Ride Ataxia Dallas

Saturday marked the first time I had done a T-shirt ride in years. The first, since we did part of Octaginta (in Kansas) shortly after moving to Texas. Let's just say it's been a while!

I was hooked up with the good folks from Team Easy Street (aka Easy Street Recumbents in Austin TX). All the riders I met were on recumbent bikes or trikes. Some of our riders came up all the way from Houston, though some of us were from DFW.

We first met up with each other at Outback Steakhouse in Lewisville the night before, to do packet pickup. It was great to talk with Jane and Greg, and play with Sweet Pea (their trike-riding Pug dog).

The 50mile route started at 8:00am so I got up early, and just missed getting caught up in a big wreck on Hwy 380, that did catch some other folks in the traffic jam. The ride was very well organized, with numerous volunteers directing bikers to the parking spots and the other "necessaries", like bathrooms! We had access to the UNT stadium which was nice.

There were 5 recumbent bikes I saw on the 50mi route, and all were with Team Easy Street.

There were 2 Musashi's, a Bacchetta CA2.0, Bacchetta Giro 26 (me), and the Bacchetta Ti-Aero. It was fun to ride with some other bent riders. The most of the roadies may have been faster than me, but I know I was more comfortable!

The rest stops were sponsored by Outback Steakhouse, and they served grilled chicken and steak! Along with more traditional SAG fare (PBJ's, bananas, oranges, cookies, Power Bars, granola bars, Clif Bars, etc). The rest stops were well spaced, and all had reasonable 'facilities'. I tell ya, there's something nice about smelling grilled steak as you ride up to a SAG!

The weather was as perfect as you could ask for, especially considering it's Texas! It was sunny, and cool at the start, and NO WIND!!! That in itself was a near-miracle! The temps stayed nice all day too. Perfect riding weather.

I finished the 50 miles in 4:00:11 by the Cateye for riding time, and under 5:40 hrs for total elapsed time. My avg speed was 12.6, which wasn't too shabby for me. The bike handled really well, and the headrest is working out nicely. It helps a lot to be able to relax so much while riding.

This ride was a great ride, and I hope to do it again in the future, although I will probably let Dave do this ride next year. He needs to experience the joys of steak served on a ride!