New record!

Well, distance at least; even though last week I didn't do the full 50 mile route, I redeemed myself today! I biked 55 miles today on the Pearland Cycling Club's "The Great Escape" ride!

The morning was a bit of a bummer, as last night we had to set our clocks ahead! So I lost an hour of sleep just to that silliness. I got up at 6am (which felt like 5am...oh wait... ;) ), got myself packed, and headed out to Manvel High School. The morning was quite chilly, but I knew at least it wasn't going to be as cold as the last night I started at Manvel High School (that was my first group ride, Ride to the to Rescue). As we arrived at the high school, though, we were shocked to see a VERY different sight than Ride to the Rescue; the parking lot was PACKED, and worse, the Port-a-Potty line was crazy too!

Nonetheless, I soon got on the road, and for the first short bit of the ride my wheel was making a "funny" noise. Luckily I had to stop at a stop light, so I checked it out; it appeared my sensor for my speedometer had shifts slightly and was hitting the fork of my front wheel. With a quick realignment, the annoying sound was gone! As with most bike rides, a huge group of people started off all bunched up together, and I would pass some, and be passed by others. The first rest stop came, and yet again the port-a-potty line was crazy! So I decided to pass this one and head for the next stop at 20 miles.

The first 20 miles were generally pretty good! And it was really cool towards the end of that stretch, I was actually the "lead dog" in a pace line; I had GUYS following in my draft! And I was averaging about 16-17mph in general, so I was feeling pretty good! Being about 1.25 hours in to the ride, I knew I was already off to a better start than last week's ride, putting me only 10mi in about the same time. However, arriving at the 20mi rest stop, I was saddened to once again see a ridiculous port-a-potty line. This time, however, I had no real choice but to stop, so I lost over 30 minutes at this rest stop.

The next 15 miles was an out and back to the same place, and here I dealt with a little bit of wind. My mph dropped to around 14, but I knew that at least I'd have a good wind on the way back! Around 6 miles was the turnaround, with a small rest stop; I stopped to take off my final piece of "warm" gear and stuff it in my backpack, and then headed back on the road again. Another brief stop at the 20-mile rest stop, for another potty break, but this time there was no one there! Thanks goodness! So back on the road again...

Final rest stop was around 46 miles, and there I met a woman named Karen wearing a special MS150 jersey; it says "I have MS...It's WHY I ride!" She was riding a recumbant bike, and it was great to meet another person with MS that is still out there riding! We chatted for a short bit, and then I went about the last 8 miles of the ride. All was well until about 1.5 miles out; a large group of bikers were at a stop light, but we didn't have enough weight to trigger the light that we were waiting to go! It went through 2 full cycles before FINALLY letting us pass (we ended up all trying to scrunch together so the car behind us would move up and set off the sensor). But soon after, I was back at the high school and getting some much needed rest as I changed out of my shoes, etc.

Now, into the evening, I'm feeling very drained actually. At this exact moment, I don't even want to do another long ride next weekend; maybe I'll give myself a week off, we'll see. I was thinking of doing a 40mile ride in Houston, and I probably will and then take the following weekend off. But right now, I'll relish in my success by curling up in bed, resting my legs, and reading before some well deserved sleep. =)