aggarcia

Rex - hope you make it tomorrow. Get some sleep if possible. You are already taking about being dropped? Well I guess this is BF. We must talk about being dropped, Conti black chili tires, or the CAAD9.

kwrides

What about riding 200k on your trainer?!

yeamac

We can start at 18 cruising speed and can scale it back a mph or two if need be. Highway 6 would be a good place to turn around for someone not looking for many miles as that would be about 36 miles round trip from the JCC.

The KPRC weatherman at 5pm tonight made it sound like we should not get any rain overnight or in the morning, with rain chances picking up after noon.

See you all in the morning at 6:25.

scattered73

well I hope everyone made it home ok great ride my computer read 92mi though I am not sure how acurate it is.

yeamac

Yeah, hope everyone made it back. Good riding.

My daughter and I ended up with 82 miles for the day. I did this ride for my daughter's sake so the 74 miles each day at the Bike Around the Bay won't be a barrier, but I think I benefited more than she did ... I learned this ain't no walk in the park! I was spent well before the ride was over. Well, I've got a month to build up my endurance on the tandem. 100 miles on the single is easier than 60 on the tandem. I'll have to throw some bricks in the panniers and strap them on the back of the tandem and ride while my daughter is in school.

Also, I went home McHard -->> Chimney Rock -->> snaked over to Hillcroft and that was a fantastic route for coming back as far as avoiding the traffic on S. Post Oak. Definitely safer, especially with the precious cargo on board. Also, the houses/trees helped to block the NE headwinds, while S. Post Oak is a little more open.

kwrides

Sounds like a better route. I vote we do this next time.

Hope you all had good rides!

Rex G

I hydrated and stretched at the Sandy Point Bible Church for a bit, after y'all moved on. Then I rode almost straight through to get home. I made it home about 1130-ish, totally spent, taking three hours to go about the same distance I had done in two hours outbound, but i didn't follow the same route. When I came off of Court onto S. Post Oak Road, I turned the wrong direction onto S. Post Oak, and ended up right back on McHard. I ended up taking Blue Ridge Road to Hillcroft, to Edith, to Chimney Rock, to Evergreen, on which I live. The shade along Hillcroft was sweet, and as yeamac mentioned, the headwind was blocked a bit. The Hillcroft choice was especially advantageous for me, as I did NOT want to climb the Post Oak bridge again, even if my bike was originally custom-built for a Colorado mountain goat. I hindsight, I really SHOULD have turned around at SH-6, but then, I enjoyed the scenery the most past 6.

Next time I am going to slog solo into a headwind like that, on purpose, I may want to use my old beater Koga Miyata bike that has aero bars!

I want to express my thanks and enjoyment of y'all's company this morning, and extra thanks to aggarcia for dropping back to check on me as I struggled to keep pace, just before I elected to turn around.

yeamac

People always say it didn't happen without picts, so here is a few of the Sept. 5 ride.

Here we are at the start, looking like we are lining up for a race:



aggarcia wanted to show us that it really is more difficult to change a flat on a new set of tires. Rex G assists:


scattered73 leads the charge showing cowboys don't need horses -- bikes work just fine to wrangle them cattle:



we passed a BBQ place, and the sign said "Bikers Welcome." Not sure if they meant motorcycles or bicycles, but it was only 9 in the morning, so we couldn't confirm:



On the way to Brazos Bend State Park:



While everyone else rests at the park, Steve practices his 'gator evasive maneuvers:



Low wind speeds are good for more than just cyclists ... here are a few skydivers at Rosharon.



I love shots like this: (note to self: remove the camera strap before the next ride)

aggarcia

It was a hard ride. I pooped out and only made it back to Hwy 6. By Hwy 6 on the return route I was out of gas, suffering butt/lower back pain and cramping legs I had to throw in the white towel. The return trip was painful - a killer headwind. The flat tire was the least of my problems.

What I learned - 1. Get better sleep the night before 2. Give up my hopes of the stock saddle and switch to the padded seat I have 3. Take it easy when changing tubes - getting in hurry cost me a tube .

I have not been getting to ride as much durning the week, so I will try and get up my miles up durning the week.

I have the Ride of Sight in a few weeks, so I need to get up to 62 miles without killing myself.

Rex G

yeamac; excellent pics! I see my bandage got some exposure. Body-surfing on the pavement was fun while it lasted, but the aftermath is inconvenient.

