Bud, Pegggy, Nelson, Bryan, Shellene & myself (along with about 20 other LSR riders), left Nolan River Mall in Cleburne yesterday at 7:00am. The majority of the group were riding the 200k route, which leaves Cleburne, onto Glen Rose & then Bluff Dale. This an out & back route. There were a few hearty souls riding the 400k route.
 
The goal for most of us was the ride the 200k easy as a lot of us are riding the Texas Time Trials next week. Well, after about 15-20 miles , I had a 19.0 mph avg as we cruised past the pavilion at New hope Baptist church in Cleburne. A lot faster than I had expected us to ride. Granted, then ride from the start to this point, is down hill, but still, this route has some significant climbs (dinosaur hill in Glen Rose coming & going-16% grade hill) & Johnson county line hill (coming & going-9% grade hill) & goatneck hill (coming & going) & finally a series of rollers coming/going into/out of Bluff Dale.  
 
As we made the left turn onto CR200 , heading form Cleburne to Glen Rose, we pass several riders on the opposite of the road, presumably riding/practicing the TT course. Shortly after climbing Johnson County line hill, I realized I didn't need to be riding this hard, so I back off from the group & rode the remaining 10+ miles alone into the control in Glen Rose.  
 
At the control, a tandem suffered a flat, & Bud noticed his front tire was flat. So he made a quick tire change & we were off again, heading to Bluff Dale for another 37 mile jaunt. This section, more like the entire route has a lot of up/down rollers & the hills I mentioned earlier. We rolled into Bluff Dale (I love the blistering fast descent into town, oh wait, we have to climb out the same hill on the way back). So we climb out of Bluff Dale where Bryan, a tandem , & our friend Steve Barlow were nice enough to wait on us. So we all rode back to Glen Rose together.  
 
The section from Glen Rose to Cleburne ain't easy, we noticed after climbing out of Bluff Dale that the wind had picked up significantly from the S/E-so we pretty much had a stiff head wind to the finish. It started to get a little toasty on the final section.
 
Bud was super strong all day, Peggy rode well & is ready for the TT. Bryan always rides strong, & Shellene was back on the bike & riding again, which is great news.  Bud & I sprinted into the wind,uphill the last few miles & finished a few minutes ahead of the other. Total ride time was 9hrs,30 mins. Peggy got her revenge on this 200k as this was the same route she had to DNF last year.
Bike avg. 15.5 mph. My Garmin should 5,338' of climbing. Heat , wind, & climbing, more training for the TT's.
 
Nelson unselfishly DNF'd , he rode from Cleburne to Glen Rose & wanted to start painting the TT course (turn arrows on the pavement) while has was there, so he started painting & I told him that Peggy & I would meet up with him after  finished. He was waiting for us in Cleburne, we grabbed a quick subway & headed back to Glen Rose to start painting. We finished up around 8:30pm.
 
A huge thanks to Bud & Rose for letting up spend the might Friday night & serving crappie & hush puppies. Just for Peggy. After 2-3 years of riding with Bud & hearing about crappie, Peggy finally got to taste Bud's fresh caught crappie.    
 
In the process , I managed to complete my ACP series for the year (200,300, 400, & 600K) & Peggy tells that I just qualified for my Super Randonnuer. Bonus. Thanks to all that has ridden tons of miles with mein the process, especially Peggy.

Good report, Steve. This route is always challenging. There was heat, humidity, plenty of hills, and even where the roads haven't been made boulderseal yet, most of them are rough.  There's lots of great scenery, though.
 
I felt good on this ride, but as always, my legs were feeling the hills by the return part of the route. Steve, Peggy, and I looked like Team Rbent, all wearing our rbent jerseys. It was great to see Shellene on the bike again. I'm betting she's tired today.  
 
Congrats on the series, Steve! Great ride, all!
 

Great to see you out there Bud, and Steve and Peggy a big Thank you for helping me knock out the course painting in record time!
 
I really had not started the day with the intention of not finishing the 200K, but a faster than planned start, and then riding on the course backwards going out, I got to thinking about what I needed to do, and I thought I could just shorten up the day a bit riding wise, and get started painting.  Turns out it was a good decision, because it took quite a while painting the mile markers, (about as long as it took everyone else to finish the brevet!).  
 
It was great to see Shellene back on the bike, and she and Bryan looked like they were flying as usual!
 
Looking forward to seeing everyone Thursday at the TTTT.
 
Take Care,
Nelson.
 

Huge congrats on the SR!  Way to go
 
It was great to be out there riding "with" everyone again.  Sorry I didn't wait at the light house for you guys, I really needed to wait by soft pedaling up the course.  (That ride was pure survival mode - Blech!)
 
But everyone looked great in their new jerseys and strong on the bikes.  Bryan and I were both tired on Sunday, but he more from having to wait on me for the entire 200k  I can't wait until I am strong enough to actually ride with the group again!
Shellene