Ode to Katy, TX

We’re at the halfway point in our training this year for the MS 150. This morning all four of us loaded up and headed out west to Katy, TX for our third trip around the back roads of Fort Bend County.

We’d decided to ride the middle route (38 miles), despite our earlier intentions to make our better than 50 mile this weekend. When we ride on Sunday, we want to be done early enough in the day so that we can accomplish something in the afternoon. Of course, “accomplish something” doesn’t mean much after a bike ride. I’m always impressed with myself when I can stay awake past 9PM on these days.

We generally find ourselves riding in pairs. This week it started with me and Erin paired up and Stephen and Nathan paired up. After the first rest stop, we switched parents. Despite my lingering sniffles, Nathan’s too low bike seat (or too long legs) and Erin’s sore feet, we all averaged around 14 mph for the first 27 miles.

And then we rolled into the second rest stop. Up until that point, we’d had cross wind and tail wind. With the turn to the east, we were riding right against a wind of approximately 13 mph. We haven’t had much wind this year – and Stephen and I are the only ones who have had any hill training thus far (last weekend). So, to say that we were a little surprised is an understatement.

We decided to try a pace line. In a pace line, the riders line up behind one another, just a little bit offset so that the head rider acts as a wind break for the other riders. Of course, the rider at the back gets the easiest ride and the rider at the front gets the most difficult. That’s why you pace – each rider takes a turn as head rider and rolls back after a set number of minutes or miles so that s/he can rest up for his next turn.

Stephen took the first front shift, I followed him, Erin followed me and Nathan brought up the rear. For 6 miles we shifted positions every 2 ½ minutes. Then Erin saw the traffic light that signaled our turn back south in the distance. She refused to give up her place in the front and dragged our sorry behinds right up to the turn. At that point, Stephen and I “let” Erin and Nathan pull off ahead of us and get to the finish line at their own pace.

So, we all ended up with averages somewhere around 13 mph. Not bad for two old people and two kids who hadn’t been on bikes in two weeks.