Tag Archives: Austin

2016 BP MS150

Posted on April 26, 2016 by alchemyrider

Logo courtesy of National MS Society

There was a reunion of good friends at the 2016 BP MS150 charity ride from Houston to Austin. Friends who had ridden together in the 2011 and 2013 editions of the event.

Tom travelled from New Jersey. I probably had the longest trip of all the participants. I met Tom in Austin early in the week. Tom rented a bicycle in Austin, and I brought my Ritchey BreakAway. We had decided to rent a Dodge Grand Caravan for the drive to Houston. It was probably a bit more than we needed, but I have to say I enjoyed being able to wheel both our bicycles upright into the rear of the van. And still have plenty of room for suitcases.

We spent the rest of the week in Houston catching up with friends, eating too much, and doing the Thursday evening 6:30 ride. I miss that “Two minutes” call

The weather forecasts in the days leading up to the ride weekend had not been favourable. A broad and heavy band of rain was expected to sweep through Austin on Sunday.

By Friday the prospects for bad weather on Sunday had worsened, as the doppler radar images showed. The organisers took the only option open to them given those forecasts. Day 2 of the ride was cancelled.

BP MS150 2106 Day 1 Weather

Team Hess quickly told its riders that the Day 1 evening arrangements at La Grange would continue as planned. We could enjoy the barbecue dinner and spend the night at the VFW Hall if we wished. The live concert at the fairgrounds would go on as well. So it wasn’t all bad news.

Skip, Barbara, Tom, Dane and I started as we usually do, from the entrance of the Omni Westside Hotel.

BP MS150 2106 Day 1 Start Others started, under threatening skies, from one of the three official start points at Tully Stadium in Houston, Rhodes Stadium in Katy, or Waller Stadium in Waller.

Photograph courtesy of MarathonFOTO.com

The weather may have put paid to Day 2 of this year’s ride, but in exchange we had excellent conditions on Day 1. The overcast skies meant that it was fairly warm at the start. Those same clouds shielded us from the worst of the sun as the day progressed.

The wind was kind to us this year also, blowing us toward Austin rather than back to Houston, as has often been the case in the past.

I thought it would rain at one point. A few light sprinkles prompted me to put on my rain jacket, but it was a false alarm, and my rain jacket came off again ten minutes later.

BP MS150 2106 Day 1 Route

The route was unchanged from previous years. We skipped the first rest stop in favour of the second stop in the MHWirth parking lot, 36km / 22mi into the ride.

We then rode non-stop to lunch at Belleville. Belleville is at the halfway point between the Omni Westside Hotel and La Grange. The Hess volunteers took excellent care of us at the lunch stop. They made sure we were well watered and fed before we headed back out onto the road.

BP MS150 2106 Day 1 Lunch 2

Tom and I always visit the rest stop at Industry to say hello to the West End Bicycles guys manning their customary service tent. So far it has been social visits only to the West End tent. I can recall only one puncture between the five of us over the three MS150 rides I have done.

Others are not so lucky. The West End tent is always busy attending to the mechanical woes that have befallen unfortunate riders.

BP MS150 2106 Day 1 Industry

After Industry comes one of the highlights of Day 1. Riding into Fayetteville.

Photograph courtesy of MarathonFOTO.com

It seems like the entire population of 262 line the sides of the road to watch the ride go by. Cowbells, bubbles, music, and lots of clapping and cheering.

Photograph courtesy of MarathonFOTO.com

Again this year there was an amazing spread of home-baked cookies and cakes on offer at Ye Ole Garage on the corner of West Fayette Street and North Rusk Street. A highly anticipated stop after 127km / 79mi of riding.

Kudos to the lady who does all the baking (I wish I knew her name). She accepts donations from sugar-sated riders. This year the collection went to a local school.

Even the Ye Ole Garage rest room maintains the theme.

Photograph courtesy of Dane Schiller

After covering about 160km / 100mi, we all pulled into the fairgrounds at La Grange, accompanied by lots of whoops and cheers.

Photograph courtesy of MarathonFOTO.com

It was a good day for the five of us. We all rode well, had a lot of fun, and stayed safe. So it was smiles all around, despite the cancellation of Day 2.

Photograph courtesy of MarathonFOTO.com

Tom and I stayed overnight at La Grange with a diminished number of other Team Hess riders. The transport options were such that Barbara, Dane and Skip, and many others, headed back to Houston that evening.

The Team Hess volunteers did their usual outstanding job of looking after us at La Grange. They gave us plenty to eat and drink, including a delicious barbecue dinner. There was a very nice shower truck reserved for our use. A masseuse was on site for us.

