson for riding with us. Just a class guy & a good friend. A true randonneur.
 
The mental highs/lows on these long rides are incredible. We all ask a lot of bodies on these rides ,& it really is amazing what you can do when you push yourself.  Peggy took a spill at mile 127 after a light rain shower left the road surface slippery. Nelson & I were riding beside one another ,Peggy was 20' or so behind us,then CRASH. When we got back to her ,the bike was lying on Peggy ,she fell on her right side.  
 
Peggy took the brunt of the crash(road rash on her right hip/leg), the bike escaped unscathed ,what a trooper. We dusted Peggy off & continued on our way. Peggy never complained/moaned & I know the road rash & bruised knee had to really hurt. We have another 100 miles to go to get back to the hotel in Denison.
 
We arrive back around midnight. After getting our brevets cards signed ,we immediately went to the hotel to get a shower & sleep. The plan was to sleep 4 hours then have a 4:30am roll out Sunday morning. Oops.  
 
We roomed with Mark & Linda Metcalfe. Mark's I-phone's alarm goes off at 5:00am. I can't say that I was upset. I was exhausted. Peggy ,Nelson & I(and Mark) headed out of the hotel a little after 5:30am.
More wind & light/medium showers(what fun).  
 
Mark heads off & Nelson ,Peggy & I navigate our way to Whitesboro. This was low spot for us. We're tired, it's dark , it's raining, & we're starting a 250K ride .  As well approach Whitesboro ,we come on Mark just cruising along.  
 
The four of us ride into the Whitesboro together. We saw another rando group working on a bike in front of the convenience store. Tat group left short after, we left 5-10 minutes behind them heading N of hwy 377 with a tailwind.  
 
Mark hangs with us for a while ,then he powers on ahead of us. Back to the three of us riding again. I'm still not feeling 100% ,& it's 49+ miles to the next stop. Thankfully ,there was unscheduled store/stop in Enville,OK. The breakfast at this stop smelled like heaven(bacon eggs,etc...). We eat & head on to Lake Murray. The light showers stop & the sun makes its return. The trip around Lake Murray was the high point of Day #2. The scenery was beautiful & some fun rollers.
 
There's a control at Lake Murray. We say the rando group at the control. We talk briefly ,they head out & we drink/eat & rest. One of the LSR members didn't feel like keeping their pace ,so I invite her to ride with us. She comes into the convenience store & rests with us.
 
Now the FUN part. The trip from Lake Murray back to Tishomingo was tough ,nice 30+ mph head wind. 13 miles on OK 1. Then we arrive in Tishomingo,OK. After a stop there, we head out(four of us now), Nelson is leading us out. He & I are riding together & I look back in my mirror & see no Peggy or other LSR rider. Crap. I wait at the intersection of OK 22/78. A Pick up truck pulls over & asks me "are you looking for your riding partners?". I respond "Yes." "Well, one of the riders had a flat just outside of Tishomingo." I say thank you & ride 2 miles back to Peggy & the LSR rider.  
 
I see Peggy sitting on her bike, it was the other rider that had the flat. She went through 2 tubes, & finally Peggy finds a thorn in the tire sidewall. Tire on, we head out. At this point ,poor Nelson is wondering where we're at.  
 
The LSR riders doesn't have any more tubes. So I offer to ride with her for awhile. The wind was really blowing us around. I was afraid we would not make the control on time. So I excuse my self & catch Peggy a few miles up the road. I don't think I've ridden in wind that strong before. Peggy & I ride together a few miles before we see Nelson waiting for on the side of the road.  
 
We have 15 miles to the control. I'm spent by fighting the wind(I think all three of us were). The next control is a Love's truck stop(the same control that was on our Saturday 350k ,in Colbert,OK). I was in need of FOOD. This stop has a Subway. A subway never tasted so good. Just what we all needed. 14 miles to the finish. Across Denison dam into a HOWLING head wind(do I sound repetitive with the wind),
through Eisenhower State Park & finish with about a 12-13% grade hill at the finish.  
 
We were greeted by cheers from the LSR members. We were all whipped. Now to start our RUSA series...did I just write that?  Peggy burned over 10,000 calories during the ride.
 
We survived. 36+ hours. Epic adventure ,accomplishment ride, call it whatever. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The LSR group are just amazing group. Very welcoming & supportive.  
 
I think Peggy has some pictures to share.

