2006 90 mile beer run

[fixedgeargirl]

I did the Shiner BASH last year and had the BEST time ! My longest ride to date !

Shiner BASH

This year the ride benefits the LAF. Anybody else thinking of doing it?

[ladyfish]

Love your Chuy's avitar! Wish I was still in TX so I could do that one. DH would LOVE to meet me at the end for the beer festivities!!! Enjoy the ride and the beer for me!

[fixedgeargirl]

Thanks, ladyfish ! My very first avatar ! It's from a t-shirt my son has outgrown. I wanted to get a pic before the shirt goes in the yardsale, but the resolution isn't so good. I think I'll take another crack at it, I've only been a digi photographer for a few weeks !

[texas_emily]

I like your avatar too...but I love the description of your location! Are you riding the BASH from Austin, Houston, or San Antonio? (Based on your "location", I'm assuming Austin.)

I've done it from Houston, but I've heard that the Austin route is better.

[fixedgeargirl]

Yes, I'll be riding from the "blue spot" of Austin. The route last year (my first) was awsome! lots of FM/RM roads completely without traffic. I heard lots of people saying it was a huge improvement over previous years. As far as comparing it to the other two routes, I dunno .

[texas_emily]

I rode out of Houston two years ago and wasn't all that impressed. Though traffic wasn't bad, the small towns we rode through weren't prepared for an onslaught of riders, the police support was minimal, there was a long-ish section of unpaved road (apparently under construction), and aid stands ran out of almost everything. Thank goodness one of the last aid stands had Gatorade and PowerGel!

With the heat that day, I was in pretty rough shape when I rolled into Shiner. But, the after party was good, showers great, and the bus ride back to Houston wonderful. I didn't do it last year, but I would consider doing it again in the future.

[fixedgeargirl]

The ride from Austin was quite different from your experience two years ago. Too bad there are such differences and you got the short end of the stick.

I don't really recall going through too many towns, certainly none that seemed unprepared. Police support was just right, drivers were courteous as were the locals in the two convenience stores I stopped in. The one gripe I had was that ALL the aid stations were out of Power Gel by the time I rolled through, and I was somewhere near the mid-frontish of the ride. I really liked the aid station run by the young *alternative* girls who had the music pumpin' from their car stereo!

The showers were great , but I forgot to pack a towel ! There was a concert at the end with food booths all around and riders were given tickets to "spend" at the food booths. I had enough tickets to feed me and my son and get an extra beer ! All in all it was a good time.

[texas_emily]

Sounds like they must have done the food/tickets differently last year. I don't remember needing a ticket for food...but I do remember having more beer tickets than I could consume! That said, I think I was done after about 1 and a half!

[luv'nAustin]

I had surgery (hysterectomy) ten days ago and have orders to avoid exercise for six weeks. Do you think that I could get ready for this ride in just one month?

I have never ridden more than 65 miles in one day and would love to give this one a try. Wish me luck!

[fixedgeargirl]

luvn'Austin, before doing this ride I never done more than a metric century. I did the first 60 miles of the BASH alone and hooked up with some guys about mile 60. Those last 30 miles would have been A LOT rougher without them to draft (They started out drafting behind me, but I'm so narrow, it's a waste of time to try to draft off of me ).

Really, there are people of all stripes and speeds out there. I can see that you may not be up to your best ever speed then. Last year, at the 60 mile rest stop I heard reports of there being people at about mile 20 ! This was a good 3.5 or so hours in . These folks were being swept up into the SAG wagons, as it was clear they weren't going to make Shiner in time.

I've been reading your posts and it seems like you're pretty darn fit and have a good base. Six weeks puts you at what, 1st week of April? Have you done any research into exercise post-hysterectomy? Is your doc sympathetic to or understanding of the needs and desires of a dedicated athlete? You certainly don't want to cause yourself any damage, but a lot of threads here have discussed the difference between finding a doc who *gets it* and a doc who doesn't.

Take care and take it easy and I'll see you on the road soon !