Texas Toast

Georgetown, TX. Today, I completed the Red Poppy Century Ride across the rolling hills of central Texas. The Lone Star State challenged me with headwinds & heat, and I countered with gears and Gatorade and gumption. The day was mine!

The temperature only reached 85 today, and there were clouds for much of the morning. But by 2PM on a late April afternoon, the dry heat down here can knock the stuffing out of you. But the real challenge was the 30 mph wind from the south, enough to make the flags stand on end. The route was a loop with about 20 miles into the headwind, and those legs were pure torture. Even in a crosswind it was difficult to control the bike. And, the combination of heat and wind made hydration a huge challenge. In fact, the temptation to take a short cut was about as much as the Wicked Witch saying, over and over, "poppies! more poppies!".

But, I did it! I did not finish at any great speed, and I took several "granny stops", but I'm happy to say I rolled in to Georgetown High School under my own power. On the headwind segments, I geared way down and just crawled along. By the afternoon, I refilled my 100-oz hydration pack with Gatorade and ice twice. It all worked because one of the EMT techs at the final rest stop (92 miles!) said I was one of the few who had a smile on my face at that point.

I can't go without saying that Texans are great people. I don't remember getting 'buzzed' by one car. I got a lot of waves, and a lot of friendly smiles. The rest stops were stocked well, and all kinds of help was cheerfully provided. I appreciate the woman who cheered everybody in to the 40-mile rest stop. (She must be hoarse by now!) And the nice lady who offered to make me a PB&J sandwich at the 82-mile stop. And, of course, there was the woman who filled my water bottle while I was elsewhere engaged, and I didn't realize she had put ice in it until later. I tried to say thanks to them all.

And, yes, there were red poppies. Late in the day, it was easy to stop and take pictures of the fields of bluebonnets and poppies. 

It's a great feeling coloring in Texas on the map. It's such a big state!

A Century Should Be Fun

Last Saturday, April 21, I finished the Lake Anna Century Classic. Lake Anna was formed in 1973 when the North Anna River was dammed to provide cooling water for the North Anna nuclear plants. The irregularly-shaped lake is the third largest in the state. This ride circles the lake, and uses all but one of the bridges over the its estuaries.

It was a delightful day -- sunny and a bit breezy. We passed some beautiful homes and yards, there were many views of the lake. And, for those who kept their heads up, there were many memorable tranquil scenes reflected in water -- an old mill or a peaceful copse of trees. The terrain was not particularly challenging, but I didn't experience any of the advertised 'long, flat stretches'. We were either climbing or coasting on shallow grades. In fact, the grades so dominated the ride that I don't think I really noticed the blustery headwind. But, when we turned into the final 30 miles, the tailwind put a smile on everyone's faces.

We were particularly fortunate with the weather: the following two days were cold with an all-day rain. The nearby Appalachian Mountains even had snow! We grabbed one of the best weather days of the month.

This region of Virginia has an interesting mix of cultures. The quiet affluence of the lakeside homes stands in contrast to the rural farming communities in the adjacent counties. There were many courteous drivers who would wait behind cyclists for oncoming traffic to clear. And, there was the occasional guy in an old pickup truck who needed to voice an opinion as to whether we should be on 'his' road. When you pass through a town called Bumpass, you probably should expect a bit of that. The friend-to-foe ratio was about twenty-to-one, which is as good (or bad) as it is country-wide.

I've ridden on these roads before, as early as the 1980s. It's interesting to see the Virginia Department of Transportation in transition. Long ago, there was absolutely no accommodation for bicyclists. Now, some of the roads have shoulders. But, maddeningly, the shoulders have a tendency to disappear -- sometimes just as you're climbing a hill with traffic coming in both directions. Instilling rationality in road design is one of the reasons I've become involved in bicycle advocacy with our local government. 

For some odd reason, this 'century' went only 95 miles. This makes no difference to my quest, as I've long since colored in Virginia. I have to wonder, however, if there isn't some way to gather up an extra five miles of the rolling Virginia countryside.

But, as I did this ride, my thoughts centered around how pleasant this whole experience was. That includes the anticipation and the mapping ahead of time, as well as the post-ride chatter with fellow riders. On some rides, I want to put on earphones and listen to something to make the miles move faster. The scenery here had so much variety that I was well into the final stretch before I pondered adding a soundtrack.

Interestingly, century events seem to come in distinct sizes. This was a 'small' event, with about 200 riders. The Tristate Century earlier in April was similar in size. There are many events with thousands of participants. It's sometimes hard to tell ahead of time what the scale of a given event will be. I'm expecting that soon enough I'll be riding with a bigger crowd.

Perhaps next weekend: The Red Poppy Ride in Georgetown, Texas. And, after that event, I'll get to visit my grandchildren! Life is good.

I've updated the links at the right to show the rides I'm registered for on the rest of the year. You may have noticed a theme: I gravitate toward those rides with "flat" in the title, or that advertise the avoidance of hills. After all, a century should be fun!

Tri-States Century

Dothan, AL. I just completed my first century of the season. I rode 102 miles through southeastern Alabama, northern Florida, and southwestern Georgia. Thus, I'm now able to color in the entire southeastern corner of the map.

The local bike club has put on this ride for ten years, now. Proceeds go to the Pediatric Cancer Unit at Birmingham's Children's Hospital. Our ride included 17 wounded warriors, who were so fast that I did not see them all day.

Now, the truth has to be told: I was the last rider to finish. The way I see it, a bicycle ride is a journey, not a race. I feel like I got the most out of the ride: I spent the most time in the sunshine of a beautiful day. Lots of great volunteers staffed lots of rest stops, and really expected the last rider to finish later. So, when I got in, everybody got to go home early!

Dothan has a number of cycling events in conjunction with its CityFest. In fact, the Mayor wished us a good ride at the start, standing with a bullhorn and fully decked out to ride (helmet and all!) Thus, motorists are used to seeing bicycles on the roads. I found the good people of this rural region to be among the more congenial drivers I've encountered.

And, I was impressed with the enthusiasm of the volunteers. At every rest stop they would cheer or wish me well. The would not hear of my apologizing for being slow. We laughed about all the hills left to go (most of the hills were in the last 20 miles). But the course was spectacularly well-marked. In fact, they had spray-painted words of encouragement on many of these last few hills. "You LAUGH at hills!" was one of my favorite. And, I did.

You know, I finish a lot of centuries on my own. By the time I get back, almost everybody has packed up and gone. I've gotten used to it, so it's not a big deal really. But, when you arrive at the finish line to a small crowd of cheering people, high-fiving you, shaking your hand and asking, "How many states is that?", it is one of life's delicious moments.

So, for all that amazing southern hospitality, I've put the Tri-States century on my list of "go backs". When I finish this project, over the coming years, I'll keep an eye out for the early April running of future "TS-100"s.