SAGit

I have a feelin there will be serious traffic near the starting line. If I were to drive on my own, I would find a place to park within riding distance (3-5 miles) of the drop off location and pay them a parking fee.

i remembered reading about the 2009 situations and traffic delays around the starting point.

i am very lucky to ride with a large corporate team who has made all contingency plan for busing to Lagrange. Please give thanks to your captain(s).

SAGit

In case you missed the update, the MS Society has offered registration transfer to SAMs MS150 and to send them an email before the 24th (provided that you do not ride this Sunday?)

rpecot

We are checked into our hotel in Schulenburg. Did a recon mission into La Grange. Parking at the schools does not appear to be very ample but there does appear to be a good bit of street parking in town.

My buddy and I are going to ride our bikes to La Grange in the morning for some bonus miles (several folks were riding it this evening - really nice road) and my wife and daughter will drive and park in La Grange and ride from the official start.

txags92

My sister is going to drop my wife and I off in LaGrange and then pick us up in Austin. Get there early if somebody is dropping you off and just pick a good parking lot near the start to unload. It won't be any worse than the lines waiting to park at the ready2roll ride starts. Just be patient in the morning when getting on the route, as there will be big wads of riders bunching up early until we can get spread out. Exercise some patience early on and hydrate early. Supposed to get quite hot by tomorrow afternoon.

the sci guy 

So how did everyone do? My wife was awesome enough to drop me in La Grange and stay home with the dog. I missed having her out there but the heat and the wind would have killed her. Almost killed me the last 20 or so miles. Great finish though. My small team probably finished 5 hours ago. Oh well I'm on the bus back to Tully now - probably will take about 6 hours lol. Post pics of you got em!

tronnyjenkins 

Ours went great! The starting line was wayyyy slow, but we had fun supporting the cause. We also felt really good about our ability on hills. I guess that's an advantage of training in Dallas or Austin!

the sci guy 

Man, did we get railed by the storms last night. Our bus ran into a large bad cell once we got on I-10, we got rained on and hailed on. And the lightning was something to behold. There was an assload of traffic on I-10 going extremely slow for some reason (always?), so it took a good 3.5 hours or so to make it to the stadium. Luckily it stopped raining by then. The bike truck was there, but they wouldn't unload it until the lightning stopped - so we sat in the parking lot for over and hour, probably an hour and a half. I was kind of disappointed because the parking lot was dark and there was no cover from the storm if you didn't already have a car ride waiting for you. I tweeted to the BPMS150, and they had someone come and turn on the parking lot lights for us! Yay technology! The lady in charge finally made the call to unload the truck after so long even though there was still a little lightning, thankfully my bike was at the front so I got it fast. We finally got home around 9pm. What a freakin day.
Felt bad for the peeps with bikes on truck M, wasn't even arrived yet when I left at 9pm.

msd3075

We saw that cell off in the distance and drove through the wet roads on our way back to La Grange. I live in the NW part of Houston (249/Louetta), so instead of taking 71 to I-10, we took 237 out of La Grange through Round Top and up to 290. Completely missed the weather, mainly because we were behind it. There was quarter-size hail at my house about 30 minutes before we got home, but it doesn't seem to have damaged anything.

As for the ride, yeah, it was what it was. I've been fighting off a bug the last week or so (sinus issues), and I could not get my heart rate down no matter what I did. I ended up getting overheated during the last stage and had to take a 10 minute breather on the side of the road next to the golf course before you went up that one last big hill. Couple that with the fact I somehow brought 2 right-hand gloves to the start (luckily I borrowed a friend's extra set), that I forgot to take my allergy medicine before I left home and had to go buy some at the HEB next to the lunch rest stop, and that I got sunscreen in my eyes halfway through the ride, yeah, it was an eventful ride.

Scott P

The wife and I woke up the 16 month old twins and left our house at 4:45 am for the trip to La Grange. She dropped my off at the unloading spot by the elementary school. That was perfect since there were no cars there. I rode into town and hooked up with my team towards the front of the line (in front of World Financial). We rode out and held a good pace. We stopped at a few rest stops we might have skipped otherwise to see if some team members could catch up. We ended up crossing the finish line around 1:30 or so. I lost a water bottle in the last couple miles as I was trying to roll out a wicked charlie horse. That sucked.

