Quote from aikigreg on May 24th, 2009, 7:46pm: How badly did Bryan get wet?
Which time?
I started my 600k ride with the group, feeling like I was pedaling through molasses (when I told Shellene that, she laughed telling me that Greg had stated the same thing). Dan D passed me early on (he had a nature call to deal with) and told me to just keep riding, my legs would come in sooner or later. After slow rolling down Cherry Pie hill and seeing the 600 group in front of me I pushed a little to catch them, that helped. Then I spotted the "herd of 'bents" off in the distance and ramped it up a little more, that also helped. Caught on just about in Santo, and rolled from there to Lipan, changing tempo/power to see if anything was going to work. If not, I was considering getting an ice cream in Lipan and then heading back to MW. Hit the control and left in under 5 minutes, no time to think, Shellene's wheel to catch. We motored to the secret control and my legs started to really get into it. At the control Shellene told me to just keep my cadence up, take short breaks and they'd never catch me. Off I went, into the wild all alone!
From there to Glen Rose it was just clocking miles, I know I went up Dinosaur hill, but don't really remember it. In and out of the control in under 5 again, heading towards Walnut Springs on 144 with some good climbs. It was here that the rains hit. First a light drizzle, didn't even bother with the jacket, then some "jacket quality" rain. During the light stuff a lady pulls up next to me in a big ol' Caddy, asking me if I'm going to be ok. I gave her a big thumbs-up, and as she drove off I laughed to myself "I'm just starting to have fun". After a bit I wasn't having fun at all, it was getting heavy enough that I couldn't see well, and painful. I spotted "The Barnyard", a garden center, off to the left, with a carport filled with bags of mulch/fertilizer and made a bee-line for it. I almost made it before the sky really opened up. I spent about 15 minutes there trying to keep warm, and hoping that the rest of the 600 crew wasn't on the road. They were, but didn't get soaked as bad, the storm passed them by. Once it let up I didn't see rain again until after Cranfills Gap. That rain was a nice gentle rain, that only took up the right half of the lane I was riding in.
I caught the 300k riders (Debbie and Cheri) in Hico, and Danny was rolling in just as I rolled out. Keeping Shellene's words in mind, I was still making 5 minute controls - knowing that a pack of 8 riders would be losing time at the controls, even if they were riding faster than I was (they weren't). I pulled into Dublin at 5:30, and gave myself 30 minutes to eat, stretch and just relax. From Dublin to MW I figured it would take about 4 hours, but I wasn't counting on issues with my glasses (new glasses, had to figure out how to change lenses), my light (I wasn't happy with where it was shining, three times) and the weather (just a little rain on me, but a lot of water on the roads - and a fantastic light show, mostly cloud strikes thank God). I rolled into MW at 10:30, and was clean, fed and asleep by 11. Shellene took care of everything for me, so I would be ready to go the next morning (5 AM wake up, out by 5:30, well rested).
As I rolled out of MW, it was just a little moist, and I had no idea where the rest of the 600k riders were. I was guessing they were either 30 minutes ahead or behind me. A short stop in Palo Pinto to remove rain jacket, and off I went. Heading towards Strawn Dottie (Vickie's Mom, Sag angel) passed me, so I knew the main pack was behind me again. I got into the control and decided to wait and ride with the group. We rolled out an hour later. During the ride we saw a herd of 8 horses that wanted to play with us, they were running their fence and wheeling as a group, it was beautiful. During one stretch Dan D had multiple (3) flats, and the new tire developed a bubble that slowed us down from Palo Pinto to the finish. When we rolled out of Gordon for the return trip, we got hit by the outside edge of a nasty storm, but that was it for us getting rained on all day.
We rolled in at 4:55, giving us a 34:55 600k.
Day 1: Total time 15:22:39 14.7 MPH, riding time 13:33:37 16.7 MPH (I had 17 MPH up to Gordon), stopped time 1:48:41
Cadence 86, Average HR 107, Max HR 165, 9,938' climbed, 13,825 calories burned (19.75 Big Macs)
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/8300566 Off the bike overnight, 7 hours
Day 2: Total time 12:29:40 11.8 MPH, riding time 9:40:50 15.2MPH, stopped time 2:48:50
Cadence 79, Average HR 92, Max HR 156, 5,644'' climbed, 8,477 calories burned (12.1 Big Macs)
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/8300567 Chery Pie Hill: 9'10", 1.23 miles, 341' climbed, 8MPH, Cadence 84, Average HR 136, Max HR 147 (.2 Big Macs)
All in all, a fun ride. I enjoyed the short time I rode with the rest of the 'bents; glad y'all made it in safely (if not dry). It was nice having Shellene take care of me, but I would have preferred having her riding with me.