Can you blame me for wanting to come back and ride with Team Hess every year?

The BP MS150 organisers did very well with the last-minute need to move people, bicycles and bags from La Grange back to Houston on Saturday evening, and again on Sunday morning.

Tom and I, along with many others, were on the morning bus to Austin.

BP MS150 2016 Austin Bus

Our bikes were delayed, which caused us a bit of concern, but they did eventually arrive in Austin. Even though we weren’t able to ride on Day 2, we posed for an Austin Glory photograph in front of the State Capitol. The customary closing to the BP MS150.

BP MS150 2106 Day 1 Austin

We are already planning for 2017.

Graphic courtesy of National MS Society

3 Comments

Posted in Cycling in Texas and tagged Austin, BP MS150, Fayetteville, Houston, La Grange, Ye Ole Garage. Bookmark the permalink.

How To Join a Bicycle To a Car

Posted on May 26, 2013 by alchemyrider

This meme promoting cycling over driving pops up in various guises on the internet. At least one blogger recently checked to see if the sentiment holds water. Your results will vary.

I was able to keep bike and car separate. Well, in the beginning anyway. When I started cycling in Houston I was able to roll out of the Commerce Towers car park onto Travis Street and pedal away. Everywhere I wanted to get to was within cycling distance. That is until I decided to commission a custom built bicycle from Alchemy Bicycle Company, located at that time in Austin. As part of the process of deciding what frame material and geometry would best suit me, James Flatman wanted to see what I was riding at the time (see Jumping Into The Deep End for more).

It is possible to ride a bicycle from Houston to Austin (See Austin Or Bust, 2011 BP MS150, 2013 BP MS150 Day One and 2013 BP MS150 Day Two). But not there and back in a day, and certainly not together with my biker chick. The hybrid bike made the trip in the trunk of the car. Which was only possible because the car had fold-down rear seats. The resulting space was deep enough to accommodate the bike as long as the front wheel was removed. Most importantly the trunk lid closed without squashing anything.

I mulled over the idea of getting a bike rack on that first trip to Austin with the Trek in the trunk. There would be a custom road bike to transport to Houston in a month or so. I decided to get a Saris Bones 2. It looked simple enough to attach and remove, and would fold down into a relatively compact form for storage.

This rack attaches to the rear of the car via a series of hooks and straps. Once the rubber feet are properly positioned and the buckle straps tightened the rack sits very securely on the car. Ratcheting straps lock bikes to the adjustable arms. An unexpected bonus was that the buckle straps are long enough so that the ends can be used to tie down the wheels and handle bars to stop them spinning and swaying.

Once I linked up with the West End Six Thirty cycling group the Saris Bones 2 got more and more use. We had to drive to get to any sort of hill, and to get to the start of some of the organized rides we signed up for.

The Saris, and the car, came with us to the Netherlands. The rack sat unused for a year. All my rides started at the entrance of our apartment building. Even the starting points of the first few organized events I did were within riding distance of home. Then I did the Ronde van Vlaanderen with Eugene (see I’ll See Your JZC and Raise You an RvV!). That involved a drive to Sint-Denijs-Westrem in Belgium.

The Saris came out of storage to carry our bikes. As we drove south I noticed that I was the only one with a Saris or similar bike rack. All the other cars had either a rack on the roof or a tow-hitch mounted rack on the back. Complete with a turn signal and brake light bar and number plate. It turned out that my bike rack was illegal because the bicycles obscured the car’s turn signals, brake lights and number plate. I was also told not to worry too much about it. This being the bicycle-crazy Netherlands, the police would likely turn a blind eye. Which may have been the case as I got back to Den Haag without being stopped. I didn’t test my luck any further. I went back to putting my bike in the trunk.

I did consider a tow hitch mounted rack like this one. I had taken the car to the local dealership for a routine service. They had a rack and light bar on sale for something like €200. Which was a great price. The catch was that our car didn’t have a tow hitch and ball mount. The dealership was of course happy to install the required hardware. I was not happy to pay the €1,500 for that to be done. My bikes would continue to make do with being hauled around in the trunk.

The following year I made a return trip to the Ronde van Vlaanderen, this time with Richard. He had a Thule roof rack. We decided his compact car might be a bit small for both of us and our stuff. Which meant moving his roof rack onto my car.

A clever part of the Thule design is the huge number of fitting kits available. The racks, load bars and feet are standard. The fitting kits contain custom pads and brackets that fit the specific contours of a vehicle’s roof, or attach to an existing roof rail. The standard feet attach to the brackets.

