On Saturday I met up with the Cyclopaths again this time in the small town of Weir to embark on a 43 mile ride around Granger Lake. I was running a bit late, I had to stop for gas and then sunscreen. I rolled into the meeting place 5 minutes till 8. Luckily there were a few other riders still getting ready and I was ready to roll quick so I wasn’t holding anybody up.
 

 
As we were rolling out Rance tells me about the first climb of the day and how it was approaching. I’ve never ridden this route before so my heart skipped a beat as I was expecting a flat ride. I was over the top of the “hill” before I realized that was the climb he was referring to. We had a stop/regroup at the gas station in Circleville.
 

Shortly after the stop I hit some uneven pavement between a bridge and the road. As soon as I hit it I knew it wasn’t good as I had to pull over with a flat. Everybody went whizzing by. Luckily one person stopped and waited for me to change my tire, thanks Rich (I believe that was his name, correct me if it wasn’t). It took about 12-15 minutes to change and everybody was long gone. We started back on the route and were going about 17 – 18 mph, we caught the end of the group around the Hoxie area, but as we crossed the dam another rider John kicked it in and we were crossing the damn around 25 mph.

Unfortunately at that speed we dropped Rich. I felt really bad and still do, he stayed back for me and I left him. At the end of the dam road another rider was waiting under a tree and said he was waiting for Rich and the others. So I pushed on with John into the wind as we circled the lake and into Granger. You make the call, on a group ride should I have stayed back with the others or was it ok to push on at the faster pace that I’m more accustomed to riding? 

 
As I was going through Granger I wasn’t quite sure where the designated stop was, as I slowed for John to catch up I saw the lead pack ahead pulling out of town. I turned around to see if John wanted to stop and since he didn’t we headed out to catch the main group.
 
The ride back to Weir was uneventful, except for the time I dropped my water bottle and had to stop to pick it up. It was my favorite one with my Gel-Bot so I couldn’t leave it. Once again I had to catch up, at least this time I was only a minute back and not 15.
 
I really liked the route, the traffic was fairly low as most of the ride is on country roads. There were a couple sections, albeit small where we had fresh oil applied to a road and a stretch of 30 feet of gravel roads. If you need a relatively flat route with some rollers interspersed through out then I suggest this route.
 
 
 

I have recieved several emails and phone calls wanting, no demanding a ride report from the Memorial Day weekend. On Saturday I rode up to Liberty Hill and caught the group ride with the Cyclopaths of Texas. I saved nearly $4.00 riding the 15 miles from my house to the Liberty Hill Elementary School for the start of the ride. The route was Liberty Hill to Bertram, up to Joppa and back to Liberty Hill.

 This was my first time riding North of Bertram and my first time to Joppa. I was expecting a gas station or something in Joppa, I mean it shows up on the map so it should at least have something there. As I found out when I asked how much further to Joppa and was told we had already rolled through it. Coming back down to Liberty Hill was into the wind, luckily me and 2 other rides had broken away form the lead group and were working somewhat together to get through the wind. For the 45 miles I averaged 17 mph.

On my way out I stopped at Parker's Corner Store and they filled up my water bottle with ice and water. I set out for the 15 miles back to my house. The wind back was not pleseant and the cload cover we enjoyed in the morning was burning off. About 1/2 way I burned through the water so I had to stop at a park on Bagdad to refill. At this point my knee started to hurt. I struggled up the hill on Bagdad right before Crystal Falls. When I finally got home I was in a bit of pain. It hurt going up hills or walking up stairs, but straight walking doesn't seem to bother it, nor does easy spinning. I ended up taking Sunday completely off and on Monday I just did easy spinning riding around with my kids.

During lunch today I went out for 15 miles and as I was heading in my knee was starting to flare up. It didn't hurt, but I could tell if I rode any longer it would. Tonights ride I cut short, I only got 30 minutes in before it started to hurt.

That should get everybody caught up.

Sunday morning I got up bright and early and road the 30 miles from my house to Berry Springs and met up with the Cyclopaths of Texas for their group ride. The ride up Parmer was nice, other cyclists had the same idea as I passed a few going down Parmer. Surprisingly I didn't see anybody else on a bike until I got to the parking lot. I averaged 19.09 mph to Berry Springs.The ride with the group averaged 16 mph. I was happy the pace wasn't pushed  as I knew I still had to get back home and into the wind none the less. One of the guys on the ride was on a fixed gear, he was affiliated with the Violet Crown team. He was talking about the their team, I'm going to check them out. I've looked into them as well as Velossimo Racing  and the Austin Flyers in the past.

I didn't do the entire 32 mile route with the Cyclopaths I caught 1431/Chandler Road off of 130 and headed back to Cedar Park. I didn't realize 1431 went so far East. I'll have to add it to my route bag as going East/West on it is nice, especially East of Parmer. West of Parmer has a lot more traffic, until Lakeline there is a shoulder to ride in. Anything West of Lakeline you're taking your life into your own hands traveling on 1431 as there is no shoulder and in spots there isn't even a white line on the shoulder. Which is too bad as 1431 out to Marble Falls would be an awesome ride.



Once I crossed Parmer the wind really picked up, I thought I could get a little more protection from it by going south on Vista Ridge and catching E. Park. I think it helped a little. On my return I averaged 15 mph, not bad but I think I still need to work on my endurance as on the longer rides I see a pattern of my speed slowing down and I feel the burn in my legs. The entire route was 70 miles for 2462 feet of total climbing.

As always check out the route with some route photos on Road Bike Rides. 

I made it over to Georgetown to try my hand riding with the Cyclopaths of Texas. We met at the Berry Springs park and embarked on the 31 mile ride. There were 8 others in the group, the pace was about 14 mph. I took the opportunity to work on my pedal stroke and push bigger gears trying to keep my cadence around 75 rpm. The terrain was flat with a few rollers but it was windy. One thing about Georgetown, at least the area we rode through there are no trees, it's primarily farm or ranches. In fact we passed several longhorns in the pasture. The route was very low traffic, I think I can count the cars on my hands for the entire ride. 

It was a great time and everybody was friendly. I'll try to get out and ride with them again, the only downside is they start so late in the day, 1:30pm, that it eats up the entire day. 

 Route Map