Spring Fever - Sulphur Springs Tx - March 29th
 

This ride will be my first Charity ride of the year. The last couple of years I've done the 41 mile route, but this year, as an attempt to get my mileage ramped up after my surgery earlier last month I am aiming for the 66mi route this year. I'm looking for a group of riders to work with on this ride, I plan to stop at about every other rest stop (approx every 20miles) with an moving tempo of about 17ish, aiming for an average of 16-16.5 or so.

Y'know, at first it turned me off cuz it calls iteself a race. BUT...who says I gotta go fast? So I'm in...but I won't be able to do your distance and speed...not yet, anyway. ;) Gimme a couple weeks to work myself into shape. :P

It took me a while to find the information at their website.

Hey. Looks like I'll be wandering down to Texas for the ride. I'm probably going to be doing the 66 miler, too. I'm thinking about taking my fixed gear again, so there's no way I'd be able to match your pace if I did. But I still might take the road bike. It depends on if the coin lands heads or tails when I'm loading up the car.

Anyone else from the Dallas gang showing up?

BF'er Hobartlemagne is going to be hitching a ride with me out to Sulphur Springs at the end of the month. We'll likely be taking the pace a little on the slower side than I'd originally planned. I should still have your number, I'll give you a call when we get out there on Saturday. Ride's not a big one so shouldn't be difficult to find ya.

I'm sort of planning on giving it a whirl. Probably going for middle distance whatever that is, and averaging in the "slow" range. I'm not concerned about the "race" part- the web page also shows it as a "tour". Anybody "racing" in this thing is going to be out of my sight after the first 2 minutes, so it's sort of a non-issue. (To be more specific, probably the 41 mile route, maybe the 22, averaging 14-15 mph, stopping at every rest stop).

Route is pretty flat, so if you've done more than 25mi at a time in the Dallas area before, you should be fine with the 41 mi route. There's several miles where the routes are the same so make the call the day of. I just remember doing the 41 mi route last year and getting done thinking "well, I could have gone a fair bit further today".

I'll most likely be riding my Fuji Team Issue WCS, but if the mood strikes me and I'm feeling good I might bring the Serotta out.

Bump. Ride is now less than a week away. Crossing my fingers for some good weather. Right now it looks decent with some moderate winds.

Thinking of coming out for this ride. It still depends on the plans of the family though.

Steve

Ouch. Got some inflammation between ribs that is making it painful to move at the moment. Hopefully, that will be way better before next weekend, still planning on giving it a whirl. I think the Ride Dallas is the week after that.

I'm gonna head out there Friday after work. I've never seen the exciting night-life in Sulphur Springs.

I'm sure it's quite the happening place. :)
I was out there last weekend and actually drove around the course. Looks so-so for me. The part down Hwy 19 (or maybe up, I'm not sure what direction they go) seems fairly hilly, the rest of it, not so much. Hwy 19 and Hwy 69 have decent shoulders except for very small areas. The FM roads don't have shoulders, but don't have much traffic either.

When you say hilly, any idea of the grade? I was thinking of riding the fixie, but could probably be talked out of it.

Steve

You will be fine riding the fixed. Highway 19 is the best cycling road around there. Most riders in the area use it exclusivly as an out-and-back. It is nice and rolling but I would say it is mostly downhill. I can only think of ~3 good uphills but they are not that steep. The pavement there is super smooth and the shoulders are 8 feet or wider. This stretch of the route is the first 10 miles as well so you will still have energy and lots of people to draft.

This will be my first year to miss. I did it last year with my 4 year old on the tandem and my 5 year old on the trail-a-bike and still had a good average speed (~16 mph). I am staying in Houston for my son's baseball and my grandfather isn't doing it this year since he has been sick, but my Dad will be there.

As far as nightlife, good luck. I lived there for 18 years and I never found anything to do. They do have a movie there now and a few resturantes that stay open past 9 that we didn't have when I grew up there. I spent last week there visiting but I still wish I could make it back again this week for the ride.

I hope everyone that does the ride has a great time. Be sure to hang around afterwards as they do a great job feeding and entertaining everyone. It is really a unique experience especially if you are used to the big city rides.

Aggie_grad

Thanks for the info AG! I'm not a fast rider, but I can go forever at about 12mph...but I've been working out lately so maybe my avg speed will be higher this weekend. Especially if the roads are that nice...I see no reason to doubt it. As for "night life," I know... ;) The nice thing is, when I drive that direction (east from Dallas), I can pick up KNTU on the car radio until I get to the far side of town...sort of a land mark on a road trip. ;)

So I'll be there unless I get dumped on by work. I'll be on a yellow fixed gear w/ red bar tape on moustache bars. I'll probably be wearing a red/white/blue Castelli Jersey. I'll be on the long ride, taking my time.

Cuda, I think I remember my cell being out of range when I got out there last year. Might be different this year. I'll keep checking it and will keep an eye out for you.

I hope to meet some of you folks out there.

Both Cuda and I will be wearing our blue Texas BF jerseys, so keep an eye out for us.
I'm the handsome one with horns on my helmet.

I'll be ready for the wind. I just finished 4 consecutive days of riding. I'm used to it now.

As far as the road conditions, only the first 10-12 miles are on the smooth road with the wide shoulder. The rest are on chip seal roads like most of East Texas. They were only really bad 2 or 3 years ago when they were recently redone but you never know if they decide to "refinish" a section of road right before the ride. These roads may not be as smooth but there are almost no hills or traffic. Have fun.

pup, hope to catch you before, after, or during the ride. As hobartlemagne says I plan to be sporting my Texas BikeForums jersey. Should be on my Fuji as well, unless I make a last minute decision to take the Serotta (doubtful). I'd like to check out those bars on your fixie, was actually tossing around the idea of getting a pair for one bike or another.

Just checking the weather, they show 7-8 mph winds and 10% chance of rain. Sounds pretty favorable!

As to grades- I have no clue. Hills that are insignificant in my car are obstacles on my bike. There's nothing that would slow a car down, if that helps. I'm riding a single speed myself. A hill is no problem. Another hill is no problem. But 100 hills is/are.

I've got a 200k that day, otherwise I'd help you slowpokes out ;)

I'm bringing my Univega! Don't know what I'll be wearing jersey-wise (I WANT a BF jersey!), but I do have a glaring white helmet. Since rest stops are reported to be 8-10 miles apart, I WON"T be bringing my camelback! Think they'll have PickleJuice there??? I gained a fondness for that <Gak> stuff.

http://www.geocities.com/hobartlemagne/Joneats.jpg

Cuda and I did a carbo-load dinner tonight

mmmmmmmm- tamales!

Anne said that better not be a certain Mexican restaurant in McKinney or the next ride will have the pace accelerated to painful levels!

:rolflmao: Tell Anne that we didn't go there without ya'll.

Ride was good, though I got a flat at mile 9 which put Ryan and me behind everyone who was going at a good pace, so we decided that between that and the weather that we'd cut it short and do the 41 mi ride and live to ride another day. I'll write a full ride review later after I rest a bit. Over all, I had 41mi at 17.2mph average.

We went to Aparicio's on 18th in Plano. I don't think Petra has a dozen tamales platter.