Naturally the fitting kit for Richard’s car didn’t fit my car. A quick trip to Richard’s local Thule dealer solved that problem. Thule makes fitting kits for vehicles from over eighty manufacturers. A Thule 3049 Fixpoint Fit Kit was all I needed to attach Richard’s roof rack to my car.

I was so impressed with Richard’s Thule roof rack that I decided to get one. That led to the “Het is niet mogelijk” moment that I retell whenever I can. I went to a shop, which shall remain nameless to protect the guilty, that sells Thule products. I told the salesperson what I wanted: two Thule Outride 561 bike carriers, a pair of Thule 960 Wingbars, and four Thule Rapid System 753 feet. He asked me what car I had, and consulted his computer. A few seconds later he uttered that most-frustrating of Dutch phrases. “That is not possible.”

“But it is,” I protested. “I had that exact configuration on my car a few weeks ago.”

“Nee. Het is niet mogelijk.”

There is no point arguing when faced with that phrase. All you can do is admit defeat and move on to plan B. In my case that was to go to the second Thule dealer on my list, A & P Verhuur Service, where it was possible to purchase what I wanted.

The roof rack and I made a few more road trips in the company of the Not Possibles cycling group (you can probably guess the origin of the group name). The Thule system is easy to install and remove. The feet and front fork attachment are lockable. Bikes sit rock solidly on the carriers, all the way up to the maximum rated driving speed of 130 kph / 80 mph. The only downside is the wind noise.

The Saris and the Thule racks came with us to Kuala Lumpur. The car stayed in the Netherlands with its new owner, together with the Thule Fit Kit. The racks haven’t seen any use in Malaysia. Even though I have to drive to rides in Kuala Lumpur.

My biker chick kept her car here while we were away. I could have hung the Saris off the back of her car. I see a few trunk-mounted racks around. I also see too many rear-end collisions to be comfortable driving around with my bike between the rear of my car and the front of the car behind me. So it was back to the bicycle in the trunk routine. In the meantime I was on the lookout for a car for myself.

We live in an apartment building in Kuala Lumpur. The apartment came with two indoor car park spots on an upper floor of the parking garage. All very convenient, except that the headroom clearance on the ramps between floors is insufficient for bicycles on a roof rack. That narrowed my choice of vehicle down to a hatchback with enough trunk space to fit a bicycle or two.

Which is why I drive a Perodua Myvi. Among its most important attributes . . .

Plenty of room for bicycles. I’ve transported two bikes with no problem. I could pack in three or four. This weekend I will find out if I can get the Ritchey Break-Away in the trunk without having to fold down the rear seats.

1 Comment

Posted in Cycling in Malaysia, Cycling in Texas, Cycling in the Netherlands, Gear and Tools and tagged Alchemy Bicycle Company, Austin, Fixpoint Fit Kit, Houston, Outride, Perodua Myvi, Rapid, Saris Bones 2, Six Thirty, That is not possible, The Netherlands, Thule, Wingbar. Bookmark the permalink.

2013 BP MS150 Day Two

Posted on May 10, 2013 by alchemyrider

Riders have the choice of three official starting points for Day One: Tully Stadium in Houston, Rhodes Stadium in Katy, and Waller Stadium in Waller. Who knows how many unofficial starting points there are. The Omni Houston at Westside was where we started. The advantage of multiple starting points is that all 13,000 riders aren’t crowded into one location. Which is the case at the Day Two start at La Grange.

If you join the pack toward the rear it can take forty five minutes or more to cross the start line once riders are released from La Grange. It was immediately clear that we had left it a bit late to wheel our bikes toward the start line. Dane reckoned he had never waited behind as many people for a Day Two start before.

BP MS150 2013 Waiting to leave La Grange Johan, MOT, Skip and Dane

Photo courtesy of Barbara Luksch

Our collective relief that is was not as cold as it had been twenty four hours earlier faded as the stationary wait stretched toward the hour mark. Our core temperatures steadily dropped along with the ambient temperature as it cooled to 10°C / 50° F just before dawn. I may have been in the pink, but I was turning blue.

Photo courtesy of Barbara Luksch

By the time we rolled over the start line I was shivering so badly that my bike was wobbling around. Once again I rued my choice of bike clothing, and was desperate for the sun to come up. This gentleman never fails to lift the spirits. He occupies the same spot every year, about 12 km / 7.5 mi from La Grange. It is worth the time to stop to listen to him play for a while. And to soak up some sunshine!

