Texas - Gator Ride

So who all is riding the Gator Ride this Saturday in Baytown? I'll be there, riding the 43 mile route...that Fred Hartman Bridge is going to be fun.

-Nate

I'll be there. The down side of the bridge will be fun, I don' t know about the up side.

The upside of the ride is not as bad as it looks.
And the downside is great as long as there is no bad crosswind.

Unfortunately I'll be working this year.:(

Jerry

I'll be there too. Looking forward to it. I am NOT, however, looking forward to the bridge, except the downside - that'll be a hoot and a half!

I'm moving :( Otherwise I'd be there with you.

The farthest I've ridden since Novemberfest was 17 miles. My friends (Teeleton, Chevy42083, and Will) talked me into doing the 62 mile route. I had been up all night working and only got two hours of sleep, had no breakfast, and survived off of Goldfish and Oreos. I made it, with a sunburn.

I have to say that the event is very well organized, I was glad to see so many cops there to block traffic and keep things moving. The bridge wasn't to bad of a climb, the down hill was awesome hit 36 miles down hill...was to afraid to go any faster with my bum handle bars and wheels that aren't trued. The rest stops were spaced nicely, well stocked, and provided friendly staff.

The ferry line sucked, but it was pretty cool to ride the ferry.

-Nate

I was very impressed with the ride. I will DEFINATLY be back.

The roads were awesome, only a few very small stretches of bad road... even those were not THAT bad.

Rest stops were well stocked, lots of variety, and plenty of each. Not all had sports drink... but the water was COLD.

I liked all the traffic assistance, only came to ONE corner which needed someone there. We weren't sure if the sign meant "turn now", or turn at the light. We road around that block an extra time. 1.3 miles into the ride was an intersection which claimed many water bottles, lights, etc... the bump was big, and it woulda been nice for some to be there calling it out... but I think everyone survived. At one place, the camo was working too well... didn't even see the guy standing in the road till we were AT the intersection.

Fred Hartman Bridge was fun... kinda eary in the fog.... not from around there, so the yellow suspensions kinda surprised me about 4/5 of the way up when I could finally see them :D I had forgotten what bridge they were on.

Ferry wait wasn't that bad, hopefully a flat tire won't hold us up from getting there earlier next year.

We rode with a ride Marshal named Lisa who was fun to talk to, and quick with assistance when a rider went down. Thank you.

Only real complaint of the day... a snapped spoke during a sprint in the last mile. :( Now the decision making starts.

Short pedal time, long ride time:
Delays:
Foggy start,
Flat at 1.3miles,
Ferry wait,
waiting behind accident w/ 3 ambulances,
Teeleton's accident.

+ 1 on all the above.

It was by far the best organized ride this year. Hartman bridge wasn't as bad as I had heard. It was cool riding through the San Jac Battleground and past Battleship Texas. Ferry ride wait was about 20 minutes, but didn't take long to warm back up once on the other side. At mile 27 I too broke a spoke, so I limped back to the 3rd rest stop where Kenneth from NW Cyclery had me trued back up and on my way in less than 5 minutes. The hot dogs and music at the finish was a big bonus. All in all it was a great ride and I will for sure be back next year.

Yeah, the delays made the ride a lot less enjoyable than it could have been. Bouncing off the pavement didn't help either. I never did see the bump I hit. Who was leading that paceline anyway? :D

Climbing the fogged out bridge was a lot harder when you can't tell how much climb is left. Also, I didn't realize the climb was coming until it was too late to get some initial momentum up, so I just had to grind it out. chevy42083 drafted me on the backside until I stopped accelerating at 35 and then passed me like I was standing still.

Pretty sure I won't do the ride next year. It just turned out to be way too long of a day with the drive out and back + all of the delays. I left the house at 5:30am and got back home at 4:15.

Teeleton

Magnolia Miles this Saturday?

Magnolia Miles this Saturday?

That looks like a fun route (70 mile). It should have some ups and downs. Maybe not as much as the Hill Topper but still pretty good. I'd like to do it but won't know for sure until later in the week.

I also did the 43 mile Gator ride with a few family members from Tomball and we all enjoyed it - except the weird mist that seemed like some kind of acid rain when we rolled through the refineries. We also thought all the police controlling traffic was a real plus. The bridge was great - found the uphill not as bad as I had expected and the downhill not as fast as I would have liked (just over 33mph), but all in all it was pretty cool. The monument/battleship/ferry were all a nice change of pace for an organized ride, but it seemed we waited forever for the ferry. Did any of you guys have blue rims? We spotted that bike at the starting point and then saw it with problems just a little ways into the ride. Saw him on the side again later, but then he blew past us before the finish going about 30 mph. It was a great lookin' bike for sure! I have to say the weather was nice and like someone else mentioned, we all came home sunburned.