the sci guy 

Alright, let's start a roll-call. Who else is signed up?
I'm riding with Phillips 66 this year thanks to a work friend (my work doesn't have enough people for a good team).

faulker479

Riding with KSBJ Team Hope. Also doing Ready2Roll series

memebag

Saint Arnold here. We had our first ride of 2017 last Sunday. 16 or 17 people showed up at the brewery. Temperature of 32 degrees, pretty stiff wind. Someone brought potato bacon soup. Of course there was beer. Wonderful group of people.

We also had an MS150 fund raiser at Rudyard's last week, with a little friendly competition with Team Karbach. Punk rock karaoke, casino games and beer, plus we won.

We're doing a ride every Saturday and Sunday from now until MS 150, with one Saturday off the week before. Woohoo!

txags92

I am in. Riding with Ol Army Cycling and doing the Ready2Roll series also. Haven't been out on the road on a bike since about September, but I have been leading or taking spinning classes 2-3 times per week.

memebag

With a head wind or tail wind, being in a pace line makes it MUCH easier. With a cross wind (which is rare for MS150) not so much.

I say "pace line" because I never see a real peleton on the MS 150, just pace lines.

the sci guy 

There are soooooo many people that ride the MS you're basically never alone. Yes there are teams or groups that will pace-line and roll like crazy, and you can try to hang with them or get a group of your own. These riders will be out front the whole time mostly so you need to ride early. These are the guys who get to the lunch stop at like 10am, and are done by noon - while the rest of the 10,000 people finish between like 2-5pm.
Basically, there will always be a group of people you can draft either going at every speed imaginable.

Many of the fast-riding pace lines also end up riding out in the road to go around everyone instead of staying on the generously sized shoulders.

Just be prepared because even though this isn't a race, many, many people treat it like their very own Tour de France, and will ride like dicks.

memebag

I haven't seen anyone riding like dicks yet. Of course, I'm one of the people who got to lunch before 10am last year. Maybe the dicks were behind me?

txags92

Yeah, skipping a few of the early break points gets you ahead of a large chunk of the riders. Generally speaking, the faster the riders are going, the more likely they are to have at least some bike handling skills and knowledge about how to ride in a group. I would be very careful about trying to just draft in large groups you don't know. The large disorganized packs are where one wrong move will cause a chain reaction that can take down a lot of riders. If I am not riding with friends I know, I generally try to find 2-4 people riding my pace and work together with them. Smaller groups are easier to deal with and you can keep an eye on the riders around you easier to spot anybody who might be too erratic to ride with.


Most of all, just try to enjoy the ride. So many people get their heads down and ride hard and get so wrapped up in "getting there" that they miss the beauty of the scenery and all the people cheering you on along the way. The most touching part of the ride is when you see a group of 1-4 people standing at the end of a driveway out in the country somewhere with cowbells or a big sign, hollering encouragement towards the riders. You can tell that they have some personal connection to the cause and it just makes a little bit of the tiredness evaporate out of your legs each time you pedal past them, knowing that there are thousands of people out there riding to help them or their loved one.


As far as how to find a group to ride with, the ready2roll training series is great for that, because they start in waves by speed at their training rides, and you will eventually find yourself riding with a lot of the same people week after week. It is easy to talk to a few of them and find out when and where they plan to start the MS150 and arrange to meet up and ride together. You can do the same with some of the recommended rides from the MS Society, but you aren't guaranteed to see the same people and same pace groups at each ride.

Scott P

As the others have said, riding solo during the actual ride is pretty rare. There are a lot of bikes on the road and you will always have sight of a group or two. It's not a race, so you don't see the traditional "peloton" group unless you are really out front with the cycling heroes. However, there is plenty of "bunching" that goes on, especially on the hills. Everyone tires at a different pace on the hills, so as you get closer to the top and you are passing folks still, you end up swinging wider and wider to get around the people who are slower. Coming into and out of rest stops can also be tough with the cross traffic of bikes.

