alohaboy

For the most part, mine was great
I had some problems with my knee, which started last weekend on my 100 miler. It was fine during the week, came back yesterday, went away for a bit today but eventually came back.
That, and of course the sore butt of course are the only things I can complain about.
Oh, and I had no flats, despite mostly riding on the shoulder. I LOVE my new Bontrager Race Lite Hardcase tires.
I made great time: Day 1 - on the bike for about 6.5 hours, Day 2 - just over 5. I felt great after the next to last stop before Austin (averaging 18-20mph), so I just skipped the last one. It was a very cool feeling crossing that finish line though.
I hope everyone else had a good ride.

paste_me

I had a good ride but my tent leaked.

My only complaint is that I felt like kind of an outsider not riding with a team. The whole event was soooo cliquey.

alohaboy

I kind of felt that even though I was on a pretty big team (Bike Barn). I imagine the ride is more fun if you go with a friend or two.

Raccoon

Pretty decent ride, even though I had a flat both days before the lunch stops. Got them fixed on the side of the road and was prepared but was annoying.

Saturday night/Sunday morning when it rained the water seeped back up through the ground and got some of my stuff and me wet which made for a pretty lousy night of sleep. Then got up early and got out in line and got hit with some of the showers before the start, once we finally started it was kind of chilly.

My brother was able to ride the whole thing both days with his stitches from crashing 2 weeks ago and breaking his left thumb. Had to keep convincing him that he needed to stay off the SAG wagons.

alohaboy

Geez louise, he's a better man than me as I probably wouldn't have even started with stitches and a broken thumb. The SAG wagons were pretty tempting at times, but I just kept my head down and plowed on. (I know it sounds silly, but I kept telling myself that if the pros can do something like Paris-Roubaix last weekend, then I can do a measly fully furnished ride like this. )

canopus 

Mine was GREAATTT! A broken thumb and stitches is something I would also have to think about, good for him. I started from Rhodes and at the end day one felt like I could have started from Omni. Second day was killer on the hills but I didn't walk up one. I stopped at the top of one, but I didn't walk. Rode most of second day a gentleman name Paul who had a sweet Homer Hilson. He pulled me for between rest 4 and little after 5 cause by then I knew I would make but just wouldn't make it fast.

The trick to camping at the fairgrounds is getting in as early as possible so you can set up your tent under the pen awnings where the luggage was, I managed to do that and was good for sleep. I was talking with another person on the bus back who was on a team but he didn't stay in the team tent because, even though its nice and the team usually takes care of everything the sleeping part isn't much fun cause people next to you might be disturbing you in the middle of the night or you might be disturbing them. I liked going alone really.

If I had any gripe it would be the second day start, man that took a long time, I lined up at 6:45 and didn't get out until 8:15. They should line the exit with the porta potties.

My new wheels did fine except I might a problem with my fork or headset tube since I have a wicked creak in it and the when loading the bike after the ride the flex didn't look kosher (a little to much) I guess I'll pull it aprt and see whats up.

PurpleFender

From the other MS150 thread:
Holy cow that was a hell of a two days!

They had to move us from camp walmart to the kc hall saturday night.

Second day started off hard from all the butt-pain and the spray from the back tire makin things all wet. At one point on the ride I thought my brakes were dragging because it was so much work to go forward....I hadn't noticed that I was on a hill

A great ride for me though! Got to La-grange at 1:35 and got to Austin at 11:50. Beer at the end of the finish line at the team tents was the best part about both days.

Hope you all had fun!

aggarcia

I really had an MS 150 adventure. From losing two water bottles, a flat and then a bad new tube, to my riding partner losing his Garmin. The major excitement of Day 1 was the last rest stop. They were having us ride into the mud and down and up a little hump. My bike dug into the mud and started to slide left. I pulled my left leg out just at I hit the ground. No big deal, slow speed fall. I then realized my left cleat was still on my Speedplay pedal. I ended up riding the last 11 miles to LaGrange with only my right leg. It was slow, but I was happy to get to the finish. Houston Cycle Centers fixed me up at LaGrange - thanks Bob and James!!

Day 2 - the start was horrible. We waited inline for 2 hours to start. My right knee was stiff and painfully all day from its 11 mile workout from Day 1. The park was fun, but never got out of the 50 chain ring and 21 gear. The descents were fast and there were some good climbs, but Chappell Hill was harder. The group I was riding with we stopped twice to help a group with a dropped chain and gave a guy with a split tire a tube and a boot kit.

