Hill Country 53
Sunday was the ride that I host annually, the Hill Country 53. The ride leaves from my house and is a 53 mile loop out into the Texas Hill Country and back. Last year was the first year I hosted the ride. I didn't know many people at that time only having been in Texas for 5 months. We had 6 people last year. This year we had 20 people on the ride. Some were fast, some were slow, and all had a good time.
We left my house at 8am sharp. The temperature was about 50 degrees, so some of the riders were bundled up.
The first of 3 rest stops. The main reason for these were so that everyone could regroup. I didn't want the slow people to fall too far behind in case there was some sort of incident. We carried water and gels and bananas and in my car so people could reload. Notice the Radillac in the background. My sister-in-law drove the sag car for the first half of the ride.
Pete retruing Ted's wheel after Ted ate it in a slimy low water crossing. This was just after my warning - "There is a slick low water crossing up the road. Be careful!"
Brad heading east. He was soaked because he went down in the low water crossing as well. He claims Ted took him out as he was falling. Others on the scene said no. We may never know the truth.
Todd, the head mechanic at Southwest Cycle Sport was nice enough to drive the sag car for the second half of the ride so that my sister-in-law could head back to my house and help my wife get lunch ready for our return. We dropped a car at the second rest stop the night before. Todd also took most of the pictures in this post.
Alicia refueling while I am on garbage patrol.
Peter from SWCS hammering down the road.
Big Bill.
Peter A. Patent attorney during the week, hammer on the weekends.
Chris leading one of the splits toward home.
My neighbor Joe on the right and Herb on the left leading out a group.
Clyde saying, "Where'd everybody go?"
Wendy enjoying herself. This lady can ride!
Sarah and Keith. This was the farthest that Sarah had ever ridden. She is going to be a good rider in time.
Me climbing in my own unhurried style.
Alicia climbing with a good view of the Hill Country behind her.
All riders got an official commemorative mug.
We left my house at 8am sharp. The temperature was about 50 degrees, so some of the riders were bundled up.
The first of 3 rest stops. The main reason for these were so that everyone could regroup. I didn't want the slow people to fall too far behind in case there was some sort of incident. We carried water and gels and bananas and in my car so people could reload. Notice the Radillac in the background. My sister-in-law drove the sag car for the first half of the ride.
Pete retruing Ted's wheel after Ted ate it in a slimy low water crossing. This was just after my warning - "There is a slick low water crossing up the road. Be careful!"
Brad heading east. He was soaked because he went down in the low water crossing as well. He claims Ted took him out as he was falling. Others on the scene said no. We may never know the truth.
Todd, the head mechanic at Southwest Cycle Sport was nice enough to drive the sag car for the second half of the ride so that my sister-in-law could head back to my house and help my wife get lunch ready for our return. We dropped a car at the second rest stop the night before. Todd also took most of the pictures in this post.
Alicia refueling while I am on garbage patrol.
Peter from SWCS hammering down the road.
Big Bill.
Peter A. Patent attorney during the week, hammer on the weekends.
Chris leading one of the splits toward home.
My neighbor Joe on the right and Herb on the left leading out a group.
Clyde saying, "Where'd everybody go?"
Wendy enjoying herself. This lady can ride!
Sarah and Keith. This was the farthest that Sarah had ever ridden. She is going to be a good rider in time.
Me climbing in my own unhurried style.
Alicia climbing with a good view of the Hill Country behind her.
All riders got an official commemorative mug.
posted by Chris at 6:14 PM
20 Comments:
Very cool ride; great idea to host something like that. Even commemorative mugs; dude thinks of everything!
Let me know ahead of time next year and I will try to come down and join the festivities.
Of course, it may be the same weekend of the Iceman, but that looks like a lot more fun. And no snow too! :^)
I like the look of that, when I hit your state sometime in the future you have to lend a steed, swap the brake levers round and I'll have a crack to.
Fat Lad
Coffee mugs! Cool. What's next? T-shirts? A web site? Trademark registration? Get the patent attorney on it.
Very nice idea, and excellent follow-through. A sag car! I wish all my rides had that.
Oldman - get your ass down here. You still coming in Feb?
Fat lad - you can come ride with me anytime you are in the area.
Fendergal - I can't really talk about those things until the press release. HA! If you get tired of the cold and slush, round up your crew and come ride in TX.
Chris,
Thanks for notifying this problem.
How do you read my posts?
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Nice ride.
Now is it chilly in Texas?
Looks like fun. I wish we could have been there.
Looks cool! I haven't done a long road ride in a long time...
Nice mugs. Pint glasses may be a cool idea too.
I haven't crashed on the road bike yet. That scares me to think about. I'd much rather take my chances in the dirt. If you can miss the rocks, you have lots of soft bushes and sand!
Hills? Riding? I seem to have misplaced my invite ;-)
Sounds like a fun time. And you provided food and commemorative mugs for 20 folks; what a host!
Mmmm, rather different terrain (and weather!) to what we are used to.
Daylight eh... now there's a novelty!
Nice post.
al
Chris: I would like to plan something for Feb. We will be needing sun and fun by that time!
Ron - 50s is as cold as it gets in the mornings.
Country Folk - me too. Maybe next year.
Jeff - you will eventually. I wouldn't say it hurts any more or less than mtb wrecks. I remember those being more twisting kind of things where you are getting gouged, poked and banged by various parts of your bike. Road wrecks usually happen in the blink of an eye. Last time I wrecked I was laying on my side on the road still holding onto the hoods.
Rick - you and Chatterbox will be added to the invite list next year. You should feel right at home if you like hills.
Al - yeah, but it is a pretty shade of green there. I bet you guys in the UK are breaking out the rain and cold gear this time of year, eh?
Oldman - let me know as soon as you can. Travel is being added to my calendar for January already.
What a cool thing to do! All that and a MUG, too!!
Can't wait for the Hellweek trip to hill country - less than 5 months away. Yeah, baby!
Eclectchick - I will probably do the first few days of HW. Let me know your plans as things get closer.
hey -- cool ride! but that's a lot of tights and long-sleeved jerseys for 50 degrees. I thought you guys were tough?
This is way too cool!! I'm so jealous of you folks down in Texas. It really seems like the place to be if your a cyclist. Nice job hosting such a great event. It looks like everyone was having a good time. :-)
I definitely want to have you for a riding buddy - SAG, lunch and mugs - yeehaw! Sounds like fun.
Chris: Let's aim for 21st or the 28th for now. We were thinking of making it 4 days, Thursday to Sunday or Friday to Monday. End of the month may be better for us, but we can be flexible based on your schedule.
I will get Rene cracking on hotels and flights and stuff.
Let me know if that sounds like it would work.
will do
that looks like an awesome time! way to go!
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