I'll piggy back on Dave's writeup, since I did the PLUS version of his ride . . .
We started with very warm conditions for the time of year, starting and ending at 67° with a spike to 91° during the day, once the storm clouds passed. There was rain visible from the threatening clouds, but fortunately, none fell on us. By the time we left Gilmer, 62 miles out, the sky rapidly cleared and we were left with mostly sun, a few scattered clouds, and very high humidity. With the passage of the front, there was wind from the southwest, but the pines block most of the wind - we mostly felt it on the last segment of our ride, from Mineola to Canton.
 
This out and back course starts in Canton and goes all the way out to Vivian Louisiana, about 60 miles NW of Shreveport. Major towns we pass through: Mineola, Gilmer, Jefferson, plus crossing the dam of Lake of the Pines - a very scenic area.  
 
The name of the route: Fleas refers to the flea markets Canton is famous for; Trees refers to the piney woods most of the route travels through.  
Elevation gain: the first half of the ride has slightly less climbing than the 2nd half. This is because when traveling to that part of Louisiana, you lose about 500 ft of elevation, vs the start point. Vivian is near the northern extremity of Caddo Lake, which lies at about 160 ft elevation. There are so many climbs and descents, though, that you would never notice that you had net climbing on the second half.  
 
The route breaks down into 5 sections, based on climbing. First section is Canton to Mineola - 27 miles of mostly easy riding with long stretches of flattish ground interspersed with easy climbing - no hill greater than 8% but most in the 5% range.  
Mineola to Gilmer: innumerable giant rollers, most offering up 8% gradient but a few as much as 10%. While these gradients are not terribly steep, it is the sheer number of rollers that makes this 35 mile section a real bear to complete.  
Gilmer to Jefferson: Climbing is the name of the game in this section but giant rollers do not predominate. Here, it is long steep climbs and steep descents but not every climb is answered with a descent. Gradients in this section are mostly 9% with a few under and a few over.  
Jefferson to state line: 22 miles with more climbing than I remembered from last year, fortunately none greater than 4% and most at 3%. By this time though, fatigue has set in and the climbs, while not steep, tend to wear on you as well.  
Stateline to Vivian: 5 miles, no hills, great smooth pavement, and cross the north end of Caddo Lake, with its mysterious, spooky Big Cypress swamp, black water, and the expectation of seeing alligators ready to pounce (in reality, I've never seen one there, but they do exist!).  
 
Then we turn around and do it all over again, in reverse!
miles: 252.6; climb: 9768; AVS: 14.9; MXS: 38; elapsed time: 20:45

You have to work up gradually.  Also, it doesn't hurt to join a club full of crazy people!  

Good job getting the first brevet done. I tend to only ride the ones close to home for me, but maybe I'll see you on one of these eventually.

Not to mention the next Stampede 1200k!