Peggy & I made the trip down to Brookshire,Tx to ride with the Houston randonneurs, a 400k ride. When we left Friday late afternoon to head south among the torrential downpours . This should have been a clue what was in store for Saturday. Peggy is rehabbing her knee & the plan was to hang out with Linda Metcalfe in Brookshire (not far from Katy ,Tx).
 
I hoped that the weather liars would once again miss the weather forecast for Saturday, or at least have an occasional shower or two. No such luck. 5:00am roll out from the LA Quinta Inn hotel in Brookshire. No rian yet, but the forecast had changed (what a surprise), now it was going to be an all day pouring rain.  
 
Several LSR members had come to ride the various distances (200,300, & 400k routes). The smart ones of the bunch opted out, so the 400k list of riders decreased quickly from 18 to about 12 or so.  
 
The 400k route is an out & back route from Brookshire to Nornangee. The group heads out exactly at 5:00am, I had planned to stick with Mark Metcalfe for as long as I could. Mark puts the hammer down early, he's gone. The sky is just lit up with a very impressive lightening display. LSR member- Gary Gotleib & I ride side by side ,  He turns to me & says "I guess it's just you & me". Right after that, a lightening strike hits so close to us that I fry's one of Gary's bike computers & the hair on his arms stands straight up, then followed by this loud crack of thunder. OK, I'm awake now!
 
Just outside of the the first control in Belleville, The rain starts. We make into the control (a great little bakery), & break out the rain gear. Soon after, several 400k riders pull in behind us. Now the rain is really coming down. Out into the rain we go. " Too bad, get your skinny butt out there & pedal" I tell myself.
 
The group heads out to the next control in Navasota-45+ miles away. About half way from the Belleville is Chappell Hill, there are some rolling hills here, combined with some road traffic ,helped break the group up. I see three riders (one is Gary Gotleib) take off. I try to bridge the gap, but think better of it as this is going to be a long day on the bike (we're only 40 miles into a 250 mile ride). The other riders get dropped like a rock.
 
So I riding by myself in the pouring down rain thinking "this going to be a long day/night on the bike". As there are some rollers in Chappell Hill area, the descents with the rain were tough, visibility was an issue & the rain was stinging my face.
 
I keep positive & maintain a good pace. I ride past Washington on the Brazos park ,on my way to Navasota. There are a series of 3 separate narrow bridges on SR105 that I wasn't crazy about riding in the rain ,by myself with on coming traffic, but I get through with little car traffic (even the drivers didn't want to drive in the rain).  
 
I start seeing what I think are bike tire tracks in the emergency lane. As I approach Navasota, I see three bikes with their "blinky's" ahead. I did it, I managed to bridge the gap & catch them. And these guys were setting a fast pace in the rain. Four of us pull into the control together & I ask if I can ride with them , they all say "sure, love the company." One rider said "how did  you catch us?"  
 
At this point, I was really soaked & Peggy is texting me "do you want me to come get you at the control?" "It's OK to DNF?" "NO, NO ,NO...I'm OK, a little cold"-I text back.  Off to the next control in Normangee-60 miles away.
 
The rain is still coming down hard. The Houston Randonnuer RBA (regional brevet administrator-Bob Riggs) was at Carlos-mile 92 to provide Gatorade,etc...for the riders (he's a great guy, & helluva rider). He gives an update on the weather, which wasn't great. Oh well, the theme of the day. He gives an update on some other riders that have DNF'd, etc... Off we go to Nornagee.  
 
Onto SR 39, now were a pack of four, so even though this a somewhat busy road, the vehicles that were out in the rain gave us a wide berth while passing. As we approached Normangee, the rain started to lessen.  We arrive at 12:29pm-7hr 29min 200k in the pouring rain. While waiting outside this little grocery store (a little whole in the wall), Gary sees a scorpion scurrying around the bike (which are propped against the store wall), 4 grown men are running around pulling at their clothes-I'm sure we made an impression with the locals. No scorpion found.
 