Overall, I felt pretty good actually. I passed more folks on hills than passed me, the opposite of Chappell Hill. I think I was paying more attention to my cadence and shifting smarter. We left Austin around 4:00 and took I-35 north to 290. We hit the storms at Jersey Village. We were all hungry and ended up getting some of my burned calories back at a Whataburger along the way. I think we got into the house around 8:00 pm. The little twins were troopers though as was my wife for having to take care of them all day in the crowds in Austin. Someone is getting flowers this week.

I did set a new personal best on Strave..a Suffer Score of 201, so I have that going for me. I did a Focus T25 workout this morning (Upper Focus) and my legs did feel a bit sore on some of the moves. But, I'm still able to take the stairs, and that surprised me.

txags92

My wife and I had a good ride. My sister drove us up and we unloaded in the HEB parking lot. I got to start at the front as a rider with MS (with my wife), so was thankful I didn't have to wait too long to get started. I was happy to see how many people made it up to LaGrange to start, despite the logistical challenges. I really commend the MS Society folks for setting up the bus service back to LaGrange as well as Houston, as I think that made a big difference in how many people were able to ride on Sunday.

As for the ride, I was happy with how little headwind we had to deal with. When I heard the forecast for SW winds, I was expecting headwind most of the day, but I really didn't notice it much until we were passing Webberville close to Austin. The tailwind heading out of Bastrop was a lot of fun. We ended up skipping BP1, Lunch, and BP4 and only stopped at BP2 and the last BP. That worked well, giving us three legs of about 22-24 miles. We crossed the finish line just after 1pm. On the last few large hills coming into Austin a few miles after the last BP, I had a lady crash at about 30 mph right in front of me. She was moving left to go around a group of people and bullseyed a cone that was shifted to the right from where it should have been. She went down really hard and had lots of road rash, but didn't seem like she had anything broken. I managed to dodge her and then pulled over and helped get her bike and gear out of the road. It was just another reminder (as if I needed it) that it is not a race, and as much as I may want to carry speed on those downhills to make life easier on the next uphill, it isn't worth risking your safety to do it.

Thanks to everybody who rode and raised funds for us! Remember that you can keep raising money until July, and you now have the perfect tool in the form of all those cool pictures you are posting on social media. Include a link to your donation page and keep asking for donations.

The downside of the day for me was riding through 2 hailstorms on the way home. One was when we were still west of LaGrange and had nowhere to stop that was covered. We had to keep driving because the movement of the car was shielding the bikes on the back from hailstone impacts. The second unfortunately hit us about a mile from the house, and the only shelter we could get was under a tree hanging over the street. It was a sickening feeling to sit in the car with dime and quarter sized hail falling and my new bike on a rack behind the car. The stones were coming down so hard it would have been dangerous to try to get out and get the bikes off the back. So we had to just sit there and hope that the tree was preventing them from hitting the bikes. We couldn't see damage to the frames in the house, but the lighting wasn't the best. I plan to take the bikes out in the sun this afternoon and give the frames a careful inspection to make sure there is no damage. My truck has a few dents in the hood, and my sister's car has dents all over the roof. It was sitting right behind us under the tree, so hopefully that isn't a sign of what to expect with the bikes.

rpecot

Apparently, great minds think alike.

So as I had planned, my buddy and I left the hotel in Schulenburg on our bikes and rode the 15 miles into La Grange. My wife and daughter drove into town with their bikes and parked at the public library as we had planned. As it turns out, we could have parked MUCH closer to the start. Anyway, the ride north was really nice. Right before La Grange, the highway drops down into the river basin on some very steep switchbacks. I certainly would not have expected that if I had not driven into town the night before. (note to self... this section needs to be ridden again!)

We had a great ride. My wife and daughter did great. We took our time and churned it out. The temperature and headwinds really picked up for the last 15 miles or so. But still they ground it out, only stopping at the designated breakpoints along the way.

We crossed the line around 4 I guess. Took a ton of pictures in front of the capital and dropped off the bikes. The bus ride to La Grange wasn't too bad, probably an hour or so. Thankfully the bikes arrived the same time we did. All things considered, the MS150 folks did a heck of a job salvaging the mess that mother nature threw at them. I was pretty disappointed that the challenge route was cancelled, but being able to ride across the finish line with my family and friends knowing that we've made a difference in the fight against MS made up for it.

dstrong 

Congrats and thanks to all who persevered!

68venable

Good job everyone. I've never done it but always am proud of the people that do. Way to go!

the sci guy 

I think I need to get a carbon bike before I try lifting it over my head for a picture lol

Sucks riding alone - didn't have anyone to hang out with, cross the line with (aside from all the awesome folks in Austin who really make you feel special), or take pics with at the end. I basically put my bike on the truck, and got on the bus.

Also, i walked around briefly, but all I could find were the private company tents. Where the hell is the food and drink and all that stuff for the regular folks at the finish?

yongxingfreesty

1st and 2nd year on a bianchi pista concept fixed gear.
3rd year on a bianchi c2c geared bike (easy)


let's make the 4th ms150 more difficult on a single speed mountain bike =p

the sci guy 

this seems like a terrible idea

congrats on finishing alive!

msd3075

I don't know if this is creepy to say because I've never met you in person and just have seen pictures you've posted on this site, but I think you and your wife were on the live TV coverage on Channel 13. They had a reporter on the side of Manor Road a about a mile or so before you get to I-35, and just as they went to here at the end of the show (just before 1:00), you and your wife rode by. You both were wearing maroon A&M jerseys, you riding in front of her.

Yeah, I know, creepy, but you both just looked familiar from the pictures shared on here. I have the show saved on my DVR so I'll see if I can take a picture of it and post it on here.

msd3075

This is a pic my buddy just sent me of the start in La Grange. It was right after the first groups started off.

txags92

That was my wife in the aggie jersey, but I was wearing an orange and grey "I have ms" jersey and went by just ahead of her. The other guy in the aggie jersey was just another aggie we ended up next to on the road into the finish. We actually were on that live coverage twice. Once right as we rode by the reporter before the finish that you saw; the other was while they were interviewing Earl Campbell's son, they showed us turning the corner to come down to the finish for just a sec before they cut back to the interview. I was also in the little segment they did on Because We Can. They didn't use any of my interview footage, but when they showed the group of us riding around, I was visible in several of those shots.

EthanHawley

This was my first MS 150, and I found the ride to be a lot of fun, even without the first day and the closing of the challenge route. It was very moving to ride past folks with MS thanking us for riding on their behalf and to ride the final straightaway with the crowd cheering everyone on. I also couldn't help but smile even more than I already was at the end when I saw the person holding the sign saying "Smile, if you're not wearing any underwear."

One thing I found surprising about the ride was how there were constantly other riders around me every single minute of the ride. I generally ride solo and, even in the Ready2Roll training series here in Houston, I always managed to find myself riding solo for long stretches. It made for a much more social ride but also was mentally tiring having to maintain constant vigilance. I also was surprised just how hilly the last 10 miles or so were into Austin. Looking at the elevation graph on my computer after the ride, it made me think how much easier it would be if the ride started in Austin and finished in Houston!

Anyway, I loved the ride and am honored to have been a part of such a great cause!

P.S. My post-ride guilty pleasure was Hruska's on 71 rather than Whataburger. I'm physically incapable of driving by that place without stopping for a kolache.

tronnyjenkins 

We thought the same thing for a bit... the tent was on the west? side of the finish line, or to your right as you were crossing it.
Also, Karbach gave out free beer, no matter if you were on their team. Are you listening Saint Arnold???? Hahaha.

txags92

For me, it is their cookies. I can't pass up their ranger cookies and the raspberry filled ones.

rpecot

My wife could barely pick hers up.
Been there done that. Doing it again next week actually. I signed up for the GASP ride on my own. Hoping I can find some folks to ride with. Solo century could be brutal.
We skipped it all, except for a can of coke at my team tent. We were concerned about all the logistics to get back to La Grange so we dropped the bikes, picked up our bag, and jumped on the bus. Last year one person in our group didn't handle the food so well after the ride, so we were not too anxious to search it out.

Scott P

I walked into the Saint Arnold tent and got a beer for free. A lot of folks did based on the jerseys I saw in line.

big_heineken

Here I am crossing the finish line. I rode by myself (with a few thousand other people). I skipped the mass start in La Grange after sitting in it for about 2 hours in 2009. Both of my legs were cramping for about the last 20 miles, but I managed to keep going and I didn't walk up any hills. About a mile from the finish line, some guys were handing out beers. The ice cold Lone Star was the best beer I ever had and it gave me the oomph that I needed to finish strong!