Did this ride Friday, January 15th 2016
sunny: wind NW at 10 - 20
temp start-end: 45 / 57
time start-end: 7:15 / 16:35
bike: Orbea Opal
stats: avg 16.6 mph, climbing 3219 ft, 130.9 miles
 
Today we embarked on a grand adventure. While I have done this course several times, my ride partner had not, so for her it was a grand adventure. We rendezvoused in Greenville TX in time for a 7:15 AM start. The plan had originally been to do it on Saturday the 16th but due to a deteriorating forecast, we decided to move it to Friday the 15th. Of all the times I have done this in January, I have never had an above freezing start. Today it was balmy by comparison at 44.6°. So off we went.  
 
¶ I like the course with the following exception. From the very beginning of the course, we ride the shoulder of US69 for the first 22.5 miles. It’s bad enough on a weekend, but on a weekday, there is a steady stream of high speed traffic of all sorts, whizzing by, just a few feet away. The roadway is relatively smooth but we do not venture there. Instead, we stick to the shoulder which at best is rough chipseal and worse is broken up pot-holed tarmac. That was for the first 4 or so miles. After that, it settled down to rough chipseal. We passed through Celeste and Leonard on the way north. Celeste has a low speed limit so at least we had a break from high speed traffic. Leonard had a beautifully paved, smooth, shoulder and a speed limit. From Leonard, it was just a couple miles to our turn, and peacefulness. Did I forget to mention we had a headwind – yes a NW wind. Wasn’t that bad at first but it got noticeably stronger by the time we reached our turn. Due to rough pavement and headwind, it took us 1.5 hours to traverse the 22.5 miles, a 14.8 avg. It had also cooled off, to 42.8°.  
 
¶ During the next 15.3 miles, as we continue on to Ector, we have some beautiful countryside and almost no traffic. The wind continues but more gusty. But first, we must traverse the Leonard Hills. This is a series of 6 successively more difficult hills that start a couple miles beyond our turnoff. The first two are mere bumps – no test involved. The 3rd is almost easy in spite of being an 8.5% gradient, because of the ability to use downhill momentum after the second hill, and have an easy spin up most of it. The 4th is less steep at 6.5% but momentum didn’t help as much. The 5th hill rises up as a right hand turn and disappears behind some trees. It is clearly steep, but no telling by looking, how steep. As we climb, the inclinometer ratchets up, finally settling on 11%. The good news is that it only stays on 11% a short time before rounding off at the top. The 6th hill, while not as steep, is tougher. There is a long stretch at the bottom of the 5th hill of relatively flat ground on which some momentum is lost. Then the hill finally comes and ramps up quickly to 10% where it stays pegged for a good while. It becomes a grind. Finally it levels out and the top is flat for a quarter mile before descending to the next stream crossing. After that it is a series of rollers that would be easy were it not for the headwind. We arrive in Ector for our first control stop. In this 15 mile segment, we have averaged 14.7 with everlasting chipseal and wind to endure, but the temperature has risen to 46.4°. Things are looking up – it is getting warmer, and of course we have full sun all day to help that along.  
 
¶ Our next segment takes us 19.9 miles to the Red River – the doorstep of our crossing to Oklahoma. We have quiet country roads, more rollers, the eternal headwind and chipseal, and then we pass a quarry. After that, it is constant rock hauler traffic. On narrow roads, it is disconcerting to hear them coming from behind wondering if they will give space. They do. We of course stay respectfully to the right and they give us half a lane as they pass. Finally we turn onto Carpenter’s Bluff Road and we leave the rock haulers behind. Now we approach the Red River. If you know where to look, you can see the top of the valley, lined by trees and there is keen anticipation of seeing it for the first time on the ride. Finally, it comes into view and it is more interesting than ever. Normally, the Red River at this point is shallow water coursing over red sand coloring the water red to give credence to the name. Today, it is like I’ve never seen it. After an extraordinarily wet year, it is running deep, bank to bank and deep blue in the sunlight. What a beautiful sight! At the end of this segment, we reach the Carpenter’s Bluff Bridge. This bridge is like no other crossing I’ve seen in North Texas. It is a 115 year-old railroad bridge, cantilever construction, with a main lane to the left for train crossing and a narrower wooden plank crossing for vehicles. The trains are long gone and the bridge converted to vehicle traffic. The rails are gone from the left replaced by tarmac. It is a one lane crossing so cars have to wait their turn. The old vehicle crossing on the right is gated off as the original planks are rotting and falling into the river. On this segment, we averaged 15.3 mph thanks to more tree protection from the wind. The temperature has risen to 51.8° and the ride is becoming more comfortable.  
 
