Yeeee-Haaaw! Did anyone else ride it?! I rode my freakin bike from Houston to Austin over the weekend! There were all kinds of riders, lots of wanna-be pros with the fancy shmancy jersies and even a lot of people with just plain old sneakers on! There were over 9500 people that started but I'm not sure how many finished. 1st day was exactly 100.5 miles. Fortunately we had a SSE wind behind us so it really wasn't that bad until about the 90th mile when fatigue as well as a few little hills started to set in. Also, my friends aunt has a country home in La Grange so they picked us up at the hot-a$$ camp grounds and pampered us at the house, a nice patio, a few Lone stars, some BBQ and even a bed with air conditioning! 2nd day was 76.5 miles if you went the longer, harder way through Beuchler park. I missed the exit for the easier, shorter route and ended up in the park but it wasn't so bad, just a bunch of fun rolling hills. The thing I noticed most is that a majority of people suck on hills. I made many training trips to San Antonio and out to Helotes with some real-deal hills, so these hills weren't that bad. *Remember STANDING UP on your pedals in a bigger gear instead of slowing to 5mph sitting on your a$$, spinning an easier gear is always better. It was a wonderful experience and is only the beginning of me being in great shape. I plan on continuing cycling, its better for older people like me and is better on your knees, back etc... Hey if someone wants to start a ClutchCity team for next year I'm down! Oh, me at the finish...
Even on two wheels you should be representin the Rockets. No hat, no colors, nothing. Where are the tru fans anymore.
You didn't say how much money you raised. This isn't a marathon. You probably just jumped in at the last minute to test yourself and used a ready-made windbreaker of bike-a-thon'ers to help you...nice you got a couple Lone-Stars, BBQ, and air-conditioning, while all the people raising the money for Mutliple Sclerosis had to stay in the "hot-ass" camp.
Oh, minimum to raise/donate is 300 bucks and my employer sponsored me. There were huge teams like British Petroleum, Compaq and other buggers that raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, they also got to take off first while us pee-ons with only 300 dollar donations had to wait at least an hour before we finally took off. The Houston-Austin MS is the largest one in the country, I believe they raised over 5million bucks with this thing! The support is awesome too, stops every 15 miles or so, water, gatorade, bananas, sports bars etc.., they take real good care of everyone. The good thing about Houston being the FATTEST city in America is that there were alot of big boys to suck up on their back wheel! Much easier for meeeee!
Congrats, oily. My wife has done it twice. I see that the MS 150 is still 180 miles. I was never able to train enough when we were in Houston because I don't want to do it unless I am really solid after a lot of training since my knees are so bad. Cycling season is just starting here in Georgia - we do our first two rides this weekend. It is a good sport. Keep it up. We might come into Houston to do it next year, so you may be hearing from me The one here sucks.
Congrats on your ride. I rode this year as well and this was my second year. I think it's a terrific ride. The support it great and the scenery is spectacular. The park is a lot of fun because for every uphill that you struggle through, there is a terrific (and often long) downhill to enjoy. Plus the cause is a good one. I saw a lot of people on the route in wheelchairs cheering us on. These were people with MS and when you see them you realise that it's not just a nice bike ride but you are giving them hope that they may get their lives back. How long did it take you? I got into LaGrange around 4PM and into Austin around 1PM. I had some friends who got into LaGrange at 11:45! Do you remember that long downhill just before the park? How fast did you get on that? I got up to 38.5 MPH. I know that some people can get over 40. Take care, Charlie
1st day, left at around 7:45, arrived around 3:15 or so. 2nd day, left at 7:45 as well and arrived at 1:35. I actually felt better the second day! Damn, you're friends musta been good to arrive at noon on the first day! Thats crazy! DUUUUDE! I got to 37.5 and started putting the brakes on! My bike wanted to go faster but I didn't! I averaged 16.6mph the entire ride.
Nice job! I'm envious. I would definetly like to do the MS150 in the future, but I have a ways to go before trying that. BTW, if you move to Austin you'll be doing 40 mph every day.
