Bluebonnet Express

Willow and I rode the Bluebonnet Express this weekend. The only thing that wasn’t fabulous about it was the hideous t-shirt!

We arrived at around 7 for an 8AM start…and started riding about 8:40. There were more riders than I remembered from last year – but the crowds thinned out pretty quickly after the start. The wildflowers were beautiful -- although some other riders mentioned that the pollen count made the ride pretty difficult for them!

We completed about 55 miles with a very respectable 14.2mph average. There were about 6 miles during which the two of us had 6 bikes drafting off us – which made us feel strong and powerful. We wore our UH jerseys and got a lot of “Go Coogs!” cheers from people around us. We also saw two Sesame Street jerseys (one with Bert and Ernie and the other with Super Grover) that we’re going to have to try to find in the next couple weeks!

We’re both feeling almost ready for the big ride in a few weeks. Willow has a ride near her home in Austin that offers her some nicely challenging hill training. I’ll keep up with my speed rides on Tuesday nights and my distance rides on Thursdays and Saturdays to keep me going. Our ride this weekend is pretty tough – I fell going up a big hill on this one last year – but I’m ready to do it!

The Frisco ride is in just a few weeks!!

Things I learned by riding at 3:00 PM on Tuesday, March 22, 2011

1. Riding your bike during “found” time is really fun!

2. Navigating through elementary school dismissal is not quite the same as navigating through elementary school arrival!

3. If you start going up the hill too fast and you get scared on the curve and brake – the remainder of the hill doesn’t just evaporate.

4. When passing other cyclists (at 3:30 in the afternoon on a workday) you may find that they have as big a grin on their faces as you do – or they may just avoid eye contact and look guilty.

5. Wind is wind. You aren’t allowed to pooh-pooh my average (14.2) because half of it was with the wind – the OTHER half was against the wind!

6. Checking your messages at the half-way point is sometimes wise. If I’d known that Nathan’s pick up time got moved back a ½ hour, I might have enjoyed the last 20 minutes a bit more.

7. Threatening to arrive all sweaty and disgusting to pick up your son is NOT wise, however.

Spring Breakaway!

So, this year I’ve gotten back into my Thursday morning solo rides. When I first did these, Erin was still home. She used to take Nathan off to school and I could leave from the house and ride out and back from home. Now that we’re back having to drive Nathan around, I have been dropping him off at school and then riding from Highway 6 west to Fry Road.

I love these rides. I feel strong and powerful because I have to do the whole thing by myself. I only go about 20 miles, because it isn’t really an endurance ride. I get plenty of those on the weekends. So, I work on my speed, my cadence and my form. And I fight the wind.

I’ve ridden this ride 6 times now and on one of them, the wind was at my back for the last 3 miles. For the other five, I’ve been cranking out the miles at a snail’s pace into winds that feel like I’ve stepped back into Hurricane Ike (I hyperbolize).

Today, since it’s spring break, Stephen and Nathan joined me. And what I gave up in peace and quiet (random bits of rap lyrics and poop jokes replaced bird song), I got back in young legs and locomotive legs!

We cruised nicely into the wind for one stretch early on. That was sort of the easy part. When I’m alone, I may struggle a little on that stretch but I’m usually still pretty fresh. Where the boys really came in handy was on the last 3 miles. We turned into the wind and Nathan took over in the lead. He dragged Stephen and me for about 2 minutes, then Stephen took over. Then Nathan took over, then, Stephen took over. I drafted comfortably in the back!

My average speed for the ride was 15.2 (over 22.4 miles!). I don’t think I’ve ever averaged that high for 20 miles before! I’ll take it – even though I can’t take all the credit for it