I first rode the MS150 in 2015, so this was my first full, two day ride. We had a small team of four riders. I left out of Waller an hour later than I wanted. I managed to grab the back of a good group of some Team BEMA riders and a couple others. We flew past the first stop and had a solid pace until about three miles to the lunch spot when one rider lost a tail light from the bumpy road. It was good timing as I was barely able to hang on to the 18-19 mph pace in that crosswind. I left the lunch spot and rode with various groups for the rest of the ride. The cross winds were tough and even the large trucks coming the opposite direction were almost blowing me over. I got into La Grange around 2:30. That final stretch was a bit rough and I kept telling myself I would never survive a whole day of headwinds. We spent our night in a house in Round Top, so we were protected from the storms.

Day Two was just ugly. We got to La Grange and I realized I left my heart rate monitor straps in my bag back at the house. My shoes were full of mud the moment I stepped out of the truck. I did not actually check Sunday's weather when packing, so I only had some arm warmers that I happened to throw in. No base layer and it was cold. I'm a Yankee and I think my blood has officially thinned out. My feet were wet from waiting in line and from the rain. I was shivering while trying to text the wife updates. The first 10 miles were cold and I took it easy since I wanted to get warmed up and stretch at the fist stop. I kept telling myself that this wasn't fun and I could always SAG. But I saw others that were older than me, heavier than me and were wearing sneakers riding platform pedals without even toe clips. If they could do it, so could I. Once I topped that big mountain just before Bastrop's lunch break, I knew I could finish.

It was just such slow going. I ran with a few pacelines, but even then, they were either too slow or a hair too fast. I didn't feel overly sore or exhausted, but just frustrated. I was lucky to get 12 mph in a pace line when that same effort got me 18 mph on the previous day. I just pulled off at the turn for the last breakpoint, popped some chews and found a sample BCAA packet that had caffeine in it. That was a boost (at least in my mind). I cruised those last eleven miles, even those ugly hills getting into Austin.

I pulled in about 4:30 and we hung around a bit before heading home. We arrived at 9:00 pm to two hyper three year old twins. It was just a long, exhausting and frustrating day.

I do have to admit that I am not very sore today. I can tackle stairs well and even get out of a chair without much of a grunt or groan.