Ride gone all wrong.
 

Hey everyone sorry if this is a little long winded, but I want to share.
So I've been riding for a few weeks, and I decided I wanted to try and go for a little longer distance. Up until yesterday my longest ride had been 30 miles, and I had struggled a little.

My plan was that I was going to go from my house to a lake park, (about 25 miles) and then back up to the downtown area of my city to the Alamo where a friend would pick me up. So the total would have been about 40 miles.

I got everything ready the night before and set my alarm, so I would be out the door just as the sun was coming up. I printed the step by step text directions, so I would be good to go. Or so I thought!

Everything was going wonderful, I felt great, the weather was perfect.
Then it started to come apart. One of the streets I was supposed to turn on was not marked, so I passed it. So without realizing it, I went several miles past it. Eventually, I realized I had passed it, but I came to a highway that I was supposed to intersect with eventually, so I just headed south, figuring I'd get back on track, with a few extra miles no big deal. After another 5 or 6 miles, I realized something wasn't right. But then - I saw the lake! I knew it was right off the hwy, so I just needed to find a road to lead me to the park. After trying a few streets that ended up being dead ends, I found a small gas station and asked the person behind the counter. I was on the WRONG highway, and that was the WRONG lake!!!!
So now, I was pissed, and determined to get there. My new directions told me to go back over to the other highway and turn on Donop Rd. I get to the highway and turn on Donop road. Nope. The next street, curiously, is also called Donop Rd. So I turn there. NOPE!!!! So I continue south. The next road I see is Donop Rd. AGAIN! So I turn there. !!!NOPE!!!!! It comes to a gate with a securty officer and I ask her where this stupid park is, and she tells me to just keep going south. And don't turn on any more roads until I see a sign for it. So I pull out and a fight a headwind for a couple more miles and finally there it is.

Finally, I get there and head in, abruptly the road becomes unpaved. :mad: I've now gone almost 20 miles out of my way to find the park. But I'm excited because I've already gone further than ever before. After a short break, I start to head for the final leg of my trip. This time, I find all the right roads, but it's starting to get closer to noon, and it's 100 degrees outside.

I didn't make it to the Alamo, I had to stop at 55 miles because it just got too hot outside. But I'm so proud of myself. That's 25 miles better than I've ever done, and I don't feel like a mess today!

I thought you guys would get kick out of this map showing this Donop Rd. Literally every street sign over there says it.
http://www.samurals.com/crazymap.jpg

It sounds like the ride went all right, not all wrong. You had fun, you are uninjured, and the bike is mechanically sound, correct? You can remember the Alamo another time.

That map is frickin' hilarious! :roflmao2:

You're right Historian, it wasn't all bad. I think if I hadn't gotten lost, I would have been signing it's praises. I'll tell you know. The next time, I will study the map a LOT better!

tjwarren - it's crazy isn't it? I didn't think that coming up with names for streets was so complicated.

Wow...

And every one of them is named after a DIFFERENT Donop.

:lol: That might be the case, you never know.

Oh, I totally forgot to mention the dog chase scene. One of the dead end roads I turned into had a few houses on it. On my way in 2 big dogs came tearing after me. It was a slight downhill, so I just pumped the pedals to get away. Then I realized it was a dead end, and I'd have to run the gauntlet again. :p
I couldn't get my speed up enough to outrun them in time, so I thought - well maybe they're friendly and went slow enough not to freak them out. Yeah right. One was a lab and he was cool, the other was biting my back tire and trying to get to my heels. I yelled but that didn't work, I thought about smacking him in the head with my foot, but I couldn't bring myself to actually kick a dog. I tried squirting my water bottle at him and that worked for a second. It was long enough to get a little speed. I ended up using the whole bottle of water to keep him at bay until I was clear of his territory. :D

:lol:

Congrats on the new mileage.

Wow, sounds like a blast!

In life, sometimes the things that go "wrong" are a whole hell of a lot more fun that if they had gone "right!"

If not, well they still usually make better stories.

RD