square_corners
|
I went up to Clarksville too. I didn't stay at the school because I was planning to ride with someone who ended up not going, and her and her husband planned on staying at the Red River Inn, which is where I stayed. Next time I will stay at the school. In spite of my friend not showing up, I had a good time and rode with several different bent riders on the first 2 days.
Thursday I did the long loop - 73 miles total including round trip from the motel. I started about half an hour later than everyone else but eventually caught up to a few recumbents at about mile 15. This group included John Sadowski, Tony Ward and Steve (Switzer?) - not sure about that last name. I talked to Tony for awhile until that group turned toward the medium length ride. I continued on north on FM 410 which loops up near the Red River through beautiful green fields, stands of Loblolly pines and hardwood forests. During this stretch I saw a turtle, a bobcat, and deer. There was also a very pleasant rest stop at a house and gift of a souvenir t-shirt, but only if the rider was doing the long loop - that was a nice surprise. When I eventually emerged on SH 37 to head south back to Clarksville, there was another rest stop. As I pulled in there, another recumbent came up from the south - it was Steve. I rode with Steve quite awhile - passed the time nicely riding the shoulder of an otherwise boring section of highway. Eventually Steve pulled in at a convenience store and I went on back to Clarksville. Had a 15.9 avg which included some fast riding and some significant stretches at a slower pace talking to Tony Ward and Steve. Other than riding at length with those two, I did the ride solo. These are very flat rides. Thursday's total climbing was 1330 ft. But climbing isn't always the story. In Red River County, chip seal is the story, and most of it was pretty rough! That evening I had dinner at the Mexican restaurant - that really hit the spot as the only other meal I had was breakfast. When I'd finished the ride, I wasn't all that hungry as I'd been eating bananas at the two rest stops I saw. After my finish, back at the motel, I had an apple as well. So a very light lunch at the end of the ride insured a good appetite for dinner.
Friday's ride was another long loop. I got started from the motel in time to pass the high school about 6:35 AM and that put me out there early enough to see several riders just starting out. The first rest stop was about 10 miles east of Clarksville at a very old house, built in the 1860's. I didn't need anything there but I went into the house to admire the crystal chandelier hanging in the living room. The chandelier came from Belgium in the 1880's and was stunning. I was dripping too much to explore more of the house (didn't want to leave puddles) and I got on my way after a short stop. About 20 minutes after I left there, I spotted Steve up ahead just as he was set upon by a pack of about 10 dogs that came flying across a lawn and through a useless fence. He managed to fend those dogs off but only after what seemed like several anxious moments. I came through the midst of the dogs 5 seconds later but they seemed to have lost their enthusiasm for the chase and only a couple gave a halfhearted effort. I chatted with Steve for a short while but we were coming to a fairly intimidating looking hill and he told me he would go slow up that. So I went ahead from there and didn't see another soul until about 5 miles before the rest stop at Boxelder. That was about mile 50 or so. To that point, I had an 18 avg, but I wasn't necessarily interested in going fast if there was a good reason not to. After all, I'd finish by around noon, anyway, no matter what I did and that is pretty early in the day. about 5 miles after I left Boxelder, I came across Ken Ward on his recumbent. I didn't know who he was ahead of time but he was on a recumbent and that was reason enough to slow down. I rode with Ken quite awhile talking about various things until we caught up with Ken (James?) - I don't think I heard his last name mentioned but he is one of the two Ken's listed on the rider list. He rides a Gold Rush with a custom sun shade stretched across the top and making a very effective sun shade. I rode a few miles with Ken, chatting about more various things until we got to the next rest stop which was only a couple miles out of Clarksville. I pulled in anyway because "what the heck? when we finish we'd have hours to kill before dinner time!" That stop was very worthwhile as the owner of the house had some berry cobbler and vanilla ice cream to feed us - that really hit the spot. He had an orchard of pecan trees on his front lawn giving some glorious shade, as it was beginning to warm up by then. I dilly dallied there quite awhile as there was no big rush to finish the ride. I continued on with Ken Ward once I left and we rode into town. Eventually we had to single up and I was in front so I went ahead and picked up the pace and went back to the motel. I finished with a 15.8 avg and total climbing for the ride was 1488 ft. I had my shower, another apple, and a can of chicken and a Gatorade left over on the bike. Later I went to the school to pick up a water bottle I'd left at Boxelder, and then on to Dairy Queen for a large coffee flavored shake. About 6PM I headed back into town for dinner at the Italian Bistro and then visited happy hour up stairs where a number of riders were congregated, enjoying some beer or wine. There, I met up with two of the faster tandem couples - Sue and Mike Baker and Brenda and Carlos Nieves. Sue Baker remembered me from my tandem days training for a transcontinental bike ride with Pac Tour, with Judith Jolly as my stoker, which we did in 1999. Sue has a heck of memory - I have to say I did not remember her although she did look vaguely familiar. She invited me to join them and the other tandem the next day (Saturday) and they would be going for a few extra miles. I thought, why not? If I got dropped, I'd just follow the Garmin RWGPS programming.
So, Saturday morning came and I was checking out of the motel to drive home later in the day. I loaded up and drove over to the high school where I was second in line for breakfast, ate some oatmeal and had a little sausage and coffee. Then it was back out to the car to get the recumbent ready to ride. Most, if not all of the riders left about 6:15. The tandems and one single bike were ready to roll at 6:30 and they immediately set off at a blistering pace. I can hang at 25 mph for awhile but didn't think I'd want to do it for 70 miles! Fortunately, The Bakers slowed down on the rollers and the Nieves tandem waited on them. After awhile the average pace seemed to settle at about 20 to 21 and we quickly caught the group of recumbents - I had time for a wave and that was about it. Then we caught a group of road bikes and went on by them, although a couple hopped on with the tandems. We went along pretty steadily until we hit a section with some headwind. The pace dropped off some, through that stretch and we passed a rest stop I would stopped at except I was committed to staying with the tandems. about 12 miles south of Detroit, the Bakers were having trouble hanging with the other tandem and a gap opened up. I'd been having trouble with hot foot and actually stopped a couple times to take care of that. Then managed to catch the tandems by setting the cruise control on 23 - that got the job done. Anyway, i drifted off ahead of the Bakers and reached Detroit between the Nieves tandem and the Baker tandem - there was a few minutes either side of me for arrival times. From Detroit, we eventually left the Saturday long course to add part of the Thursday short course and we ended up with 69 miles. I had an 18.7 avg at the end and 1200 ft of climbing. Thus ended 3 very satisfying and enjoyable days of riding. I might do this one again but hard to know what I will take time for a year from now. But, other than some major chip seal and a few stretches on Friday on roads that felt like I was riding a jackhammer, due to uneven road surface, this isn't bad riding and the scenery was nice too, as was the company, whenever I managed to hook up with someone. But if I do it again, I'll be staying at the high school!
|
Pages: 1
Clarksville (Read 2124 times)
