I arrived at the parking area for the Jalapeno 100 bike ride a little before 7 AM. I thought I had plenty of time to get the Cervelo out of the Jeep and get everything ready so I didn’t rush. When I started riding to the starting area I saw cyclist moving on the street going away from the start. As I approached a man at the barricade he said riders left and to go ahead to the next intersection and turn right onto the route. I did that and off I went.

The route I chose was 69 miles though the signs showed 62.5 and 65 miles. I ended up riding 68.35 miles which probably is a little less because I didn’t go to the start area. I picked up my packet at Bicycle World RGV Friday late afternoon but there wasn’t a map but I had downloaded it to my Bolt computer for turn-by-turn directions which worked well except it beeped a bunch of times because of the starting street was skipped. I pushed the start button at 7:12 AM and finished at 1:00 PM. The route was longer than my last time in 2020 by about 3 miles.

Each time I ride the Jalapeno 100 the challenge is the wind. Today it was windy but not as much as some previous times. The route goes north then east turning south. FM 498 is 11.5 miles back to the west and US77. From there the rest of the ride is to the south. The wind was from the southeast so any roads going there meant a headwind. Checking RWGPS the miles with a tailwind were 23.1 to the turn to the east and 11.5 riding west on FM 498 for a total of 34.6 miles of favorable wind leaving 34 miles into the wind. A more even breakdown than I expected.

Road surfaces until turning east north of Raymondville were nice asphalt but the FM roads were chip and seal except for a stretch where state maintenance ended and pretty decent asphalt took over. I’m not sure who did the asphalt but it was appreciated. Would I rather have the headwind on asphalt roads or a tailwind on chip and seal roads? Good question.

I skipped the first 3 rest stops saying hello as I rode by but then I stopped at all of them except one to the finish. The ones I stopped at were well stocked and friendly. One had miniature cinnamon rolls which ate too many of. I used my CamelBak for hydration and it was a good idea. The starting temperature was 72 but by the end it was 85.

When I was at the right turn north of Raymondville there was a young man walking his bike towards me. I stopped to ask if he was okay and he said he had a flat. He had a spare tube but no pump. I had a pump so I started to help him get the tire off and remove the tube. Then a man in a white van pulled up and asked if we needed help. I told him the story and he pulled over and brought a box full of CO2 cartridges and helped the young man replace the tube. Since I wasn’t needed anymore I rode on.

Riding south after returning to US77 at FM 498 the ride hit the headwind. My speed dropped but I kept pedaling. I passed a few riders and some passed me. The route was marked well with three colors of roadarrows which helped keep me on the route. My route was the yellow arrows.

While I rode west on FM 498 a couple of groups sped by. I suspect they were from the 100 mile route. I wonder how fast they rode into the headwind.

As the ride progressed the overcast sky changed to mostly cloudy heating me up. The wind increased to 9 mph with 25 mph gusts.

When I finished two Chik-A-Fila cows greeted me and one handed me a medal for the ride. I surprised that I felt decent and rode to the parking lot.

To conserve energy I paced myself for the first 23 miles and stayed in the 35×15 gears except for getting up to speed at the start. A link to my AXS.SRAM.com ride report.

Strava gave a medal on all 7 segments. Only fitting.