the sci guy 

y'all tempting fate tomorrow morning for ready2roll? the wife is volunteering at a rest stop - or, I suppose maybe now one of the only rest stops - so I'll be bringing the bike out assuming it's not cancelled in the 5am email.

the sci guy 

Well, that was slightly miserable.

txags92

Yeah I assumed it would be. Slept in and built new pantry shelves today instead. Assuming it isn't raining in the morning, I am going to go out and do the 75 mile route on the Bluebonnet Express.

the sci guy 

Excellent. I'll probably be doing the 45er. See you out there, maybe!

txags92

Well I thought maybe I saw your bike leaning up against the wall at the start...but left before you came back to it if it was yours. That was a nice ride but pretty painful. Did the 75 mile route in just under 4:30. I really needed at least one good long ride since I skipped yesterday. Highlight of the ride was drafting the giant trailer loaded with hay at about 25-30mph for about 2-3 miles.

the sci guy 

Probably was - not many other people have my bike. I leaned it against the black fence right outside in front of the registration tables to use the bathroom. I rolled out around 8:15 or so I think. Nice job on hitting the 75. The wind wasn't nearly as bad this year thank god. I couldn't get into paceline at all -everyone was just riding for themselves. I only got passed by 2, but they were speedsters and I couldn't keep up.
lolz about drafting the truck hahaha that's crazy fast

rpecot

Wife and I skipped R2R. We did the 65 mile route on the BBE in just over 5 hours. My wife is really struggling with these moderately sized hills. We are going to be on the bikes for a looooong time come April 18th...

haha... I keep looking for the yellow bar tape. I did see a couple Surly's though...

Mindcrime

I did the 65 miler BBX route after 2 full days at south by southwest rocking out (and overimbibing). I was NOT prepared for a long ride yesterday. less than 8 hours sleep total over the previous two days, crap nutrition and starting off dehydrated and tired after leaving Austin at 5 AM to make the ride start. Got parked in a swamp too, though managed to get my teeny frontwheel drive car out where some 4x4s were stuck after the ride.

That said, had a good ride, did it in a tad over 4 hours. Tough patch between mile 45 and the final rest stop, came close to bonking. Had to have a gu and a half bottle of water and sit at the 53 mile stop for about 10 minutes before I could go on. Preperation counts. I knew I was going to be in trouble, but hey, its my bike club, cant skip those rides!

the sci guy 

I thought I spotted one green Cross-check with bullhorns at the first rest stop, but it was from a distance. Didn't see any other Surlys.
My wife isn't as ready as I am either - she struggled with the hills last year at the MS. I didn't want to leave her behind so we took it pretty slow. We left Waller around 8:45, and though she SAGed the last 20 miles to La Grange, I tore it up now that I could go faster. But, I still arrived at the fairgrounds at about 5pm. Last person on our team lol. I'm still not a super strong rider (average speed yesterday for the 45er was 15.2), and I'm pushing a heavy bike, but I hope to make better time this year.

They directed me to the back side of the stadium (the starting side) and wanted me to park in the grass but it was all wet so I scooted down the parking lot and parked in a gravely/grass area about 10 feet off the pavement. I wasn't going to get stuck in mud.
Depending on how my legs feel, I usually spend anywhere from 10-15 minutes at a rest stop of recharge, and rest.
Glad you made it through, though!

I won't be at this week's R2R ride - our boss invited us to a exclusive bike event in Fredericksburg for a handful of companies and clients. 30 miler friday, and 60 milers sat and sun. Should be brutal.

txags92

Luckily, I got there very early and parked in the main lot right up front. You will either love or hate Fredericksburg. It is a beautiful place to ride...but the hills can be brutal. Much steeper and longer than what is between here and Austin depending on which roads you are riding. I like riding out there now...but there are still times I have to convince myself to just back off to the granny gear and spin on some of the hills instead of trying to muscle my way up them like I do some of the shorter ones around here.

I think it must have been a different green bike I saw, because the one I saw didn't have any lettering on the downtube and I think it had black bar tape, not yellow.

I have kind of mixed feelings about this year. I am riding faster and better than ever thanks to losing a bunch of weight since last year. But my wife has had some health complications this spring and it is looking likely that she won't be able to ride the MS150 again this year. She has had issues that kept her from riding the last two years, and she was really riding well this winter. I feel bad for her because she wants so badly to ride, but knows it probably isn't a good idea to go too hard at the moment. I will miss crossing the finish line with her in Austin though if she can't ride. That is always a moving scene and I love sharing it with her. She is planning to take a shot at the 43 mile route in Chappell Hill this weekend, so who knows, maybe she will surprise both of us and be able to ride after all.

the sci guy 

I hope her health improves and she is able to ride with you!

NWCC is posting pics from the ride yesterday, here: NWCC Media | 20150322 - BlueBonnet Express


Here's my green Surly leaning against the fence I was talking about (hilarious that there is a pic of it!)
(click the pic to see larger)


and you can barely make out my backside in this one - in the distance(ish), left of center, the lone green jersey behind the pack of yellow jerseys (click to see larger)

SAGit

[QUOTE=rpecot;17654141]Wife and I skipped R2R. We did the 65 mile route on the BBE in just over 5 hours. My wife is really struggling with these moderately sized hills. We are going to be on the bikes for a looooong time come April 18th.[n/QUOTE]

Dont worry. She is not alone.��

My wife is in the same boat. Our current strategy is for her to Take the SAG wagon when she is tired on the first day ( about 50-70 miles?) and save her energy for the second day. We are riding with the title sponsor so our first day ride will be around 100 miles. ��

Scott P

I'm doing the Chappell Hill ride this weekend on the 64 mile route. This will be my first real hill training. There aren't a lot of elevation changes here in Kingwood, so it will be a good change of pace. I have a feeling that I'll really be needing that BLT at Chappell Hill Sausage on the way home.

memebag

All of my hill training consists of going under the bridge at Stella Link on the Brays Bayou multi-use path. I sure hope that's enough.

the sci guy 

Its really not that big of a deal. It's a hill. Hills can be steep or they can be long and steady. The MS150 has a mix of them. If you can't make it, get off and walk up the rest of the hill. There's no shame in it. Literally thousands of people do it during the 150. My wife did it numerous times.
Just watch out for these people as you ride by, or if you are one of those folks, please keep to the right! (and for the love of god announce you're slowing and dismount so I don't plow into the back of you unwittingly)

rpecot

Very good points. One thing to consider... if you have not ridden any hills yet, understand that you could be in for a long day. My wife can ride all day long on the flats, but she struggles on the hills. I have talked her into the 44 mile route even though distance-wise she's already logged rides in excess of 60 miles. For anyone who rode the Bluebonnet Express last week, my GPS logged the elevation gain at ~1300' on the 65 mile route. Next week, the 44 mile route has an elevation gain of ~2400'. The 63 mile route is ~3300'. I don't mean to discourage anyone from getting after it. I just wouldn't want anyone to bite off more than they can chew. There is still time to get miles and hills in before the MS150.

As an example... last year, my daughter bought a bike (actually, I guess it was the end of 2013) with the intention of riding the MS150. We did a couple rides together early in the year, but on her first ride with her team, she crashed and broke her elbow. It required surgery, but she was determined to ride the MS150. She was limited in what she could do, but she got on a stationary bike as soon as possible and worked out routinely. When the doctor cleared her to get back on the bike, her first ride was Head for the Hills. I tried to encourage her to wait until next year, but to her credit, she was determined. Well, she got a hard dose of reality. She ended up SAG'ing at about the halfway point.

This is an extreme example since she had not been on her bike at all, but the point is, don't underestimate the hills. Like I said, there is still time.

the sci guy 

And if you can't make the hills on day 1, you definitely don't want to take the state park route on day 2 because it's very hilly (from what I hear) with lots of quick climbs and steep dangerous descents (had to chopper a guy out last year - my wife told me she heard he ended up dying because he hit a tree on a descent, but i can't substantiate that).

txags92

The best advice I can give you if you haven't ridden hills yet is to just be patient in Chappell Hill. I always call this ride the humbler, because no matter how well I am riding each year, I wind up crawling up that last hill into town feeling totally beat. Just take the hills at your own pace..throw what you "expect" to ride for an average speed out the window...and focus on relaxing and recovering on the downhills. You want to reach the bottom of each climb ready to work and not still panting and out of breath from the previous climb.

SAGit

My wife is not reading this post, but You guys are scaring me to scaring her.

I just changed her cassette to a 12-30 from 12-28 and to a new set of lighter wheels. I hope that's enough.

rpecot

Don't be scared. The point is, Chappell Hill is not a place to increase your mileage. Reel it in a little this week, because the hills will make up for the miles you miss.

Pace yourself. Carry your momentum on the descents into the climbs. Shift BEFORE you need to. Keep your cadence up rather than mashing up the hills.

txags92

Yeah, don't be scared at all. It is a beautiful ride and should be gorgeous weather. If you find yourself gassed at the top of a hill, stop and look around for a few minutes until you are ready to go on. What makes Chappell Hill more difficult than either day of the MS150, in my opinion, is that the hills just keep coming. You are nearly always either going up or going down, with very little in the way of straight flat road. It is just an exercise in how fast you can recover from climbing each hill. If you speed down the backside of each hill and don't let your heart rate recover, you start the next hill gassed and quickly work yourself into a bad spot. You are better off coasting the downhills if that is what it takes to get your heart rate under control and ready for the next uphill. Most people who get themselves into difficulty out there do so because they either try to keep up with somebody else who they are not prepared to ride with, or because they get it in their head that they need to be going faster, so they work hard on the flats and downhills instead of recovering to prepare for the uphills. It looks like we will have a SW wind this weekend, so keep something in the tank for the last 10-20 miles, since that will be almost entirely into the wind.

memebag

Last year was my first MS 150. (The year before was my first year riding a bike since I was a kid.) I took the flat route on the 2nd day last year because the hills scared me. The hills on the first day were easy.

I've got two challenges this year: to start at Tully instead of Rhodes, and to do the hills on the 2nd day. I'm feeling a lot more confident now that I know what to expect. We'll see how well founded that confidence is.

Mindcrime

Cant wait for Chappell Hill this weekend. Havent done serious hills since the Pineywood Purgatory last year out in Lufkin. Weather looks stupid good, and a bunch of us from NWCC will be out for it!

SAGit

Thanks for the warning.

On training rides, I tend to go for my limits and attack every hills. I will take it easy this time since I am going to ride the 25 lbs steel bike.

Any suggestion on restaurants?

txags92

We usually go down to the Chappell Hill Sausage company on our way back to Houston. It isn't really a restaurant...more just like a deli counter. You can get a sausage sandwich and they also sell jerky and fresh meat, etc. Bevers Kitchen is located right by where we start across the street from the church. I have never eaten there, but they are famous for their pies and I know folks who eat there every year when we ride out there. There is also the Chappell Hill Café on the SW corner of 290 and FM1155 (just west of the Exxon Station on the corner). I have eaten there once, and it was a decent country café. There is also Must Be Heaven in downtown Brenham. It is an old retro ice cream and sandwich shop. Great sandwiches, good pie, and hand scooped ice cream.