2005 Ride for Roses

"Hook'em horns!"

That was the greeting we received upon our arrival into Austin-Bergstrom Intl. Airport. The University of Texas was playing Texas Tech that afternoon and the locals love the Longhorns... (BTW: UT has quite a football complex - the stadium looks to hold 60K or so)

So, back to cycling and our experience riding with the Boss for his big charity.

We arrived on Saturday @ 3pm and went immediately to the hotel to inspect the bikes and assess any damage they might have received on the trip. Our plan was to hit a local bike shop after building the bikes back up if we found we needed any parts.

Fortunately everyone's bike was in perfect condition, so we went directly to the Livestrong Expo to take in all the sites. Various vendors had booths set-up, mostly Discovery/Lance sponsors. One very cool thing on display was LA's time trial frame from this year's TdF. We also saw some pretty stuff from Subaru, with their new SUV/wagon. The highlight of the expo was seeing George Hincapie. He was on hand to support the event and was doing an autograph session. When Sean pointed out that George had about 200 autographs to sign and that he looked so pumped about that very fact, Hincapie looked up at us and smirked, at which we all started laughing...

From the expo it was back to the hotel to map out dinner. The hotel manager was kind enough to recommenc a good Tex-Mex restaurant in downtown Austin. For those who have never been to Austin, the city boasts a vibrant restaurant and pub scene in the downtown area. Tons of bars and clubs overflowing with college kids and young professionals.

The restaurant we went to was called the Iron Cactus. It had a sweet second floor balcony/patio section where we camped out to carbo load and enjoy the 80 degree Austin evening. Everyone enjoyed their meals of enchiladas, medalliones de pollo, margaritas and of course Shiner's...

We all ate and drank our fill and strategized about the next day. The game plan was going to be dictated to some degree by the weather which is always the case with cycling events. The initial forcast was for the Sunday to start in the high 50's and eventually reach the mid 70's. Temperature wise we looked to be in very good shape for a good day on the bike.

However, as anyone who has ridden in TX will attest, it's the wind that tends to get you and it tends to get stronger as the day goes along. Again, the initial forecast looked promising with the wind projected to be around 1-2mph at the start and getting up towards 10mph by our projected finish.

Given our analysis of the weather conditions, we decided that we would try to find a group of 20-30 riders of similar skills and conserve energy as best as possible within the bunch. Our goal was to average 20mph or better.

All four of us had various levels of fitness going into the ride. As you know, the weather around here has been awful for cycling and with the diminishing sunlight in both the morning and afternoon, it's been impossible to get any long miles in. Needless to say, we knew we had a tall task ahead of us if we really wanted a 20+ average for 100 miles.

Sunday finally came and we broke out the BHCC gear, bikes, fluids, etc. and headed to the Travis County Expo Center for the start. We arrived at 6:45 for the 7:30 start. We did the typical pre-ride checklist, locked up the van and headed to our chute.

Chute 3 was designated for the riders doing 100mi and projecting to be in within 4-5 hours. Once in the chute, we heard Lance read the mission statement of the LAF. He gave a quick pep talk, typical Lance, no nonsense... Robin Williams told a couple of jokes, and Mike somebody (guitarist for the Wallflowers?) played the national anthem ala Hendrix style.

Once the opening ceremonies were done with, the celebs and tandems were sent off. Then came our group...

Things started out as planned, we latched on to a decent size group within a mile or so, and then started making our way thru the crowds. The pace was fairly tame at first with the flats averaging 20-22mph and the hills averaging 15-18mph. (Austin is hilly btw) The BHCC boys were well behaved for the most part (Sean and Bill "Who you callin' Grampa?" Connolly) Me and the Colonel were getting a bit antsy with the hill pace. By the second or third rise Dylan had had enough. He went right to the front and upped the pace. The sorting out began!

Within our group of 20 or so riders was a group from Monterrey Mexico called Cassi Squadra. They ended up being a very solid group and we shared Shiner's with them post ride, but more to come on that later. The Squadra boys were doing some decent work on the flats, but weren't as willing to go hard on the rollers, so that duty fell/was taken by me and Dylan. Dylan was on a death mission and I was feeling pretty good, so between the two of us we kept the group pace very high thru the hills and subsequently thru the first 50mi or so. Rumor has it that we were averaging something like 25mph for the first 50mi

About mile 50, Sean decided to take out a very aggressive Phonak wannabe. Actually, the guy was a very strong rider and on a sweet bike (Oscar Freire's World Champ version of the C50). This guy started attacking the group every hill. After two or more attacks, he realized he picked on the wrong group, cause the BHCC bitchstick came out lead by Campbell and finished off by Peterson, Sanders, and Connolly. We matched him up a long rise and then proceeded to drive a 30mph pace for a mile or so after the hill. What'd ya know? No more Phonak guy! Oh, and for those of you that don't know, BHCC is no longer a social cycling club, we're a bike gang...

Just kidding!

Back to the ride. At this point we've completed over 50 miles in just over 2 hours and our group is down to the 4 BHCC members, 6 Squadra's, and 5 or so other hanger-ons. BTW: still no stop. We roll thru mile 60 and I'm almost out of fluid as is Bill. Dylan conveniently drops his chain at a poorly marked water stop that consisted of 4 5gallon jugs. We had no clue he lost the chain and the group kept rolling. Eventually the Colonel got back to us thanks to a well deserved break at the 80 mile mark. The organizers had a great stop set up with music, food, fluids, etc. As I mentioned, it was there that Dylan came back to us after riding 15 miles solo.

When we stopped at 80 we lost the Squadra's. They were riding thru. Unfortunately we couldn't continue without rehydrating and dehydrating

We left the rest stop and decided that the 22+ mph average we had thru 80 was good and that we we now try to maintain 20mph home. This was before we realized how strong the wind had become.

Sean started us out with an amazing pull for 3 miles or so at 25-27mph. He was in that groove. BHCC was in a tight paceline. All in our drops, and I can tell you we were getting some looks from people who were coming back in from the 70mile course! I think they were a bit shocked to see that kind of pace at that point in the ride. After Sean's pull, the rest of us each did our turn on the front, and we did the next 10 miles at a 25mph average.

This is where the fun started. Right hand turn at mile 90 into that TX headwind. And it was blowing real good! Estimates were in the 15-20mph range. Needless to say the pace came down dramatically. Our foursome fractured on a long climb with Sean and I out front, and Dylan and Bill behind.

The rest of the way in was a desparate search for a "live wheel". Meaning we were all starting to fade and the wind was getting us. So were the rollers in the course that was supposedly flat. Basically, we all suffered at some level the last 10 miles, but we finished and did so in a very respectable time.

Sean and I rolled across first, completing the 102 miles in 4:38 of ride time. Dylan and Bill came in next a couple of minutes behind.

On my computer, I had us clocked at exactly a 22mph average at 100 miles. Not a bad day's work!

After the ride, you guessed it! Texas barbie with free Shiner's (local craft beer favored by the Boss)

We ate and drank our fill and also met back up with the Squadra boys. Real nice set of lads. They even had a club van they had purchased! Yes the thought crossed Sean's mind, and no it won't happen because his wife thankfully shot down that idea!!

After the party we headed back to the hotel to shower and pack the bikes. Everyone thought it would be good to get some more Mexican, so it was back to downtown Austin.

In all, we had a great weekend. The TX hospitality was superb, the course was challenging, and the stories were plentiful. It is an event we highly recommend to our club. FWIW: LAF is planning a New England ride next year so stay tuned....

Your humble reporter...