337

April 7 marked our second annual venture west to God's Country. Leakey Texas. Where FM 336 meets FM 337. Heart of the Hill Country. Attempts to describe the natural beauty of that piece of Texas cheapen its brilliance. Rolling vistas, only lightly touched by civilization, all under truly magnificent Texas skies greeted us on our Friday pre-ride roll.

Attendees: ME, Ullrich, Hoodie, VJ, Ty, Scheibs, Bergie, Dykes, Panozz, Garreth, Charlie and MC.

MC entered the weekend on one leg. Victim of a knee issue created by his failure to accept the aging process. Too many innings on the mound, followed by a Pebble Beach extravaganza left his right knee grapefruitish. Gamer that he is, the Yeti gave the big roll a shot.

This year we got two places off HomeAway, an Austin success story. Dudes in one, ME, my family and the Ullrichs in the other. Our place was easily the nicer of the two. Biggest fumble of the weekend was on  ME. Neglect to the finer points of the rental agreement left the fellas without linens or towels. Sorry guys. All my bad. 

Friday dinner of homemade lasagna (thanks to ME bride!) provided some carb reserves for the Saturday ride. Add in a few brews and we were all ready to crush it! Ty got his electric smoker firing Friday night for the Saturday postride meal of brisket, pork and sausage. The Badger can do some work!

Saturday morning we congregated at the Hog Pen, a Leakey Biker Bar. 

Hey, where's VJ?

After VJ's Pavlonian devotion to inopportune urination, we got the roll underway.The morning was a little moist at the start. Three hills came at us in rapid succession early in the day (mile 6, mile 11 and mile 20). We regrouped at the top of the last climb for a photo op:

As you may note, MC was not in this pic. He had to pull out after climb #1, done in by his fastball. Shortly after this was taken Charlie and VJ rolled up. At this precise moment, Panozz declared "allrigh Veej, let's go!" That truly never gets old.

Descents in the mist were pretty harrowing. Scheibs was a foot from going off road, saved by his precision steering skills. On a personal note, KS may be the most detail oriented (aka "anal retentive") sales guy I have ever met. He had his bike completely deconstructed, degreased and re-lubed about 1 hour post-ride. This includes degreasing each cog in his rear cassette. This is equal parts awe inspiring and scary. I can no longer look at the Scheibs without seeing his eyes judging the skank all over my bike.

Slop and grime ushered us from the Sisters to Medina, where we met Hoodie's "tres chicas muy rica", who acted as our SAG for the day. Toni and kids were our lifeline, feeding us Allen Lim-inspired carb loaders, water, Nuun, fruits and PBJ. I cannot say thanks enough times! Awesome sauce!!

Hoodie and his better half. 

VJ's countenance has been hidden for his protection. 

This photo was clipped from a 

COPS episode focused on public urination

From Medina to Utopia, there was a fair amount of separation in the crew. The Sisters, the rollers and our differentiated training regimens dropped us into different pockets of suffering. Can't speak for the rest of you, but it was so fun for ME! Got on Garreth and Panozz's wheel and just hung on. What a blast. It was mostly downhill on this stretch. Highlight at this point was Dykes' attempt to go Pro. In ride bladder relief. It should be left to TdF riders. You may need to burn that Chamois my friend.

We regrouped in Utopia, meeting Toni and Team for the second and final time. Initial reports had Ullrich about to SAG out of the ride, which shocked ME. But 337 is a mean beeyotch, and the Deutschlander had a knee issue. Turns out, reports of the German's demise were premature, as he wheeled into town smiling like a fat kid with a fistful of smarties. Apparently, VJ's "Dr Fuentes" bag hanging under his saddle contained some magic pills. Shout out here to Bergie for domestique duties, bringing the Advil to the Ullrich.

However, Domestique of the Day goes to Garreth. Talk about giving someone a little push? Big G physically pushed Charlie up a hill around mile 70.All while riding next to him on the bike. Truly amazing!

Post-Utopia, we stuck together, if you loosely defined that term. Bergie did some work on the front, and the German made an appearance, rejuvenated from his Fuentes pills.

We regrouped at the turn onto 2748. Charlie nearly pulled a Gump, shooting past us while we screamed at him. Well done on the ride CG! That was good work. More than you have ever done before, which is reason to pause and celebrate. 

OK, now that the celebration is over, time to get back into the paceline, which actually stuck together the entire final 10 miles of the ride. Despite an adrenaline fueled break by the German, we all rolled into Leaky together. Safe and realtively sound.

Ty's post-ride meal was legendary. He is a great cook, and we all got the benefit. I loaded about 5k calories onto my plate!

Saturday night was a blast, though most of the HCD had dispersed back to ATX. Hot tub, White man's fire, beer, wine, port, a true victory celebration. Thanks to all who participated. Special thanks to:

1. Joanie - awesome dinner, and thanks for your tolerance of my two-wheeled addiction.

2. Toni and kids - Lifeline!

3. Ullrich's Kids and Jake - I am looking forward to seeing the photos you guys took!

4. Lynn - Bride of Ullrich! Thanks for the great food!!

5. Ty - great job on the BBQ

Got some decent video, so keep eyes out for that! Have a great week fellas!