Update: Here is a kmz archive (open in Google Earth) of the GPS tracks from the ride, plus the stops.

This year’s MS150 was very, very hard-fought, but thankfully, hard-won!

As we watched the forecast last week, we were delighted to see that mild temperatures and dry weather were predicted for the route. Unfortunately, we soon learned that high winds from the north and northwest were also on the way! And the winds were indeed brutal. It’s pretty tough to keep yourself going for hours into a headwind. A lot of people didn’t even finish the first day, and among those that did, many chose not to ride the second, including a few on our team. And to add insult to injury, temperatures dropped into the forties overnight, which made the dawn start very uncomfortable. After waiting an hour in shiver-inducing cold, we started down several long hills, making the wind chill almost unbearable. My teeth were chattering uncontrollably, and it was hard to handle the brakes and shifters, my hands were so cold.

But did I have fun? Yes!!! Despite the weather challenges, there were several improvements over last year, along with the same satisfaction gained from doing the ride. One great thing this year was that Caprock hired two massage therapists to give free massages in our tent after the first day’s ride. This was wonderful, and really helped with the recovery.

This year Ed (yes, he rode this year) and I, along with one other woman from our team, took the “Challenge Route” on Day 2. This route goes through Buescher and Bastrop state parks. It is much more scenic than the “Express Route” that I took last year, but has some very challenging hills that scare a lot of people off. Living in Dallas now, Ed and I have been able to practice hills more than our Houston flatlander teammates, so we didn’t find this to be a problem at all. And the parks were beautiful to ride through.

I see I didn’t write about this last year, but one fun thing about the ride is the rural people that park at the end of their ranch roads and entertain the riders. There is one guy who plays fiddle all day on the back of a trailer, and there is a steel drum band out in the middle of Texas farm land (!), as well as lots of people with bells and noisemakers who sit in lawn chairs and yell and wave. This year with the alternate route I got to see another institution, the bagpiper in Buescher State Park. This made me tear up a little, though, as he played “Amazing Grace” as we rode up a hill and it reminded me of Kelly’s funeral. Still, it was a great touch.

So how did Ed like it, you ask? Well, despite being impatient, not liking crowds, the unknown, getting up early or roughing it, I think he was glad he did it. He won’t come out and say he liked it because he spent months saying he didn’t want to do it, but since we finished he has been talking about next year. There is something about this type of event that is a little addictive, and I saw it in other first-time riders on our team as they crossed the finish line, fists in the air, yelling “I did it!”. They’ll be back.