¶ We crossed on the bikes, after a couple photos to commemorate the occasion, noting that the railing on the left is partially missing – an invitation to fall off the side into the river. I stay right and enjoy the view safely separated from the edge by 9 feet of tarmac. A couple of cars come across, toward us, as well, and we give room for safe passage. This segment takes us to Achile OK, our last bit of headwind and the farthest north we go on this ride. We have 7.5 miles to Achile. The roads in this area are no better than Texas roads, being mostly pot-holed tarmac or dirt. We stuck to the tarmac, such as it was. Finally we emerged onto OK 78 and went straight north a couple miles to Achile. Most of this was uphill and directly into the wind. It was a grind. But, OK 78 is mostly smooth asphalt, a nice sample of Oklahoma main roads, which are seldom chipseal.  Our average in this segment was 14.4 mph and the temperature remained steady at 51.8°. We have covered 65 miles in an elapsed time of about 5 hours. I was in serious doubt we would finish in daylight. We both had lights, but it is always desirable not to need them.  
 
¶ Our next segment takes us from Achile back to the Red River on the way to Bonham. We traveled on OK 78, south for a couple miles, then east for about 10 miles and then curving south for the remaining distance back to the river. OK 78 has a fair amount of traffic and rock haulers but none threatening. The tarmac ranged from smooth asphalt to rougher repairs on some sections. There were a series of large rollers in the first few miles, followed by flat, fast sections of level ground. With a fairly strong NW wind, now at our backs, we flew along at a nice wind-aided speed, averaging 19.2 mph for this segment, back to the river. With fairly heavy high speed traffic, we decided to cross this cantilever bridge without waiting around. The lanes, one each direction, are standard width, meaning neither of us wanted to be there if a rock hauler passed. None did and as I recall there was no traffic going our direction at the time we crossed. We stopped on the Texas end having covered 15.9 miles in this segment, and took a couple photos from that end. We were disappointed that neither crossing had a “Welcome to Oklahoma” sign. But at least there was one for Texas at the south end of this bridge. It always seems colder in Oklahoma, even just across the river from Texas. This seemed to be so, even today, as our temperature at this juncture had risen to 60.8°, back in Texas.  
 
¶ In this next segment, we traveled 10.5 miles to Bonham. It was uphill almost all the way, but with the strong tailwind, we averaged 19.3 mph. We rode the shoulder of the highway, now TX 78. The surface was back to chipseal, with nice Oklahoma pavement but a memory. Despite this, as the average suggests, we made the trip to Bonham in record time, for me. In Bonham, we stopped at another control. Otherwise, we may not have stopped. The temperature had peaked and was now dropping, but gradually and barely perceptible, at 59°.  
 
¶ From Bonham to Wolfe City, we traveled 21 miles at an 18.9 avg. We still had the nice tailwind, but now we had more climbs. None were super steep but many were long enough to make it a struggle on tired legs. Part way to Wolfe City, we passed through the community of Gober where loose dogs can be a major issue. Fortunately, we did not attract the attention of any. We did get chased by a fair number of dogs prior to this. Wolfe City was not a stop but simply a landmark approx halfway back to Greenville, from Bonham. Temperature remained the same at 59°, but after this it got perceptibly chillier. We were losing the direct sunlight, which helped us stay warmer.  
 
¶ From Wolfe City to Greenville, was a final 18.3 miles. Just south of Wolfe City, we were chased by 3 dogs. My ride companion was drafting me at that moment as we had traded pulls for the entire ride. I didn’t notice the dogs but she was saying to blow the whistle. I reached for it, but instead I’d grabbed the nipple of my camelbak. Dang it, but at least the dogs gave up the chase before any harm had come. The whistle deters about 90% of chasing dogs. It’s better than pepper spray because pepper spray can blow back onto you – never a good thing. As for the other 10%, best course of action is to yell and haul axx! We continued a fast pace with intermittent rolling hills slowing us down and one long 9% hill really dogging me; not so much my companion. I caught up to her and she pulled for awhile until I took over as we neared Greenville. We rolled through a suburb of Greenville and were almost to our turn on Stonewall, to travel back through Greenville. The pavement there was so rough I eventually had to take the lane. Fortunately it was 2 lanes each way at that point. Once we got on Stonewall, the good ride was over. Exceedingly rough, uphill pavement was the rule and there was no fast riding after that. Through downtown Greenville we went. My ride companion reminded me to drink. We’d been waiting on a light and as I reached down, the light changed. I grabbed the whistle instead of the nipple. Dang it, I need to get that straight! Then it was up an overpass, down some more, bad pavement and finally reached our turn on Hwy 69 north, a right turn on a green light with a mass of traffic waiting on our left. I moved immediately to the left lane and into the turn lane for Wesley Ave. Our turn was the end of our ride, with an immediate right turn into our control and with an hour to spare before sunset. Finish time was 4:35 PM, temp at 57.2° and an average for this final segment of 18.1 mph. The miles through Greenville, between rough pavement and traffic lights held our speed down. This was frustrating as we both just wanted to get it over with. I had 130.9 miles but considering the conditions, we were fortunate to raise our average from 14.9 at the half-way point to 16.6 at the end. This ride was no piece of cake, but a satisfying result none the less. It truly was a grand adventure!