I plotted this bike ride using the RideWithGPS.com route tool. The mileage came up about a mile short from RWGPS but not bad. One thing it did show was the road surface. I followed the US77\/I-69E frontage road north to the left turn onto Rangerville Road. The frontage road surface consisted of chip’n seal with bumps. Rangerville Road went deluxe for awhile with a smooth asphalt shoulder about 8 feet wide. The shoulder lasted until about the 7 mile point when it disappeared under loose asphalt to the right of the main lanes. Fortunately traffic was light during this segment which lasted about a mile. The shoulder reappeared but bumpy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rangerville Road dead ended into US281 where I made the left turn. A nice wide smooth shoulder made biking easy going except for the headwind. This didn’t last long when I made the left turn onto FM 509. Traffic increased but the shoulder was wide and smooth. I am not sure where the 18 wheelers were headed going south but they comprised most of the moderate traffic. The wind still made for hard pedaling but I improved my average speed to 14.6 mph and held it all the way to US77\/I-69.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At that point it wasn’t far to the finish. I rode into a Circle K to get a paper towel to wipe my runny nose before returning to the frontage road and biking north to the finish. The ride started at 12:05 PM and I finished at 1:42 PM. Tomorrow (Saturday) the big ride takes place, Jalapeno 100. I will ride the 65 mile route. The map for that route is not real clear so I used the RWGPS tool and downloaded it to my phone just in case I get lost like I did last year. Last year’s route was different from 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n