I looked up the starting location Thursday to see how far it was from Kingwood. At first I thought about getting up early early Saturday morning to drive to there but then decided to drive there on Friday late afternoon and stay at a nearby hotel. I made my reservation at the SureStay Hotel in Alvin. It’s a good thing I did that because I drove by the exit to Alvin and turned around to get there. After checking in I drove to Freedom Field where the ride started at 7:30 AM. Google maps took me on side roads that I don’t think I would’ve navigated well without the practice drive.

Eating breakfast at the hotel I then left for Freedom Field and got there about 6:45 AM in plenty of time. I ween to the registration area and picked up ,y number, safety pins, and a map. I waited a few minutes and then went around handing out Texbiker.net business cards. Everyone accepted one.

Back at the Jeep I attached the number to my Texbiker.net jersey and got the Cervelo out of the Jeep. I had difficulty getting the front thru axle to thread but finally succeeded. The rider next me needed a safety pin for his number so I gave him one of mine. I was number 176. I didn’t keep tabs of the numbers I saw but I would guess there 200 to 300 riders. I chose the “long” route which came in at 65.17 miles (65.18 in SportTrack’s calculation). Many of the riders left before I made it to the start line due to the thru axle problem. (Later when I was back home I didn’t have a problem threading it.)

The ride description said the roads were not high traffic roads, mainly Brazoria County roads. The exception was FM 523 but it had a wide shoulder. Most of the road surfaces were in good condition but some potholes and slippage cracks appeared at times. Traffic was minimal except for FM 523 where a couple of oversize load 18 wheelers passed. Also the only climb was on FM 523, an overpass of a county road and railroad tracks.

Rest stops were spread out about 15 miles apart. Each one was well stocked and the volunteers were super friendly. There was a contest for the best rest stop. I voted for the first one on the long route. There were aliens and funny high school volunteers. The others were good too. I stopped at all 4 on the long route. There was an option to repeat a lap on the long route to bump the mileage to 82. I didn’t consider that an option.

For several miles I rode with Samur from Beaumont. This was his second organized bike ride. He said he rode a spin bike. About a month ago he bought his bike from his partner, a Specialized. We caught up again at one of the rest stops and at the finish area. He was going to ride the 82 route but changed his mind adding about 5 miles to the 65 mile route I rode.

I was surprised at my average speed of 14.7 mph. The wind was not too strong and the roads flat. Not many stops at intersections meant I could keep my pace steady at 15 mph except for one road where the wind felt stronger and I rode at 13 to 14 mph. Checking AXS.SRAM.com activity report I learned that I only shifted the RD 7 times during the ride. That is a sign of how flat the roads were. I also spent 4:17:50 of the total 4:36:22 riding time in the 35×15 gear combination. Talk about consistent. My average power in those gears was 104 watts. Total calories burned 2,331. I may have ate that many combined at the 4 rest stops. I must’ve ate the right amount because I wasn’t hungry or felt like I was running out of energy.

Weather conditions: start 65 (humidity 84%, dew point 60), overcast, wind N 5 mph; finish 73 (humidity 71%, dew point 63), overcast, wind NW 5 mph. I brought a wind jacket for th ride but decided not to wear it. I wore a Bellwether soft fabric long sleeve jersey with a Texbiker.net short sleeve jersey over it. Except for the first a couple of miles to warm up I was comfortable the whole ride. The increase in temperature probably helped. Not much sunshine until the drive back home as I reached Houston.

One drawback to the soft fabric LS jersey come with the Jeeps keys sagging the rear pocket. Adding my phone and the GoPro camera in the rear pockets of the Texbiker.net jersey when I visited the rest stops it felt like a big weight dangling on my back. I need a holster for the GoPro.

I finished the ride at 12:22 PM. The lunch hit the spot with a Subway turkey sandwich, Cheetos, a cookie and cold water. The route was marked well at the turns with reassuring sings after a turn or intersection. Police were friendly at the intersections manned.