So as you know, Jenn and I rode in the MS 150 this weekend. We both had been looking forward to this since last year. Last year we didn't register in time and weren't able to ride. We registered in time this year and were pumped since the registration filled up in less then seven hours.
So Friday afternoon comes along and we're on our way to Houston. Jenn gets a call from her uncle (who we're riding on the same team with) and he tells us that some city in between Houston and La Grange had gotten 12 inches of rain. He then proceeded to tell us that the first day had been canceled. Jenn's sister did not want to take us the rest of the way, because she didn't want Jenn to be riding if it was going to be lighting. I mean that is a reasonable request, but both of us were in the frame of mind that Texas weather can change at any given point in time, so we'd take our chances. Driving the rest of the way to Houston and everything in between was hit pretty hard. Some spots looked as if they were huge ponds or small lakes.
We make it to Houston around 8:30. We eat some homemade spaghetti, I in the mean time was constantly checking the weather channel for the conditions in between Houston and La Grange. We went to bed not knowing what was going to happen. I was pissed /upset/disappointed.
Day One:Jenn had woken up early to go to the store and get some half and half for coffee and to call her uncle. Chris( Jenn's uncle) had to go and pick up his stuff from team shell in between six and nine AM. We had a big breakfast, two huge breakfast burrito's for me and one for Jenn. After talking with her uncle a couple of times and after breakfast, we all decided to ride even though no one else was riding really because it had been canceled.
Jenn's mom dropped us off at her uncles house in northwest Houston. WE RIDE!!! It wasn't raining when we left and it wasn't to windy (it was still windy though), it was kind of nice because we went forty miles before we really hit a hill. At around mile 32 it started to rain a little, it wasn't a down pour, but it was steady. Right before we hit
Bellville it started to pour on us. We all had rain gear, but none of us were wearing it, and it would have been pointless, because we would have still gotten soaked. We had lunch in Bellville and waited for it to calm down some more before we started backup again.
From Bellville on, it was rolling hills. Most of them weren't anything at all, but when you throw in the rain and the wind, it made them a little tough. We went through the small town of industry. Normally industry is where a scheduled stop would be, but one there was no one at the stops and two, we decided to keep going. When we got to Rek hill, that kind of sucked. I mean the town has "hill" in it. Believe me, there was a hill too. It sucked. At this point I was starting to get worn out. Rolling hills and about sixty-five miles in, I was getting pooped. We still pressed on.
We got into Fayetteville which was my favorite part of day one. We just got done climbing another hill and were coming up on the town square, or at least it looked liked it, and there was a group of people yelling and screaming and ringing huge cow bells and cheering us on. We stopped to take a break since we didn't the last rest stop. This place was cool, because someone had purchased this old building and turned it into there house. They were nice enough to have water and beers and food for the cyclist, along with letting them stop and rest for a bit. Everyone there was awesome and very friendly, they wouldn't even let us throw our trash away, they would just take it and say "oh I'll get that for ya" I was super tired so we stayed and rested for a bit longer than normal. As we were about to leave, Chris, noticed that he had a flat, so we had to change that real quick and then we took off. The whole town seemed nice because even as we went through people wanted us to stop and have a cookies with them or just hang out.
At this point we were a good seventy plus miles in and had about twenty more to go. The rain wasn't to bad the rest of the way into La Grange. Still had the rolling hills and steady rain, but it wasn't that bad. I ended up having to stop a couple of times because the three beers and three bottles of water I drank in Fayetteville caught up with me real quick.
We got into La Grange, and it was nice. I knew that this was the final stretch before we got to Jenn's Aunt's house there. I was super tired at this point and the road sucked a big giant ass. It was supper bumpy and the bum didn't feel to good already and here is the road that makes it feel even worse. We got to the house and it was awesome to have just gotten done with day one of the MS 150. I felt accomplished at this point, but ubberly tired. We all took showers had snacks and dinner and got to wash our clothes. We all got our sleeping arrangements setup and it was a solid 15 minutes before I was out like a light.
Day one stats :
Hours of riding: 5:34:52
Miles ridden: 92.48
Average speed: 16.6
Max speed: 33.5
Day Two:We all woke up around six thirty. The starting time in La Grange was supposed to be right in the morning, but we saw cyclist already on the road. We all drank some coffee ate breakfast and then got ready to ride.
About three miles in Chris got another flat. We changed it got back on the road. It was a beautiful day out. There was a ton of cyclist, and my arch enemy was also present. The wind was in full affect going through Bastrop county. We had the awesome climbs through Bastrop with the wind in our face the whole time. We didn't go through the parks because we all weren't sure of the conditions of the roads how many cyclist that don't know how to bomb a hill and then climb the next, plus our asses all hurt.
We stopped in Smithville and Jenn got her chain lubed up and we had some bananas, water, and some gatorade. The next stop was the city of Bastrop for lunch but before we could do that we had to start the major climbs through Bastrop. Jenn and I had already
ridden these hills, so we knew what we were in for. We ate subway and had some more bananas and water. All the basics of re-fueling yourself. So far my arch enemy had been kicking my ass along with those gnarly hills. We met up with our buddy Greg in Bastrop also.
After Bastrop we stopped one more time, I forget the name of the city, but I knew we were in the final stretch. It was around 18 miles before we hit the finish line. There was one more stop about 7 miles from the finish line, but we decided to not stop there and to just press on.
I fell back a bit, because I was pooped and I got stuck behind some folks that decided to go down hill with their brakes pulled and the people passing on the left didn't say anything, so I almost ran into them. If I hadn't turned around to look first I would have taken them all out. Believe me, I like to go fast down hills just as much as the "professional rider" but at least say your going to fucking pass on the right. Your not that special that you don't have to say anything. You sure as fuck aren't that fast either... because I passed you going back up the hills. Anyways, Jenn and Chris waited for me on Campus and we all rode in together.
It was an amazing feeling crossing the finish line and giving high fives to people there and cheering us all on. Over all I had a really great time. It was a blast.
Day Two stats:
Hours of riding: 5:03:47
Miles ridden: 66.61
Average speed: 13.2
Max speed: 30.5
This is were I rant for a minute. I really did have a great time riding. I did enjoy the first day more, even with the rain. You see I am not a fan of stupid people. For some reason, there are lots of stupid people out there, that don't know how to ride in big groups of people. If you are going down hill, and some one calls out on your left what should you do?
A) stay in the lane going the speed you are.
B) move over to the right.
Well the answer might seem obvious to you, but for half the people on the ride, that's not the obvious choice. I was bombing a hill going thirty miles an hour and people were riding not one, not to, not three, but four a breast and I called out on the left 2 times, before I screamed it at the top of my lungs and having to go into on coming traffic to avoid them. This is not safe for anyone. One you shouldn't be riding four abreast and two, if you do, move the fuck over when someone else is going fast than you.
I can' tell you how many times something like this happened. Overall I am still super stoked that I rode and finished both days of the MS150.
Desmond took some photos of everyone coming in, he was stationed at Clemtine, I will post some up, as soon as he does.
til next time
OLC
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