I rolled out of Cleburne at 7:30 this morning along with 2,500 or so other riders to do the rolling hills and great scenery of the Tour de Goatneck. I started beside Mark L and Greg, but they quickly disappeared into the mass of riders in front of me. I paced myself, and just watched lots of riders go by anytime the terrain headed uphill.
 
There were a few recumbents on the ride, but not as many as I expected. John Sadowski was taking photos in the middle of Goatneck Hill, as always. I only made one stop, at mile 46. Goatneck Hill is right after that, and when my average speed was still over 18 mph after I topped Goatneck, I pushed a little harder the rest of the way.
 
I finished the ride at 11:26 am, with 69.4 miles. My on the bike time was 3:51 and I finished with an on the bike average speed of 18.0 mph. That's the earliest I've finished this ride, and the best average speed I've had, so it was a good ride for me. As always, the traffic control on this ride was great. There's still lots of boulder seal, but much of it is a lot better packed down than last year.

I too rolled out at 7:30 and my intentions were to get to "the hill" ASAP.  I took a three mile shortcut and arrived at "the hill" at least 30 minutes before the lead 40 milers who left at 7:45.  
Once there I took over 900 pictures. Then I got back on the back suddenly realizing that I had been standing in the sun for hours and not drinking very much water, besides being stiff from the early ride.  
Ouch. It made for a rough climb up the second half of "the hill". Three miles later at the rest stop I downed two bottles of water.  Then I rode the last 16 miles feeling better as i rode.

Quote from Mark on Jul 31^st, 2010, 5:50pm:

 
How much chipseal was there on the 41-mile route, and was it as bad as it looks in the photo? Also, how did you get ahead of Mark L?

Quote from hornsmw13 on Jul 31^st, 2010, 4:13pm:

 
Not me.

Well, I had a blast today riding with Mark L..  We stayed pretty much together until we hit Glen Rose.  There was a pretty big front paceline, maybe 50 roadies, that kept Mark and I away for several miles, then they split in two on one of the bigger first climbs.  I stayed with the group B pack as it dwindled in size, picking off individual roadies, until I stopped at Nemo for a nature break and liquid.  Back on the bike in less than 5 minutes and soon was picking off individuals again but never caught back to the main paceline or Mark, who was really humpin it!
 
Bike average was just over 23 till Glen Rose, but the chipseal on the way out of town slowed me down the last leg.  A couple of those hills might have had to do with it as well.  The vk2 performed flawlessly and I had my longest ride on it to date by 20 miles.  It seems to handle the chipseal as well as anything else.  It has pretty good passive suspension but there's only so much my feet can handle regardless.
 
I arrived at the finish about 10 minutes off Mark, who looked like he was dying.  Being overtrained already, I didn't have an afterburner switch so I wasn't wiped at the end.  Randonneuring has given me bad short racing habits!  Bud rolled in pretty quickly afterwards looking fresh as a daisy!
 
20.7 average which is undoubtedly my best for a course like this.  3 hours 21 min ride time.  Max speed of 45mph.  My min/max heartbeats were fairly close together, 160 average and a high of 177.  This is a good indicator I was quite overtrained, as if the jelly legs at the start weren't enough of an indicator.
 
I also now have 1027 miles for July.  My longest month ever by FAR.
 
 
Mark L, thanks for being a good rabbit.  Mark M - I passed you while you were stopped - sorry I didn't catch you on the road.  Ray and Angie - it's been too long - great seeing you again.  Mike - sorry I missed you at the start!  Write up your ride report!

Quote from Mark on Jul 31^st, 2010, 5:50pm:

 
That was at Goatneck hill if I recall, I think I scared the heck out of John passing by, hope he got a shot off

I love that ride, it was great from start to finish. Fast at the start and the end.
 
The new Baron is amazing, likes to go fast and didn't mind the hills, great riding with you Greg!
 
Sorry I didn't get a chance to talk to you Mike, did you drop something on my 2nd pass?
 
I think I scared Sadowski passing by but hey you were in the middle of the road so what could I do?
 
Ended with a 22 average making it the 2nd fastest event I've done this year.

This was my very first organized pay ride.  I tried to hook up with greg and mark but couldn't find them at the start which was chaotic and organized all at the same time.  I was at the front of the line when the gun went off and these people took off like a bat out of he..  anyway I ran with the first group for about 10 miles then a hill slowed me and I started riding with the second group.  I stayed with them for about 30 or so with an average over 23.  Having some fun but realizing no one wanted to run a pace line or get any kind of orginzation and another hill, I lagged behind.  Riding through Glenrose was alot of fun.  I appreciate the road closures, it's nice not to have to dodge cars for a change.  After leaving Glenrose, Mark L. passed me and said Greg was back there.  I looked for you but never saw you.  About 55 miles cramps set in and never gave up, so I had to slow down.  Going up some of those hills with a cramp in my left hamstrings was brutal.  Anyway I finally crossed the finish line with a 20.5 that took 2 hours and 23 minutes.  Decent ride for my first time, but I want to catch Mark, may never do it but it gives me something to shoot for.  I was amazed at all the ambulances and fire trucks and I hope all the wounded are healing nicely.  After the ride I realized, I stopped only once to eat an energy bar and that was on a dirt road.  I never used the organized stops.  oh well, maybe next time.  I look forward to the next ride and hope I can hang out with some of you then.