I was among a mostly recumbent group that left Celina at 6:30 am this morning to ride the Bobcat Bite 100k permanent populaire. The riders included Steve, Peggy, Brian, Shellene, Nelson along with an upright friend (I've forgotten his name), Ken W, Sharon S, JS and Sara Kay. It was a beautiful morning with a light southeast wind as we headed northeast to Howe. I always enjoy the small roads this route takes when it turns off SH289 on this stretch.  
 
There were the usual trips off the front by a few riders, but they would ease off to regroup, and most of us stayed together at a pace that wasn't as fast as I expected. I was actually able to talk most of the time, except when the roads would turn uphill.  
 
By the time we left Howe, the wind was really starting to blow. I was off the back a couple of times on the southbound stretch down SH289 to Gunter, a preview of what was to be whenever we rode against the wind. But the ride turns west out of Gunter, toward Tioga, and with a quartering tailwind on this stretch, it was fun riding at a faster pace. We made a little longer stop at the control in Tioga, and I downed my usual peanut butter and honey sandwich.
 
Heading south out of Tioga on SH377 began the tough part of the ride. The rough chipseal and rolling hills begin when you turn east onto FM455, and I fell back pretty quickly on this stretch. We regrouped just before Celina, and rode in together, to finish in 4:50. My gps showed 1,700 feet of climbing on the route.
 
We stopped for the usual lunch at Lucy's afterward, and I had a great time visiting with everyone. It was great having JS and Sara Kay down for a Texas visit. Good luck at the Shenandoah 1200k next week, Sharon!
 

Glad you guys had a good time.  Those last hills kileld me last time too, Bud.  Chipseal + wind + hills = UGH.
 
I just got in from Santa Fe.  Up early to start my last week of training before leaving for Costa Rica!

Quote from Killer Bee on Jun 8^th, 2009, 10:23pm:

 
 
When he said "ypu," exactly to whom was he referring????  
 
I'm leaving for Costa Rica on Monday.  I have every single day from now till then to train my behind, so we can ride any day you'd like.

Well, as I was pushing up a hill yesterday (whining to myself about the pain) on my training ride, I 'pert near burst out laughing thinking about what John S. told me on the Bobcat Bite 100k.  
 
On Saturday's ride, John was letting me draft off of him to catch the sprinters who were off the front before the first rest stop.  I pushed just as hard as I could for as long as I thought I could and at the top of a long difficult hill (difficult for me, clearly not for John) I hollered "Go get 'em John!"    However, John was having no part of my being such a wimp, and to keep me going promptly told me "You'll recover."
 
What sage advice.  So yesterday, I laughed and pushed harder up the hill and knew I'd have to just recover later.