I got at 4:50 this morning to allow enough time to get to Liberty for the 7:15 am start time. I made it but I did get lost trying to find city hall in the early dawn semi-darkness. I was 2 or 3 streets east of the start line. I parked east of city hall and walked around to the west side to register.  I did not pre-register but the lady said to check back after the ride to see if they had any extra shirts. I took these pictures at the registration area. (click on an image to enlarge it)

Walking back to the Jeep to unload my bike I spoke to several people. With the short amount of time until the start I did not pass out any Texbiker.net business cards. With the bike assembled I walked back to the west side of city hall and rode to the start line after the prayer. I took these pictures while we waited to start. (click on an image to enlarge it)

The ride began on time and we rolled out at 7:15. The sun wasn’t up above the buildings and it was still chilly. In the rush of starting I forgot to take weather screen shots. I stopped about 1/2 mile from the start and took these.

I was glad I dressed warm with the 54 degrees. I wore shorts, leg warmers, long sleeve and short sleeve jerseys, a windbreaker jacket and half finger gloves. The one thing I should’ve wore was full finger gloves until the turnaround at 22 miles. My fingers were cold but I managed. I saw some people dressed a whole lot lighter than me and I wondered how they could ride. Later at the 35 mile rest stop I asked a lady ride that pulled in how she rode dressed in a tank top and she said she was cold but didn’t want to mess with a jacket when it got warmer.

The route took us on back streets to SH 146 where we headed north. The road had a shoulder most of the time but it was chip’n seal that was worn down enough to not be too rough. We stayed on SH 146 until we got near Hardin where we moved to a county road. The road was rough with lots of patches. We stayed on this until we reached Hardin where the first rest stop was. I took these pictures at the stop.

I didn’t stop longer than to take the pictures. The road continued north and connected back with SH 146. We stayed on it until the turn around. North of Hardin the road offered some hills but the shoulder was smooth and wide. There was one dog chase on SH 146 after I left Hardin but it was on a downhill section and the dog gave up quickly with the speed I had. The rest stop at the turn around didn’t have any riders and I stopped only to check for traffic before riding to the other side to head back to SH 105. At SH 105 the route turned right and had a nice downhill that coasted and rested my legs.

After the downhill on SH 105 the route turned left onto County Road 2107. This was the smoothest road of the whole ride. At a big bend I turned left onto County Road 2099. This road was dog chase alley. The road was smooth but the dogs were quick and usually chase two at a time. I was alone but there were two other bikers ahead of me just in sight. I lost count of the number of dog chases I had but I think it was 6. I caught up with the two bikers in front of me and asked if the dogs chased them and they said yes. Maybe they tired them out so when I got there I could out run them? I finally made it to the rest stop at Olive Bethel Baptist Church around 35.5 miles. The person manning the stop was very friendly and was putting out the food supplies. Not long after I stopped another biker pulled in and we talked about all of the dogs. Come to find out the rest stop worker was the Liberty High School principal. He said he was in his farmer’s clothes and I said he was undercover. He drove his grandfather’s farm pickup to the stop. It was a very old Ford. I ate and drank some water and visited the port-a-potty. The lightly dressed woman biker talked about the dogs and showed me the heal of one of her shoes that a dog had bit on another ride. So far I have avoided that for many many years.

Back on the road there were a few hills but no more dogs. It was a little over 10 miles from the rest stop to the finish line and I got there at 10:32. I remembered to get the weather screenshots.

It was a little warmer and the wind was light. I rode to the registration table to see if they had any shirts left and got one. I chatted with the ladies about the roads, route and the dogs. I asked how many riders they had and one lady said about 125, not too bad for the first year. The shirt is nice.

Liberty Freedom Shirt

With today’s ride my April miles increased to 265 (my goal is 772 for April). This week I biked 194 miles so far. Sunday looks like the weather will be good for riding. I hope my legs are.

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