Personally, I am a terrible solo rider. I end up going slower and getting bored easier when out by myself. If I am riding with others I just seem to go faster and for a longer period of time. I don't know if it is competitiveness, aero effects from pace lines or just my mind playing tricks on my body.

I am riding in my third straight MS150 (ok, MS75 the past two years) and with a new team, Back Pew Brewing. The brewery is practically behind my house, so it made sense to me. I am a bit behind on my training, but am in decent shape cardio and strength-wise. I just need to locate my missing cycling legs.

the sci guy 

Yeah sorry I didn't mean to make it seem like it's a cluster of idiots vs fast paced dicks. It's an awesome event, and this will be my 3rd as well. I love it, it's a great time with so many awesome people.
I was being pretty general, but yeah the above folks are right - while you'll almost always be around a group of people you do have to be careful because there do tend to be clumps of riders that are mostly unorganized - and a great point about the hills too.

Just practice common sense safety and pay attention. If you're an experienced cyclist you know how to ride and what to look for others doing. There no doubt will be crashes - there always are. I'd say over half the time it's more inexperienced people that are riding in those large clusters that end up clipping someone and down they all go.

txags92

My experience is that it is usually the faster groups coming up behind a slower disorganized group that ends up involved in the worst crashes. Either the folks at the front don't communicate well with the people behind them and when they slow down, nobody has room to maneuver. Or somebody in the slower group swerves out unexpectedly and causes chaos behind them as people try to avoid them. Communication is the key to avoiding either scenario.


Also, trust the hairs on the back of your neck. If you are riding in a decent sized group and coming up fast on a group of slower riders that look a bit disorganized, pay attention to that little voice saying "this could get dangerous". Give yourself a little more room in front of you and plan an escape path or two in case things go south ahead of you.

aklijn

I ended up with an extra room at the Omni (13210 Katy Freeway) for Friday night, April 28th, with two double beds if anybody wants it. I think they're sold out at this point. I'd only want to recoup the $120 cost. Message me in you're interested.

SAGit

@&);?!#%^*, rain in the forecast for MS150 weekend. WTF?

memebag

Don't freak until the day before. Then freak.

the sci guy 

Having it ruined 3 years in a row would be a real shame. I bet it might start turning some people off.
But I'm not worried - weather forecasts here are shoddy at best most of the time when it comes to rain.

Scott P

It's still too many days out to freak out over rain. However, that NW wind they are predicting is gonna suck.

SAGit

Except for rain around Saturday night, it looks like we are going to have decent weather. Instead of a plastic bag seat cover, should I bring a plastic bike cover?

What about extra plastics for the sleeping area?

Scott P

I'm hoping that by checking the Weather Channel app for the forecasts in Waller, La Grange and Austin every five minutes, I am setting a new world record. I really want that wind change to happen on Monday and not Sunday.

the sci guy 

yeah i stopped checking the weather for houston and started checking for la grange and austin lol
can't believe that monster wind is going to be a straight headwind on day 2 as of right now - assuming we survive the thunderstorms.....

SAGit

With the increasing chance of possible hail and lightning forecasted for Saturday night, it doesn't look good for Tent City. Although with less than 1" rain predicted, the second day may be a wash again

Too bad lagrange doesn't have a building that's big enough to accommodate 10k people.

the sci guy 

I'm less than optimistic at this point.

Next weekend looks wonderful though - naturally.

Scott P

We are staying offsite overnight, but it is the scattered thunderstorms where some may be severe on Saturday that have me a tad worried. Plus, that stupid headwind hasn't changed either for Sunday.

the sci guy 

Yup - they will cancel it before they let a flat campground full of people get hit my lightning and hail. Keeping fingers crossed, though.

Scott P

I do not envy the MS150 organizers one bit. The forecast shows that Saturday night has the potential for severe storms in La Grange while Sunday looks dry. The weather forecasts have been a bit dodgy this spring, so you don't know what to expect.

SAGit

This will be a tough call by the organizers. The forecast shows the risk of strong thunderstorms in the area but the predicted model has the "heavy storms" moving Northeast of LaGrange. I think they will make a decision around 10 am today.