For the first time in several rides I did not see one crash. I hope there were none on the course. I was riding the 62 mile route, actual mileage was 60.56 on my computer.

While the temperature at the start time was a chilly 53 the wind was not an issue. With the start time set at 8:00 AM we were going after sunrise. The ride marshalls divided the starting groups into 150 to 200 riders to give some space between the riders. This and the wide streets may have contributed to the lack of start line crashes.

If you have not been to the far west portion of Harris County, Katy is in the prairie with flat land and lots of farming. Where the skunk part comes in is the numerous roadkill of shunks the 62 mile course passed. My nose was getting a steady sniff of each of these. But the stench from some “natural” fertilizer around the second rest stop (it was being spread in a field) over powered the skunk frangrance easily. This smell reached a 2 to 3 mile distance. We got it going and coming as the route passed this field twice.

The first wildflowers were blooming. Indian Paintbrushes and what my wife says are Primrose dotted the roadside on the back half of the 62 mile route.

Not much happened on this ride as far as excitement. My speed was a little slower this week than last week’s Tour de Houston. The roads were even flatter with only one overpass at the beginning to get us over I-10. From then on I think the most elevation change was 25 or 30 feet.

I wasn’t sure if I would have pictures of the ride. When I got home my digital camera would not read the memory card but after an hour of working with it I got the pictures onto my computer. Here they are. click on the picture for a larger version and visit the link at the bottom for all of the ones I took.

The packet pickup entrance to Sun Ski Sport.

The pre-registration line.

The band from Mayde Creek High School, ride beneficiary, set up their instruments at the start line. They provided music before the start.

Riders getting ready.

Riders getting in position to start the ride.

Entering rest stop 1.

Riders at rest stop 1.

Rest stop #2. It isn’t often I get Chili Cheese Fritos as a rest stop food item. They had them here.

Rest stop #3. We made it past the smelly fertilizer when we reached this stop.

This lady was a very friendly volunteer at the last rest stop in Brookshire.

Riders and another volunteer at rest stop #4 on the 62 mile route. I did not take any finish line pictures. The Katy Mills Mall was moving along and there wasn’t much going on at the finish area.

Link to all of my pictures of this ride.

With the change in time the start was before sunrise. I was concerned about this before the ride began but it was not a problem. Over 2,500 riders lined up for the start.

The route included several Houston “mountains” known as highway overpasses. The one over FM 1960 before the Spring toll plaza was a challenge. I am glad we rode the north bound lanes back to downtown because the southbound lanes had some “monster” overpasses that were not in our lanes.

City of Houston Parks and Recreation were on hand to assist with the sag wagons although this is one ride where I think they were not overloaded. I saw several trucks go by but only one had a few riders aboard.

Click on the pictures for a full size version.

Parking underground in the Theater District garage. This year I got here before 6:00 AM to avoid the long lines. I was surprised they were charging people who did not bring their registration letter.

The sun is not yet up as we gather for the start of the 70 mile ride.

The ride marshals get some instructions as they assemble. These riders perform many tasks during the ride. Unfortunately today within the first 3 miles there was a bad crash on the Elysian Viaduct. When I went by the scene at least one rider was down on the payment amidst a pile of bikes. Later on when I returned another rider went down in the same general area but on Hardy Street. This time just one rider was involved.

Guaranty Bank was the title sponsor and had a team of riders take part. They passed out these bright flashing LED lights. Kool!

Rest stop #2 at the Redstone Golf Course was picture perfect. I could not believe the fast pace I was able to ride. Once we got on the Hardy Toll Road I had no trouble going 18 to 20 mph. The one section off of the toll road was to Redstone. The route was well marked and police were at key intersections. I even saw a City of Houston truck marked urban park ranger.

Inside the rest stop #2 tent. There were plenty of Nutri-Grain bars and liquids. I think they even had sport drink that was not lemon-lime flavored.

From the Redstone Golf Course back down Old Humble Road to the Hardy Toll Road.

Rest stop #3 at the Spring toll plaza. This is where one of bicycling’s major miracles took place: the southwest breeze changed to a northwest tailwind for the return to downtown Houston. At the finish I heard many stories about how people were riding at such a quick pace due to this tailwind. It took me 4 hours and 7 minutes to ride 64.5 miles with two rest stops.

At the finish area in front of Houston City Hall. Sack lunches were handed out. Link to all of the pictures

I am not sure of what direction the route will take next year but if the organization keeps at the same level and the weather cooperates this one is a keeper. I had no incidents and managed to talk to several people while handing out texbiker.net business cards. I hope your ride was as enjoyable as mine.

Next Saturday I am off to Katy for the Katy Ram Challenge. Let’s see what the March weather brings then. I am doing a record number of rides this year so far.

The Kickstand, UT’s new bike hub, was created in November to provide student bicyclists on campus with several services including free on-site registration, free weekly bike lock rentals, air pumps and bike supplies, said Parking Service Supervisor Blanca Juarez. As long as students’ bicycles are registered, they can use these services.

The person in charge of the start line gave the instructions and sent out the first wave at 8:08 AM. I was dressed with two long sleeve jerseys, a windproof jacket, leg warmers and full fingered gloves. Even with this uniform I still felt cold. Around me I saw some brave riders dressed in short-sleeved T-shirts and bike shorts. I wondered how they could possibly keep warm.

Some pictures at the starting area. Click on the picture to see the larger picture.

I asked the lady if she was going to take the blanket on the ride. She said she would need a bungee cord if she did.

These riders are registering.

One rider entering the finish area.

The ride was uneventful except for the very cold toes. A few riders were wise enough to have toe-warmers. At rest stop 5 while waiting in the portable toilet line, the man behind me joked about his fellow rider who was wearing white shoes with black toe-warmers. The man behind me said the only reason they allowed the white shoe rider to be with them was that the black toe-warmers covered up half of the shoe. Looking around I did notice white shoes were rare. Rest stop 5 had Fig Newtons and other cookies staffed with friendly volunteers. This is where my toes started to return to a warm state.

Our 55 mile route covered some of my regular riding roads but it was interesting to see the other roads. The changes in some communities since my last ride were noticeable. Next week’s Gator Ride will overlap onto some of the same roads.

By 10:30 the sun was starting to break through the clouds and the temperature was moving upward. Arriving at the finish at 12:06 I put the bike away and went to enjoy the spaghetti, salad and garlic bread. The rider seated across from me said he was going home to mow his grass, a fitting conclusion to any bike ride. The subject of saddles came up and I mentioned that I saw one rider with an Avocet saddle. I don’t think Avocet saddles have been sold for 20 years so this rider must have found his preferred saddle.

Overall the ride was well managed, volunteers strategically placed, route markers where they needed to be and the rest stops cheerfully staffed. Now if we can just work on the temperature part for next year.

Click on the pictures for a larger view.

These two riders were ready to roll.

Jalapeno Jack was there to send off the riders. (I am the guy with Jack)

Some of the riders gathering for the 62.5 and 100 mile start.

The official starting line cheer squad.

After the start until about mile 14 a nice tailwind was our friend. After that point the turns to the east put us in the 30+ mph wind tunnel. The weatherman had forecasted the winds would increase after 9:00 AM and did they ever. I did not learn until rest stop 10 that the winds were gusting to 45 mph. Wind steady speed was 32 mph from the SSE. The temperature was not much help either as 85 degrees was where the thermometer was headed.

I slogged along through rest stops 3, 5, 6 and 8 with varying time with a tailwind and ferce headwind. At rest stop 8 I was beginning to get the thought that this wind was going to make the ride tougher than it had been up to then. Rest stop 8 was about 42 miles on my computer.

Leaving RS8 I headed straight into the wind which had definitely speeded up. After going about 2.5 miles there were times when I was standing up on the pedals just to go 6 or 7 mph. The gusts were making it almost impossible to stay upright. I stopped on the side of the road and started to walk but I was having trouble just holding my bike on the ground. Within a few tenths of a mile I was joined by a fellow rider who was from Ontario, Canada, who was wintering in the area. We walked for a while and then stopped when the wind and grit from the freshly plowed fields got the best of us. Waiting for a sag wagon looked like the best option but after three past with full loads we started walking again.

Not too long after that a man in a Volvo station wagon drove by and pulled over on the grass 50-70 yards in front of us. Thinking he was a personal support vehicle we walked by but as we did he asked if we could use a ride. We eagerly said yes if he could take us up the road where the route turned west and the wind would be more friendly. His bumper bike rack leaped into action as we learned he was supporting his wife who was doing the 100 mile route. They were from Austin and made the choice to come to Harlingen rather than going to Death Valley for another ride. I commented that the Death Valley ride would have been easier.

As we slowly moved up the road we approached his wife who was moving but showing signs of the blowing dirt and grit from the fields to the left. At times the dirt was so thick you could not see clearly. I learned that his wife was a former professional mountain biker who specialized in solo 24 hour endurance races. She was retired now but obviously still in the mood for an adventure. He pull along side of her to try and shield some of the wind but the competitive instinct was so strong she motioned us to move on because she thought it would disqualify her. This would not be the case since this is a ride, not a race. With this, the driver decided to ferry us to the drop point after rest stop 9 and return to support her.

We made it to the turn and unloaded the bikes. I started on the route and noticed the riders in front of me were leaning quite a lot to the left into the wind. I soon was in the same mode. Approaching cars interrupted the wind briefly with a sudden increase in wind as they moved out of range. I soon learned to grip the handlebars when this happened. The route had a few sections where I headed into the wind but generally it was a crosswind or an infrequent tailwind. Arriving at rest stop 10 I thought the finish must not be too far. I figured the lift shortened the distance by about 8 miles.

One of the ladies manning RS10 had baked some excellent raisin cookies and after eating three I headed out again. Within 25 yards the route turned north and a tailwind pushed me along for about 3 miles. Sensing that I must be nearing the finish line I stopped to call my wife to let her know that I should arrive shortly guessing that about 2 miles were left. I based this partly on a wish and then on some math as one of the men at RS10 said there were 5 miles left at that point. The wind was so strong I could barely keep the bike in place while using the cell phone. Trying to hold the map and look at it was impossible.

Reaching a street that I thought should be where we turned west I hesitated but another rider went straight through the intersection and I took this to be the correct direction. After a bend to the west and more wind we reached US77 I was thinking it cannot be far. Wrong. At this point we turned south into the full wind and rode at least what seemed 10 miles but really only a couple in spite of a sign I saw that sure seemed to say 1/2 mile.

From this point I think we were off the planned route because no route signs appeared and we were riding the wrong way on the north bound feeder road. Finally I made it to the street that headed to the Oil Mill Pavillion and turned east. The finish was not easy. Several wrong side streets were taken before pulling into the Oil Mill parking lot and thankfully seeing my wife waiting there.

From there we drove to the hotel where recovery could begin. What a ride!!!