I made great time after lunch until right before the the last stop when I got a flat on the front wheel. Something punctured the front tire. I ended up booting it since you could see a small hole in the side wall of the tire. I am about to give up on the GP4000S. When I have a flat it is because of a side wall hole that destroys the tire. I now have two dead 4000S since March 1. The ride to the finish was good.

The head wind from Bastrop into Austin really killed people. There were so many people wanting to SAG that the school buses could not hold enough people. That last stretch there were lots of flats.

The ride home to Houston was relaxing.

I was on a big team ( Team Shell ), but I only knew 8-12 people. It was nice to stake out a place in the tent with friends and have a god time Sat night. AT&T data coverage was horrible in LaGrange and Bastrop. A good time was had, but it was a struggle at times.

At this time I am really thinking about trying to ride Hotter than Hell this summer.

canopus 

Let me know if you decide to and have some space. I almost pulled the plug on it last year but decided I didn't need to drive that far to ride 100 miles in the heat when I could do it here for free.

If it hadn't been for Paul i would have had a harder time on day 2 in that headwind, I've ridden in worse winds but the miles do go by so much faster when your chatting with someone.

alohaboy

Wow, I wish I could have gotten there that fast. Despite only being on the bike for 6 or so hours, I didn't roll in to La Grange until around 2:45ish, and Austin until 2.
Some of those downhills are a blast though, except for when I had to slow down because of someone in front of me. I had really bad luck where I would pass someone, scoot over to allow someone to pass and as soon as I was going to pass the next person, a huge train of riders would come roaring through so I lost tons of momentum. I was pretty proud that I didn't have to walk up any hills, despite only having one hilly ride under my belt. Actually, I thought the Schulenburg ride hills were worse for some reason. Of course now I've got a goal for next season; get waaaaaaay better at hills.

TexasSully

Had a great MS150 myself other than the sore butt from not training enough. Great group of volunteers that show up each year to support the riders. My only negative experience was with a couple of Ride Marshals that nearly caused some crashes. The first episode was Saturday when a marshal pull out of a rest stop directly in our path nd then weaved all over the road. On Sunday a marshal lead a pace line passing 3 other lanes of cyclists into oncoming traffic....guess the selection criteria for RM's isn't very high. Overall was a fun experience and the money goes for a great cause.

HogFan

(this is a long-winded report, sorry)

This is my main complaint. I did go with a friend, so it wasn't a huge deal but the whole event seemed to be catered to the corporate teams and individuals were an afterthought. My buddy rode this event five times in the early-to-mid 90s and he talked me into doing the ride with him since I started cycling last year. It has been 15 years since he rode it last, so obviously things would've likely changed a lot but he said the atmosphere was totally different. Not necessarily bad just not as enjoyable as in the past.

I had a hip replacement April 16th of last year, so I thought it would be fun celebrate my hip's first birthday doing this ride. My longest distance prior was 65 miles. I have been training and racing since I was cleared after the surgery last year, so I wasn't worried about conditioning to be able to finish the race. I just didn't know if my hip would bother me and how my butt would handle that long in the saddle.

I had a great. It's amazing to see that many riders in one event. The support from the organizers and the communities is just outstanding. Most everything was extremely well-organized. The vast majority of the volunteers were extremely helpful and knowledgeable (especially when I couldn't find things in La Grange). There were a few who seemed a bit cranky but I know it's a lot of stress, so I understood.

My buddy and I drove eight and nine hours, respectively, to get to the event. We got to the Omni late Friday afternoon. Packet pickup was a breeze. The expo was crazy busy and very crowded. We didn't get to stay long because we had dinner plans with our wives but it seemed like a good expo, although a little more elbow room would've been a good thing.

We got to the luggage drop-off before six (before they closed some of the roads). Again, well-organized and very easy to do. It was nice to have a mechanics tent right there, so we were able to top off the air in our tires. Roll out at the start seemed to go very smoothly. The mass of humanity and bikes is just so cool to see. A little misting/light rain the first 15 miles or so but nothing bad at all. The ride all the way to lunch was very easy. That bit of tailwind mixed with the flat terrain made the ride a piece of cake. Lunch was okay. Sandwiches could have been better, but I really wasn't very hungry anyway. The lines moved really fast and it was easy to get in and out.

My buddy is quite overweight, 50 pounds over the weight he used to be in his previous MS150 rides, and probably 70 pounds over what he should be. He rides mountain bikes quite a bit but didn't get a lot of road miles in training for this. I knew it was going to be a struggle for him at some point, but he's resilient and dedicated so I knew he'd find a way to push through. About 60 miles he hit the wall. I was constantly having to wait for him, which I didn't mind doing but I could see it was going to be a long afternoon. At the second to the last breakpoint he told me just to ahead and he'd meet me at La Grange, so I hit it pretty hard for the last 20 miles or so. That was fun. I don't get much flat terrain and rarely get a tailwind for that distance, so it was a blast getting there.

It was a bit confusing once I got to La Grange. It seems obvious now but just trying find the luggage area was a pain. There were no signs that I saw pointing the way. I finally got a map and found the general area where the luggage was supposed to be but couldn't figure out how to get in the dang fence I got my bags and walked around just to see where we could put our tent, find the dinner building, find vendor stands, etc. I kept waiting for my buddy to text or call when he got in. Two hours later I finally found him. Come to find out he had received my text messages and tried to respond back but the spotty cell service wasn't letting his responses through. Certainly that is no fault of the MS150 people but the cell service was frustrating.

Anyway, we found a spot for our tent by the amphitheater. Not crowded at all. The lines at the shower trucks were infinitely long, so we decided to go to the school via the buses. What a mistake. Took forever for the bus to get through traffic and then the lines were really long at the school as well. Then it was a total cluster in the school. Certainly an experience I don't want to re-live.

Finally made it to dinner. It was very good. Quick and easy and the food was great. The band was pretty good. The beer stand was nice and draft beers were pretty cheap. A couple of hours later I wanted some more food but the only food for purchase was the ice cream stand and the "fried food" place with funnel cakes and corn dogs. Would've been nice for more choices for those of us not being catered by corporate tents.

I guess the organizers wanted everyone up at 5am since they blared ZZ Top's La Grange at a volume way too high to be awakened by. That was a bit irritating but not a huge deal. The heavy rains in that hour had me worried but it moved through and wasn't a problem after that, except for the muddy conditions that everyone had to deal with. Breakfast was good and hit the spot. We were in a similar situation to what canopus said. Got in line about 6:45 and didn't get on the road 'til 8:15. I wish they would've at least announced what was going on. Again, no huge deal but irritating.

My buddy was set on doing the Bechtel challenge. I told him he should do the 71 easy route but he wanted to do the harder route. He was already struggling before we got to the first breakpoint. I went ahead through those first rollers and met him when he arrived at the breakpoint. He told me to go ahead and we'd meet at the finish. I had a blast going through the park. I ride some pretty nasty hills in my normal training, so the hills in the park were relatively easy but it was fun with the constant up and down. I would love to go back and just ride that section again.

The only bad part of the whole park route was when I was going down one of the steeper grades and going around the corner a red F-150 was coming straight for me. I was lucky nobody was in front of me, so I was on the right side of the road, otherwise I would've probably been killed. I thought the road was supposed to be closed, so I don't know what this guy was doing. It was not marked as a MS150 vehicle.

Once we merged with the 71 route people we got into a pretty good headwind most of the way back. I skipped the lunch break, which apparently I shouldn't have. My buddy said the wraps were great! Oh, well. I was able to tag on to some pretty good pace lines until I stopped at the second-to-last breakpoint to get some much needed energy. I got into another small pace line in the last 10 miles or so until we got around campus. I just wanted to roll easy through the city and enjoy the finish. It was awesome making those last couple of turns. The crowd support was outstanding. Very exciting to ride up through there.

My wife found me pretty easily and getting bags and a shower was a piece of cake. Nice having both those right together. I wish they would've had the food for the non-corporate people in the area where all the corporate tents were. It was a pain not only finding the Hooter's tent but getting through the crowd to get there. Another good example where I felt like a second-class citizen to the corporate teams.

My buddy did finally arrive a couple of hours after me. Luckily he was able to cut-over to the 71 route before going into the main part of the hilly park area. I was worried about him trying to go through the park. He survived like I knew he would and we both had a great time.

All-in-all, a stupendous event and one I'm glad to put the effort forth to attend. My complaints are all minor and certainly didn't taint the event. I know the corporate sponsors pay a lot of money to be able to get the prime spots and treatment for their teams, but the rest of us raised money, too.

I know a few people who either have MS or have family members with it, so I know how important this event is. Any trouble I had in the event or soreness today is totally worth getting support for the people who need it.

canopus 

Jeepers, I am slow, I rolled into LaGrange around 3:00 and Austin around 3:30.
Day 1 times were 5:47 pedaling and around 7:00 hours with stops (lunch took to long and I stopped to help a rider with a flat)
Day 2 times were 5:57 pedaling and also around 7:00 hours with stops.

yeamac 

Maybe you guys are in peak shape now compared to when you did your hill training which is why you crushed the state park hills.

Glad you all made it back safely and sounds like it was an enjoyable experience.

As for the HTH ride, I'm with canopus in that I too find it difficult to drive 14 hours round trip plus lodging when I can go out in the heat any day for free. Plus the HTH inconveniently coincides with the start of the school year. I'm looking at closer rides, like the Pineywoods Purgatory which sounds like a challenging, scenic ride with less people and is a much closer drive so no lodging required.

Underground

I kept to myself for the most part. It was my first time and I didn't know many people there, even though I was on Team BP. I somehow managed to find my cousin and his wife in La Grange. We talked some, but I missed him at the start on Sunday, he didn't leave until 9 due to a long line. I got out of there at 7:30.

Nice ride and talked with some people on the way there. I was a bit more competitive than I planned on being. Next year I'm going to track down my cousin and his wife, then get my other friend along. We can cruise together for the whole ride which would be fun. Maybe I can chat up with some more locals and find more people to track down and ride with.

Tyrell

I had a good one with no wrecks...only a close call around Katy when a guy pulled out from a parking lot without even looking! Got into La Grange in good time after running a strong pace line with my fellow Tacodeli guys. Sunday's ride through the park was excellent despite damp roads. Guess the weather scared most away. Never saw but more than a couple drops of rain though I came prepared! If you saw a guy on an old purple Trek 7-speed with down-tube shifters and rear rack complete with a grey home-made coroplast rear fender, that was me! (Tacodeli jersey on Sat, TxTech jersey Sunday)

PurpleFender

I think the reason the Corp. Teams are catered to is because they pull most of the fundraising weight. They said at the omni start that of the 17 mil. Last year, 14 was raised by teams. My team was about 100 people and I didn't know a lot of them. I can only imagine riding with BP, they had over 700!

I've done these rides without teams and most of the issues you guys were having could have been solved by reading the site and looking at the maps.

Also, driving 1000 miles to ride 100 was pretty dumb (hhh) but it's a fun ride and everyone should do it at least once

canopus 

Pictures that I got, not great from a blackberry but...

2010 MS150 Day 1

2010 MS150 Day 2

aggarcia

The Corp teams are a big part of the picture because of their sheer numbers and as PF mentioned $$$. I was on Team Shell and we had 425 riders and raised $330,000. How many people do not raise or give the required $400 dollars? This is a fund raising event.

canopus - nice pictures. I was afraid of rain and damage so no camera and the iPhone battery is marginal at best for 2 days.

HogFan

Of course it's obvious WHY the corporate teams are catered to so well, but it does make the experience less enjoyable for those not on a team. My complaints were very minor and didn't ruin my experience at all. Having said that, I did read the site thoroughly before the ride and looked at the maps. That didn't help where they positioned the Hooter's lunch tent and the fact that there weren't many options for vendor food at the fairground.


I raised virtually the same as the average for Team Shell and my buddy raised more. I'm not trying to be argumentative but individual riders are important as well. I think it's a great cause and plan on supporting further MS rides.

HogFan

Great pics! Thanks for sharing.

Underground

So how long does it traditionally take for brightroom to post up those pictures?

aggarcia

I agree that this event needs to support both team and individual riders. One your out of the road the lines between team and non team riders mostly goes away. Some teams do ride in pace lines, but that is a different discussion.

My second part of my question about the $400 donation is because I know several riders both on teams and not on teams that have not collected a dime. Does the MS society enforce their rule about future participation? I look at the team rosters and see many riders with $0 in the raised column.

I second the question about Brightroom photos?

Mash Master

I've rode in MS rides in three states now and the Texas one is the most corporate and unfriendly. I much preferred the rides hosted in Washington State and South Dakota. They have corporate sponsors but they are allowed to do what they need to do while the hosts just cater to the riders other than make sure that tent space is available.

I will continue to raise money for MS but will probably ride my rides in other chapters in the future. I even tried to work with the lone star chapter to get them corporate money from my company, about $50k but they pretty much blew us off. I guess that is a drop in the bucket for the Texas chapter.

H-Bear

I had a great time riding with the Saint Arnold team. A+ support, food, and beer.

Pics of the ride here -> photobucket

+1

Though I think everyone should do it at least once.