We had elected to do the Bechtel Challenge Route through Buescher State Park and Bastrop State Park. The parks had been devastated by a wildfire that swept through Bastrop County in September and October 2011. The fire damage was so significant that the Challenge route was closed in 2012. I was interested to see how different the park was compared to what I rode through in 2011. Barbara was excited and nervous about riding through the park for the first time. Tom, Skip and I did our best to convince her that she would have no problems with the hills in the park.

Photo courtesy of Barbara Luksch

Naturally there is a huge amount of damage to the loblolly pines and other trees and vegetation in the parks. These scars will remain for years to come.

In return the fire has created some beautiful vistas and opened up the visibility of the terrain. Tom and I commented that we weren’t able to see the topography the last time we rode through Bastrop State Park. At one point we found ourselves on a ridge overlooking a view that we didn’t even know existed. The park has a very different, and to my mind a better look to it. I enjoyed being able to see the road ahead winding through the trees,

We made our traditional lunch stop at Whataburger in Bastrop. Barbara was so excited at having ridden the park that she announced the fact to all at the restaurant. She was given a flower to commemorate her achievement.

The plan after the parks and Whataburger was to meet up at The Moose Lodge so we could ride the final 5km / 3mi as a group. As it turned out we regrouped at the two rest stops before Austin as well. There is always lots to see at the rest stops – besides the lines for the toilets..

We took a “Non-Hess members of Team Hess” photo at the last official rest stop before Austin.

Photo courtesy of Barbara Luksch

We met up at The Moose Lodge as planned. We missed The King though.

Everyone made it safely to the finish in Austin. Our group suffered no flat tires or falls over the two days and 280 km / 174 mi. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the ride. It was another brilliant BP MS150. I wouldn’t want to say that this was my last. After all I have a travel bike now.

The National MS Society is still accepting donations linked to this ride. The society is depending upon your generosity to raise as much as possible to put toward the search for a cure for multiple sclerosis. Please click on the link below to make a donation to this worthy cause.

Donate to Multiple Sclerosis Research and Treatment

1 Comment

Posted in Cycling in Texas and tagged Austin, Bastrop State Park, Bechtel Challenge Route, Buescher State Park, La Grange, Whataburger. Bookmark the permalink.

2011 BP MS150

Posted on March 21, 2013 by alchemyrider

I will be riding in the 2013 BP MS150 from Houston to Austin. This is a charity ride in aid of multiple sclerosis research and treatment. If you would like to donate to this worthy cause on my behalf please click on this link:

Donate to Multiple Sclerosis Research and Treatment

My first BP MS150 ride was in 2010. I wrote about that ride in Austin or Bust. I registered late for that ride and had to scramble to get onto a team. One outcome was that Tom and I didn’t get space in the team tent for the overnight stop at the Fayette County Fair Grounds in La Grange. Instead we stayed in a motel that was a 40 minute van trip away from the fair grounds. I am sure we were more comfortable on proper beds in our air-conditioned motel room than we would have been on camp beds in the team tent. Especially as it rained hard that night. However we paid for it by having to be up and ready to leave the motel at 5am to get back to the fair grounds in time to start with everyone else.

I signed up early for the 2011 BP MS150. By then I had moved to The Netherlands, and was no longer working for Hess Corporation. The team captains were kind enough to let me join the Hess team anyway. They were even nicer to allow friends of an ex-employee onto the team. So Barbara, Dane, Laura and Tom would be in Hess colors with me.

I flew into Houston a few days before the start of the ride. I visited the new Hess office at Discovery Green and called in on Patrick Cummings, one of the team captains. The first indication that this experience would be quite different from the previous year’s came when I heard that we would spend the night in the VFW Hall at the Fayette County Fair Grounds in La Grange. No tent pitched on grass for us!

The ride started as it did the year before. My West End friends and I rode out at dawn from the Jack Rhodes Memorial Stadium in Katy. Tom and I chose not to wear jackets so we shivered for an hour or so. By the time we got to the first rest stop it was warming up in the patches of sunlight. There were still some jackets and arm warmers in use though.

Our lunch stop was in Bellville. That was when I got the the second indication that the Hess team did the MS150 a little differently. There were Hess volunteers and a Hess tent at the lunch stop. We had an alternative to the sandwich lunch on offer for everyone else. The wonderful Hess volunteers were handing out chicken and spicy chicken sandwiches from Chick-A-Fil. And Snickers bars and iced drinks.

This is Tom, Laura, Dane and I at the Bellville stop. The patch on Laura’s jersey signifies that this was her tenth consecutive BP MS150. