Mike's Bike Blog

No I don't have mystic powers nor a crystal ball to foresee the future, so how can I give a ride report for a ride that isn't going to happen till this Saturday? The Spokes 'N Spurs was suppose to be last Saturday (03/14/2009), but due to rain in the week muddy conditions out at the ranch made the organizers postpone the ride till the 21st. This change wasn't going to bode well for us as I have the Fayetteville stage race that weekend. The Spokes 'N Spurs ride was going to be Ethan's first event ride, he was going to be doing the 6 mile route and Jack was going to try his legs on the 14 mile route.  The boys were looking forward to the ride and were bummed to learn that I couldn't do it the 21st thus they wouldn't be able to ride it. Jack and Ethan are both off from school this week for spring break so on Wednesday I took the day off and we decided to drive up to the Spirit Reins Ranch in Liberty Hill and have our own Spokes 'N Spurs ride.

Jennifer joined in on the fun and brought her bike to ride with Ethan on the 6 mile route and they were the first to depart. Jack and I quickly caught up to them and passed them. I was quite surprised at the pace Jack was pushing. We averaged about 11 MPH for the first 1/2 of the ride. The only drawback to the 14 mile route is the time on RR 1869.

The time on 1869 is short, but it is a heavily traveled road for a country rode. Plus there really isn't a shoulder, so I was a bit nervous to be taking Jack on it. We got through it and the couple cars that did pass us gave us plenty of room.

Around the 1/2 way point Jack encountered a steep roller and wasn't in the proper gearing for it. He got a 1/3 of the way up and couldn't push any more. I had him coast back down and shift to an easier gear and he was able to make it up with no problem the second time. We were about an hour into it and we stopped to consume the bars we brought along for the needed fuel to keep us going. As we were eating I got the phone call from Jennifer that her and Ethan were done.

The last 1/2 was a bit more challenging for Jack as the rollers seemed to be taking a toll on his legs. Our speed dropped down to 8 mph, which I expected the average would be anyway. The constant question every few miles of "how far have we gone?" was replaced with "how many more miles?", plus the frequency went up.

In the 3 mile home stretch we stopped one last time to see the longhorns and the buffalo while Jack ate the rest of his bar. We finished up at 2'06" total time, including breaks. I estimated it would take us around 2 hours. Jack put in the most miles he'd ever done in a day with 14.5 miles.

It wasn't the "official" Spokes 'N Spurs but everyone had a great time and feel like they earned the T-shirt. Both boys said they had a good time and Jennifer said she did too. Ethan is planning on doing a 10 mile ride next. Jack's next distance will be 20 miles and hopefully Jennifer will sign up for the Rookie Tri. I need to see about getting Jennifer a T-shirt as well, she earned it.