Friday 4/20: Headed to Houston for the start of the ride Saturday morning. Got to the hotel around 9 pm and met up with the rest of the team in the lobby. The team is led by a guy named Davis Baldwin, who actually has MS, so riding on his team has special meaning. After a beer and determining the logistics the next day it was time to try to get some sleep. Unfortunately, I always have a tough time sleeping in hotels, but luckily I got 5 hours of sleep before the...Saturday 4/21:...alarm went off at 5:30 am. Time to wake up, get some breakfast, make last minute bike checks and head down to the lobby to meet up with the team at 6:30. After the usual arrive and wait scenario we finally rolled out at about 7:15 am. The ride the first day, though 100 miles, is amazingly flat with only a few marginal rollers. It makes for a fast ride day. But it also leads to many inexperienced riders doing this ride (Approximately 14,000 total) so the first few hours you have to be extra careful, and then by all of the rest stops as many times they are not used to merging in with faster bikes.
So on to the ride report, I felt great, I rode with my friends/team for maybe the first 15 miles and then one other guy and I picked up the pace a bit and I rode with him for the first 60 miles then he started to slow and I just went alone from there. I ended up averaging 19.1 mph the first day and was on the course a total of about 5:45 with rest stops.
LaGrange: LaGrange is the stopping point for day one and they convert a fairgrounds into a massive tent (think corporate event style not in the woods for the weekend style) compound. Each team rents a huge tent and once again Davis does it right. We had a portable hot tub, a flat screen lcd tv that he had hooked up to an xbox 360, his video iPod to show movies, etc. It was a first class operation. So basically in LaGrange you just eat, sleep, refuel and prepare to do it all again. There are tons of people and tons of noises so I am glad I brought my earplugs so I could get some sleep. So that I could wake up at...
Sunday: 5:30 am and get back on a bike. Once again like the first day the planned departure time was 7 am but unlike the first day in LaGrange you have this mass of humanity trying to exit the fairgrounds all at once so you can stand in line ready to ride for hours. We were all lucky this year and maybe stood in line for 30 minutes max. Day two is approximately 80 miles if you do the longer hillier course or 70 if you choose the Express route. I chose the hillier course that takes you through Bastrop State Park as that is the prettiest part of the ride. So besides some butt numbness the ride today was great as well, temps in the upper 60s/low 70s, not much wind and a 19.4 mph average, and out on the road for a little over 4 hours.
Afterwards Carri and I waited for people to finish and the whole team met up at a little outdoor restaurant/beer garten by the finish line. A great time was had by all and tons of money was raised to find a cure for MS. I just wanted to thank Davis again and Carri for helping out at LaGrange and serving as my pit crew on these rides and for everyone that donated money to support me for this ride. Thanks! Enjoy...tim
