February 3 Rides

[Aggie_Ama]

We got in 53.5 miles today. I loved the first half (tailwind) and was miserable heading home. Even though I was layered with clothes, I still don't like the cold. Where is spring??

Mimi- That camel is so cool! We saw a Llama who looked like he/she was tending a herd of goat, but the camel is much more interesting.

[ace]

I did 23 miles with one of the Cinderella training groups. It was very cool, because we rode 15-16 miles an hour consistently, and did one 5 mile section at 19 miles an hour which felt fine! That is way faster than I usually ride (if left to my own devices I will go about 12 mph...lazy). I like the pressure of keeping up with the group! There were some rollers, which was fine- I took full advantage of the downhills. Then there was one looong climb, which killed me. I got off about 100 ft. from the top and walked, because my legs just absolutely would not work, even in granny gear, and I was afraid I was going to tip over.

There was one scary accident, though. One of our group had a mechanical problem and had pulled off the road at the bottom of a hill. The woman behind me stopped to help her without calling out that she was stopping, and the woman behind her ran into her. I think they're both ok, just some bad bruises.

[mtkitchn]

I got almost 34 miles. Rode to the start of our club ride, did the short version of the club ride, and rode home. On my way home, I was trying to avoid a car, knew I wouldn't get stopped in time, and put the bike down. Road rash, but nothing serious and no damage that I can see to the bike.

[Meaux]

I did Bike Through the Forest yesterday and chose to do the 55 mile route. I was feeling pretty good, and we all started the ride. Then it took us out on to the feeder road of US59, one of the busiest freeways in Houston. There was minimal police escort, one officer for every large intersection. About 5-7 miles into it, a cyclist got mowed down by an impatient truck. He flew up onto the hood and broke the windshield Another cyclist hit the truck, and yet another cyclist hit THAT cyclist. We had to walk our bikes through the intersection, it was pretty sobering to see the guy laying on the ground with all these bikes around him. My husband later found out that there was a neurologist riding and he wanted to examine the 1st cyclist, but the cops wouldn't let him. Interesting. So, we went on our way, and after the 1st rest stop, DH got a flat. He changed it and towards the end, he was told me I was almost done and that to just go on without him and he'd catch up. So I went 8 miles to the next rest stop and he still hadn't caught up. A very nice woman let me borrow her cell phone and he told me that he had gotten lost (poor markings of the route, another bad thing about this awful ride) and that he was going back. I told him I was going ahead. I made it to the 3rd rest stop, ate some Shot Bloks (pina colada, tasty!) and went on. What I didn't know is that they had already started taking down the route marker signs, so I missed a turn and got VERY VERY lost. I ended up 15 miles off course and had to ride through a place called Cut and Shoot, TX. Lucky for me, another cyclist was just ahead of me, so he let me use his phone to call DH and get the SAG to come find us. I only got to do 43 miles and was almost killed by some very scary Harley-riding bikers. My father-in-law finished the ride and the last 5 or so miles were on the same feeder road, but that side was under construction, there was only one lane for cyclist and cars to share. One cyclist had the choice of either getting hit by a car or veering off the road. He chose the veering option and hit some kind of trench the construction workers had dug, causing his bike to snap in half and probably some real damage to himself. This was a VERY poorly planned ride. DH said that some of the organizers at the rest stop were laughing about how badly this went and how they have learned SO much. I don't think anyone will be Biking Through the Forest next year. I just want to know why this was an MS150 recommended ride. Ugh.

[Aggie_Ama]

I believe the MS150 allows you to review their recommended rides. If not I would contact the MS Society and let them know how bad it was. I am not sure how much weight those reviews carry, but this is unacceptable. They get encouragement for 13,000 people to do these rides!

[Meaux]

I believe the MS150 allows you to review their recommended rides. If not I would contact the MS Society and let them know how bad it was. I am not sure how much weight those reviews carry, but this is unacceptable. They get encouragement for 13,000 people to do these rides!

DH and I will drafting an e-mail tonight to them. We were pretty upset about the entire situation. It was not a very biker-friendly bike ride. Oddly enough they were giving out bottles of water from the Kingwood Funeral Home. Was this route planned to help with their business?? Sure seemed like it.

[SadieKate]

Chief Whiner-in-Training only because the Chief Whiner seemed to be out of practice. Must have been because it's been awhile since she's ridden with us. Those speedbumps were brutal.

Cool camel! There was one for years on one of our regular rides but he finally died of very old age. I always looked forward to it.

A "big chunk" of Felter was over 10%? Really? Ooh, I feel better now.

[mimitabby]

I did Bike Through the Forest yesterday

This was a VERY poorly planned ride. DH said that some of the organizers at the rest stop were laughing about how badly this went and how they have learned SO much. I don't think anyone will be Biking Through the Forest next year. I just want to know why this was an MS150 recommended ride. Ugh.

wow! I guess there really aren't any forests in Texas!
what a ride. I am glad you survived. You should write a letter to the organizers and let them know what you think. Just because the volunteers were talking about it doesn't mean the organizers realize how bad it was for you!

[Veronica]

I rode with the Bobs, SK and Bubba, aka_kim, Trekhawk and Daniel from Bikejournal (forget what his name is over there.) We rode a lovely bike trail and saw lots of ducks, and then headed over to the Calaveras reservoir and up Felter Road. A great ride, good company and fine eats after courtesy of the Bobs.

Here are a couple of pics. In the on the road shot we have Jo, Trekhawk, aka_kim, Daniel, SK's helmet, Bubba and LeeBob's helmet.

The standing group is V, Lee , aka_kim, Trekhawk, Bubba, SK, Jo and Daniel.


V.

[mimitabby]

I rode with the Bobs, SK and Bubba, aka_kim, Trekhawk and Daniel from Bikejournal

V.

Veronica, you clearly had better weather in SF than we had in Seattle!

[Veronica]

Bubba is playing with SK's Assos.

V.

[jobob]

We had great weather, it was a good biking temperature yesterday, cool but not cold. But it was awfully hazy out, so the gang was deprived of the great views along Calaveras and especially on top Sierra Road. Oh well, I'll just have to take them up there again !

Here's another group shot, this time at the top of Sierra Road. You might be able to see some of the markings on the road from last year's Tour of California.



From the left, jobob, Glenn (gw_12 on Bikejournal, who is this annoyingly fit rider who routinely climbs Sierra Road during his lunch hour at work ... gah. He recognized our AV jerseys on his way down Felter and turned around and joined us for the rest of the climb back up), Daniel (LanceOldStrong on bj), the Bubs, V, Trekhawk & aka_kim. Leebob was a little bit behind us and opted to wait for us.

And here's the ride profile from my 'puter:


I caught so much grief from everyone (especially chief whiner-in-training SadieKate) when I mentioned "it's all downhill from here" at the top of Sierra Road, and we got to the climbs up Warren Ave and Mission Blvd at the 50-ish mile point - well, yeah, I conveniently forgot to mention them. But geeeeeze, they were nothing compared to what we did before that!


A fun day with the gang, and I really enjoyed showing them a nice ride in my neck of the woods. I'd say we got our Feb climbing challenge off to a good start.