I left just after 10am and it was already over 90F. By the time I made it the 40 miles into the park I was completely wasted despite all of the food and drink I had during the ride.

After the ride I discovered I had lost 3 lbs of water weight since before the ride began, despite the 3 bottles of water, 12 oz of coke, 32 oz of gatoraide, 20 oz of coke zero, a banana, cookies, and a Clif bar.

Amazing. I am looking forward to fall. Thank God Lori rescued me again.

This is the first time I had done this ride and I was surprised to see how small the turnout was. Compared to The Space Race, which starts from the same venue, the number of vehicles in the parking lot was probably 1/3 or less. Still, the organizers of the ride did a good job. All the rest stops had tasty goodies to snack on and they took care to have ice and cold towels to help cool us down. Once or twice they ran out of water but they quickly replenished.

I had planned on doing the 80 mile route but unfortunately I fucked up and missed a ~10 mile spur that the 80 milers take at the beginning away from the 60 mile route — or possibly it wasn’t marked correctly. In any event at the end of the ride I only had 67 miles done rather than the 78 miles the route called for.

And as if I needed a reminder, riding hard during the heat of a coastal Texas summer isn’t the most pleasant experience. Once 11 AM hits the character of the ride completely changes to one of fun to outright masochism. My equipment told me it was between 97 to 98 degrees on the road during this time frame (actual air temperature was likely only 92) and at that point I just couldn’t keep my body cool enough to ride at speed comfortably. Plenty of heart rate left, but the muscles do protest instead…

But hey, at least they had Pickle Juice Sport around for those crazy people like me that enjoy it.

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Fayetteville has a wonderful selection of moderately hilly roads to ride on, and the town itself has some of the best small town charm in Texas.

This is the third time I’ve ridden this ride and the first time I’ve ridden any hilly routes with my new bike. As usual, the organization and quality of the ride is top notch. The snacks were great, although the sports drink selection wasn’t very good.

I rode with my friends Teri and John for most of the ride and we had planned on riding the 70 mile route, but at about mile 30 we decided we were too wore out and we’d just do the 50 mile route. This decision is fairly typical of this ride since we tend not to get much hill training in after the MS150.

The heat of the day also seems to get nasty in the last 10 mile stretch before returning to town. Add in some wind, a new bike seat that isn’t broken in yet, and the lack of a triple gear crank and it make for a very tired Chadwick by the time the ride was over.

The good news is the BBQ, beer, and massage after the ride made up for any discomfort!