DH and I got the nutty idea to do a self-supported climbing century today. We loaded up with energy bars, gels and the all important Sport Beans then hit road. We set out a little before 8:00 in 83% humidity, within 10 minutes I was drenched. The ride started with some rollers taking us out of Liberty Hill, we made the mistake of tackling 50 miles Saturday and 40 miles Sunday giving me the lead legs. I did get to enjoy the spotting of two Llamas I saw Saturday; I think they are just the cutest things. I did not enjoy opening weekend of Dove Season; the hunting is best early in the morning and it kept startling me!
The route got steeper as we went through Oatmeal, TX on the way to Burnet. Along this road we saw an Emu, fun! In Burnet we headed out of town to Park Road 4 and took on a ride we have done before (the Castle Ride). The pet deer was still there and chased us much like a dog along her fence line. This portion included a mile long decent where my sustained speeds were in the upper 30's to lower 40's. After Hoover Valley Cemetary you get onto Hoover Valley Road that is a complete grind, including a long section where 6 mph is fast. The best part is the recent floods damaged the road and it is partially soft gravel, great fun. :rolleyes: The 50 mile castle portion (mile 25-75) is over 1,300 feet of climbing when done the way it is suggested, but we came through Oatmeal which is hillier and then took an alternate route to Bertram. Hard to say what how that changed the climbing data. One thing about the Texas hill country is our hills are short but steep. The rollers are nice but they are peppered with much steeper climbs.
After passing back through Burnet we headed through Bertram, Mahomet and onward to Liberty Hill. The ride back from Mahomet to our house is constant rollers and my quads were not cooperative for any climbing. We pulled into the neighborhood and realized we had to ride a little circuit to get up to 100 miles. We finished a little after 3:00, which was a long day. I am not sure how many of you do this frequently!
DH and I agreed this was fun, crazy and we would do it again but not often! The self-supported part meant we had to look for potties, didn't get stops with cookies or fluids already out for us. Other than Burnet and the last stretch to our neighborhood we didn't have any traffic. Oatmeal and Mahomet are communities with history but there isn't a lot out there now, a couple old churches like this one. Both of us are drained but feeling accomplished!
100.02 miles
15.2 mph average
Two water stops
Two stops to eat (one energy bar, one to split Fig Newtons bought at the gas station)
One stop to recover from the grinding climb up Hoover Valley Road!!