"My asthma didn't seem to like the howling humid wind, with all the spring stuff in the air. At around mile 110, I thought I was hearing coyotes yipping off in the distance, then realized I was hearing my own wheezing (It probably can't be good when you mistake the sound of your own breathing for coyotes). "
 
Bud, to funny, I have rode along for miles wonder were that wheezing creaking noise was coming from on my bike until finally I realize it is my lungs full of fluid.
 
keep spinning
JS

Quote from JS on Apr 27^th, 2009, 10:26am:

 
 
John,thanks. What's even more amazing, Peggy & I are still talking to one another.
 
AND Bud can still ride stronger with 1.5 lungs better than most with 2 lungs. AND ,now he sounds like a coyote. Bonus!

Y'all are Ironmen (and Woman).  Very proud of all my friends representing and overcoming the crazy conditions that would have kept me indoors.  I wish I'd been able to ride along with ya, though.  I can't believe while I had my head turned, you all have achieved so many milestone.  
 
Great reports.  How did Bryan and Shellene fare?  I hadn't expected her to be doing that sort of mileage given her recovery and knee issues.

I have to agree with Steve, the 600K was definitely harder than the 400K for me! I know Peggy felt pretty low after the bad sandwich on the 400 though.  Not sure what Bryan and Shellene's time was but we never saw them on Sunday, so they were well ahead of us.  Both of them looked plenty strong on Saturday!  
 
 
 

Quote from Kwijybow on Apr 27^th, 2009, 9:00pm:

 
I'll have to agree with Peggy.  I would rather do a 600k than a 400k, since you can actually sleep.

Quote from Killer Bee on Apr 27^th, 2009, 10:13pm:

 
There's the cover photo for the RBENT calendar right there!  What a hottie!  
 
Bryan, it looks like y'all have taken to bents really well.  I'm glad you guys can ride together and hopefully get as much enjoyment out of them as you did your DFs.

Quote from Bud_Bent on Apr 27^th, 2009, 10:24pm:

 
Bud, now when can we see you & Rose completing your series? Greg & Alexis? Anyone else?
 
There's the cover photo for the RBENT calendar right there!  What a hottie!   Smiley
 
Bryan, it looks like y'all have taken to bents really well.  I'm glad you guys can ride together and hopefully get as much enjoyment out of them as you did your DFs.
Back to top      
 
Rbent calendar? You nut.

Sorry for the late check in, My work week is pretty busy at the start!
 
Peggy, I'm so sorry to hear about your crash!  Glad you weren't injured in a worse manner.  I was bragging to Dan about you during the ride, and you just gave us more to brag about on your behalf  Of course, huge congratulations go to both Steve and Peggy for their first 600k, and to everyone who finished their rides this past weekend in that wind.
 
The 600k was great (or at least the 500k that I rode).  This is of course coming from someone who bailed out just before the turn into the wind on the 2nd day.  That is pretty cheap to leave the ride after some good tail and cross winds!  However, I would have rather been there slogging it out with you guys.  The muscles were fine, the energy level was fine, but that silly left knee was beginning to fuss non-stop.  Since I didn't want to spend another - almost 2 months - off the bike, it was time to retire.
 
My only goals with this 600k were to take it super easy and not get injured.  I'm still debating whether that happened or not.  I'm definitely not injured (the knee should be fine if I take care of it this week), but like Nelson, I set a Personal Recumbent Record on the 200k so I'm a little baffled at the take it easy part .  I guess it was easy enough since I felt fine after backing down to a more reasonable pace for the finish of day one.
 
My only regret about the ride is that the knee waited until that steep little climb at mile 280 to start fussing (before Lake Murray).  I really thought that if I were going to have trouble, I would have known before starting day 2 and I could have simply remained at the hotel.  I would have been quite happy to have only ridden day 1.
 
High points in the ride were most notably getting to ride with all of the LSR and rbent gang that I could temporarily stay with.  I loved getting to visit with everyone for a bit, and I received the added bonus of being able to visit with the super fast finishers since I was back to the hotel well before I should have been.  
 
The route was as everyone has said, absolutely beautiful.  I can't wait to get back out there for another shot!
Shellene
 

Quote from aikigreg on Apr 27^th, 2009, 10:20pm:

 
 
It certainly beats the one of Greg from a couple of years ago!!!!  

I plead the 5th.....

As much as you all obviously love looking at  / talking about el conquistador  (hey we all have pet names for it, right?), I think Paul is referring to my many road rash pictures from last year.  

I'm afraid I wasn't in much of a picture taking mood on the 600K (certainly not 400! like John) but did manage to take a few pictures on mostly the first half of the first day.
 
I uploaded them to flickr after developing last night.
here's the link to the set.
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nelson_ralls/sets/72157617466216351/
 
Take Care,
Nelson.