Back we go, now the rain has stopped. The spirits are lifted. Back to Carols for an unscheduled stopped
at a convenience store for pizza. We're humming right along. Easily staying at 20+mph. There was no wind most of the day, just the rain. We get to Carlos & scarf down our food. One of the other riders is starting to tire & fade. We all try & keep him pumped up with encouragement & keep him in the pack.
I check my i-phone for the weather forecast. The storms have passed us-a huge yell from the other three cyclists. Then the sun comes out & with the all the rain, to say it's humid is a gross understatement.
 
Off we go to Navasota. 5:30pm-Mile 178. We're well over 18+mph. Our tired cyclists is really starting to fade. Those rollers that we had on the way out in Chappell Hill , are there for us again. They are like body blows in the boxing match. The rollers aren't horrible, a series of 8/9, most are 5/6% grade, some are longer than others, there's one series that is 9% followed by an immediate 7%. After several hours on the bike, these hills can take it out of you). We wait for him by slow pedaling, but he's fading fast.
 
I text Peggy at the Navosota control & say we should be at the next control-Belleville, by 8:00pm. WRONG. We roll into Belleville at 7:00pm. A "chop/chop" stop at Belleville, & we're off...wait our tired cyclist friend is toast. He's disappeared to the rear of the convenience store losing all the food in his stomach. We're ready to go, he can barley sling his leg over the seat to get going.  
 
I give a part of turkey sandwich (white bread helps settle an upset stomach). I give him some water & other drink. We take off & he immediately falls back. We wait 2 more times, he's really fading. The group can't wait any longer, we smell a sub 16 hour 400k. And we're just over 20+ miles to the finish.  
 
We're smokin' the 20+ miles into Brookshire & finish just as it's getting dark. We finish at 8:43pm. At 15 hrs,43 mins- a personal best 400k time. Total amount of climbing for this route was 4,570 ft-pretty flat for a 400k. An overall average of 18.31 mph. 14,795 calories burned.  
 
With the exception of the 3 narrow bridges on SR105 & some of SR 39 into Normangee , this is a great route, almost no chip seal, very scenic, low traffic roads.  
 
And best of all was the finish at the La Quinta lobby was Peggy & our friends the Metcalfe's how had food/drink(hamburgers, french fries , milk shakes, beer & wine) for us. What an epic ride!
 
Congrats to all the riders that completed the different routes. Thanks to Peggy (the best wife) & the Metcalfe's  for being so supportive & being such great friends. This was a character building ride in a lot of ways. Exactly what I needed.
 
 

Quote from Bud_Bent on May 17^th, 2010, 5:48pm:

 
 
Bud, thanks. And for 249.1 miles,I saw only one loose dog. I think most of the loose dogs are in Johnson & Hill counties, although they certainly don't have a monopoly in that category.
 
This was an extremely fun ride, despite the rain. See, I'm already starting to have ride amnesia.

Quote from aikigreg on May 17^th, 2010, 7:11pm:

 
Total off the bike time was some where around 1hr-30+mins, so there were a lot of chop-chop stops, which helps.Again, the first part of the ride was difficult to be chop-chop at controls because it took a few minutes or so to wipe the rain off of your glasses, clothes before getting off the bike to get the brevet card signed at the stores.  
 
The riding conditions on Saturday were no where as bad as Sebring this year, not even close.

Quote from aikigreg on May 18^th, 2010, 9:17pm:

 
Fine. But you have to understand there are many different models of "Showers Pass" jackets. Sharon has the Elite 2.0 which retails for $265. It's the Cadillac of the jackets(great for colder temps). Peggy has the club pro, not as nice as the Elite, but more compact & more of a spring/summer rain jacket. I have a different Showers Pass model altogether than Sharon or Peggy.
 
Whatever model, I would suggest purchasing the hood. A cheap shower cap that fits overs the helmet is what I use.

Quote from FlyingLaZBoy on May 25^th, 2010, 2:39pm:

 
Paul, thanks. Other than a steady rain for 3+ hours, the weather conditions were pretty ideal, virtually little or no wind.  
 
And I have purchased the Showers Pass rain hood, so that I will help out a lot.