I loved seeing the tandem in action. I may look into acquiring one to get my nephew out for longer rides. I have become his default father figure, at least for outdoors/active stuff.

Meanwhile, I need to get onto the Westpark bridge, inside the loop, only a couple of miles from me, and do some practice climbing. IIRC, the marked bike lane is still there, so this is feasible any time of the day.

kwrides

I rode down Post Oak this morning to the beltway and then west to Hillcroft and up. You're right yeamac, that's a much better route. If you like, next time we ride together I can show you how to cut through Westbury by my house and up to the JCC. That way you avoid the heavier traffic of Hillcroft from W. Belfort up to Braes.

Rex G

I found Hillcroft to have amazingly light traffic, around the 11:00-11:30 AM time frame. (Saturday) One Adam Henry did have to prove how loud his horn could be; I turned and gave him my best "look," as if looks could kill. He followed me for a few blocks, then passed, in that nice, huge left lane that was there the whole time.

"Adam Henry" is phonetic alphabet for AH, a kind way to say something less polite.

There was one DEEP pothole, somewhat obscured by shade, and I need to go back and find it, so as to remember the block for a time when a group may be going that way, and a "heads up" can be passed up/down the line.

KW, the neighborhood cut-thru is also an interesting idea.

Once again, I want to THANK y'all who went on this ride, and on Tex's ride last week. It has rekindled the flame, and pulled me out of my non-riding rut. I am now once again a bicyclist, not a mere bicycle collector.

scattered73

How would you guys feel about a ride to the texas city dike never biked out there and always thought it would be fun to put my feet in the water at the halfway point?

yeamac

That'd be great. I was just thinking we need to be more than a one-route club.

Do you know a good way out there? I don't even know where that is (well, in the direction of Texas City, I'm sure). If you've never used mapmyride before, my first time was to create the route I posted earlier in this thread. It is pretty simple to use, and you don't even need to register to make a route, just don't loose the web link or you'll have to recreate it.

Post a route, and let us know when you want to do it.

scattered73

Ok I did a quick google and it said 39 miles though when I did a map my ride it says 60 miles when I add the end of the dike. I routed from my place just to get a general idea. Then looking from sw side I am at a loss on how to cut over east without crazy back tracking. To be honest I have never really ventured out on the se side or bay area via bike. I am going to recant my suggestion I really only thought it was about 40 or so each way.

kwrides

So, have you guys been riding while I was gone?

yeamac

Nope. Well, at least not as a group. My Saturdays are tied up the next couple of weeks.

I rode the FM-521 route on Friday down to Clute, and I came home dirtier than I've ever been. You could see the dust kick up as trucks roared by. I don't know if that is due to the recent rains or what.

aggarcia

Everything has worked against riding the last few weeks. I will try a get out and ride this week. How was vacation?

kwrides

Excellent, but I ate and drank too much, which is great on vacation, but not so good for getting back on the bike!

We even caught a double rainbow:

aggarcia

Sounds like you had a good time. Scheduling conflicts have kept me off the bike for a few weeks. The weather for the weekend will not help.

aggarcia

Any one up for a ride this Saturday am ?

Rex G

Perhaps a shorter one than 50+ miles; I work an OT shift until 2:00 AM or so, and will wake my wife up for her job at 5:00 AM. Perhaps I had better get my elbows some BMX armor; bad things happen when I stay up all night before a ride!

kwrides

If it's not pouring, I'll ride, but I want to do a quick pace if anyone's interested.

I still have some fat to burn from vacation!

Rex G

OK, I am still awake from last night's OT shift. I plan to be at the foot bridge by the JCC at 0630.


Edited to add: Well, I showed up about 0645 or so. Fried rice is NOT a good pre-ride meal, at least not with less than two hours to digest it, so I rode there at a walking pace, barely keeping "breakfast" down, and upon arrival, I was in no shape to ride fast. I followed after some blinkies, only to find they were joggers, then returned to the footbridge and FINALLY adjusted my saddle; I think I now have it about right. I did some exploring of the back streets, north of the bayou, then tried to catch up to a guy in a red and white jersey on a road bike going fast, east on Beechnut. (I had thought it might be kwrides; too far to tell.) Then, a train got between us; so much for that. I later saw a group leaving Planetary Cycles, at S. Braeswood at Stella Link, and I saw a red and white jersey among the group, but no familiar faces.

If any of y'all rode, I hope it was a good one.

scattered73

Bummer I would have been up for a ride this past saturday but didn't see the post until now so I am subscribing to this thread.