8 of us congregated at the French Bakery. Plan was to take a big bite out of the Festive 500 with an extended ride around Lake Travis. Way around.
Not a great start to the day for ME. iphone alarm goes off at 6am. Morning ritual in the bathroom reveals that the power is out. Yes, it took ME that long to figure it out. [Note-inserting contacts in the pitch black is a challenge.]
Initial plan was to head to HEB for some provisions. Trudged to car at 6:10am. Drove to gate. Guess what? Gate doesn't open when power is out. Plan B? Go back to bed until 7:15, then mooch off my buddies.
7:15am - iphone alarm v2.0. getting dressed for the big ride - - phone rings. Ullrich. "Hey man, my car battery is dead". ME "I will come get you".
PRERIDE SUMMARY: Clusterballs. No breakfast. No Coffee. Day off to great start.
ME, Ullrich, Coppedge, Dykes (Goldfinger), 4FN, Bergie, and Dan and Ray (two compadres of 4fn) constituted the peloton. Tyler was our SAG, as this ride ran through vast stretches of country roads. Tyler, you were awesome, and very much appreciated. And a lifesaver.
Roads were soggy from a night's worth of God spit. laggards and deuces put us about 15 minutes behind our 8am start. The ride up 620 was predictable. Loud, trafficky and not a lot of fun. Interesting note: This was Ray's first time to ride 620. And likely his last. Legs felt like molasses in this stretch. Doughboy vest was bedazzled with road speckles. That is likely a gift that will keep on giving.
Wind started to stand up a bit when we hit Lakeline Blvd. Seemed like we were riding into the teeth of it FOREVER. Upside of riding in a strong group: Lot of time to tuck in. Which I did.
Mile 40 - We finally began to escape suburban Austin. Wind picks up and we are still headed into it. Note here that Bergie has a tiny tank. Luckily for him he is very fast.
Mile 58 - Finally turn south into the tailie. AND we are at the highest elevation of the ride. Let the games begin. 10 mile stretch of descent separated the group. Two run-ins with dogs here.
DOG1 - Big Golden lab running alongside of us downhill right, pops out in front of Dykes. He pulls his William Wallace maneuver, full scream in dog's face. Scares shit out of dog, which jumps out of his way. RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. Brakes locked, skidding through gravel at 25mph, I am Pre-Endo. Somehow, that pooch jumps out of the way 1.2 milliseconds from impact. Coppedge, who witnessed the event, suggests I check my chamois for residual matter.
DOG2- I employ the Dykes Maneuver. Take that long-haired lab mix.
Ride to Marble Falls split the group mightily. Regrouped at MF, where Tyler saved us for the third time of the day. Once through MF, Ray took us though his backyard. great country riding. Rubber band of the peloton continued to stretch, snapping a few times. Coppedge flatted (2nd time) on CR962. (we skipped the caliche experience of Shovel Mtn). Ullrich took off while Coppedge was in maintenance mode, giving him 10 minutes on the group.
I guess the testosterone accumulated during the flat change, as the rubber band snapped pretty hard, stretching the group out until we hit our final sag stop (Paisano Way, right before the Pedernales climb). We were certain Ullrich had missed a turn, as we hadnt caught him. But there he was at the sag stop, waiting for us. Incredible solo work Ullrich!
Let's just say the climb out of Pedernales sucked. And the death gauntlet of Hamilton Pool Rd from 12 to 71 sucked even harder. But we all made it. Some faster (bergie, Dykes) than others. But it wasn't a race, was it? At ride's end, Tyler left us with some celebratory suds. See below for a pic of the survivors.
Well done fellas, and thanks for the wheels!!
Not a great start to the day for ME. iphone alarm goes off at 6am. Morning ritual in the bathroom reveals that the power is out. Yes, it took ME that long to figure it out. [Note-inserting contacts in the pitch black is a challenge.]
Initial plan was to head to HEB for some provisions. Trudged to car at 6:10am. Drove to gate. Guess what? Gate doesn't open when power is out. Plan B? Go back to bed until 7:15, then mooch off my buddies.
7:15am - iphone alarm v2.0. getting dressed for the big ride - - phone rings. Ullrich. "Hey man, my car battery is dead". ME "I will come get you".
PRERIDE SUMMARY: Clusterballs. No breakfast. No Coffee. Day off to great start.
ME, Ullrich, Coppedge, Dykes (Goldfinger), 4FN, Bergie, and Dan and Ray (two compadres of 4fn) constituted the peloton. Tyler was our SAG, as this ride ran through vast stretches of country roads. Tyler, you were awesome, and very much appreciated. And a lifesaver.
Roads were soggy from a night's worth of God spit. laggards and deuces put us about 15 minutes behind our 8am start. The ride up 620 was predictable. Loud, trafficky and not a lot of fun. Interesting note: This was Ray's first time to ride 620. And likely his last. Legs felt like molasses in this stretch. Doughboy vest was bedazzled with road speckles. That is likely a gift that will keep on giving.
Wind started to stand up a bit when we hit Lakeline Blvd. Seemed like we were riding into the teeth of it FOREVER. Upside of riding in a strong group: Lot of time to tuck in. Which I did.
Mile 40 - We finally began to escape suburban Austin. Wind picks up and we are still headed into it. Note here that Bergie has a tiny tank. Luckily for him he is very fast.
Mile 58 - Finally turn south into the tailie. AND we are at the highest elevation of the ride. Let the games begin. 10 mile stretch of descent separated the group. Two run-ins with dogs here.
DOG1 - Big Golden lab running alongside of us downhill right, pops out in front of Dykes. He pulls his William Wallace maneuver, full scream in dog's face. Scares shit out of dog, which jumps out of his way. RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. Brakes locked, skidding through gravel at 25mph, I am Pre-Endo. Somehow, that pooch jumps out of the way 1.2 milliseconds from impact. Coppedge, who witnessed the event, suggests I check my chamois for residual matter.
DOG2- I employ the Dykes Maneuver. Take that long-haired lab mix.
Ride to Marble Falls split the group mightily. Regrouped at MF, where Tyler saved us for the third time of the day. Once through MF, Ray took us though his backyard. great country riding. Rubber band of the peloton continued to stretch, snapping a few times. Coppedge flatted (2nd time) on CR962. (we skipped the caliche experience of Shovel Mtn). Ullrich took off while Coppedge was in maintenance mode, giving him 10 minutes on the group.
I guess the testosterone accumulated during the flat change, as the rubber band snapped pretty hard, stretching the group out until we hit our final sag stop (Paisano Way, right before the Pedernales climb). We were certain Ullrich had missed a turn, as we hadnt caught him. But there he was at the sag stop, waiting for us. Incredible solo work Ullrich!
Let's just say the climb out of Pedernales sucked. And the death gauntlet of Hamilton Pool Rd from 12 to 71 sucked even harder. But we all made it. Some faster (bergie, Dykes) than others. But it wasn't a race, was it? At ride's end, Tyler left us with some celebratory suds. See below for a pic of the survivors.
Well done fellas, and thanks for the wheels!!
