Great weather at first - cool and not too much wind, but as the morning wore on, so the wind picked up, and with no cover on the Katy prairie you feel the full force. A long run into the wind and then we turned west with the wind on our side and for once a few trees for shelter. At this point two large, very fast pace lines came flying through without any warning. One of the riders came very close to me left shoulder and I screamed blue murder at him, then apologised to the lady on my right who I was passing at the same time. I hate these guys - they are clearly riding at a much higher level than the rest of us but that's no excuse for poor etiquette.
Another turn had us with the wind on our backs and I let it all hang out for a while. The Plahstic Fantahstic is wonderful with a tail wind - it just leaps ahead and the only thing you hear is tire noise. The down-wind run took us to Fulshear and a timely rest stop.
Back on the road and we worked our way north through pretty countryside. We crossed over I-10 at Brookshire and then turned east with the wind on our right hand side, now gusting quite strongly. The last stretch of this ride is a 15 mile run along US 90 and the cross-wind and tired riders made it interesting. One last stop and then the Katy water tower appeared in the distance and we were on the home stretch.
Back at Katy Mills, where the lunch consisted of a skewer with a piece of sausage, half a pickle and a white bread roll threaded on it, plus a complementary cup of the Budweiser product of your choice. The food was surprisingly good and the Bud ziegenbock was drinkable, sort of. No sign of Paddy or Dave - they probably finished well ahead of me and Paddy was flying out to Singapore later so he probably didn't hang around. All in all an enjoyable ride that left me feeling pretty good - we'll see if I still feel the same tomorrow morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment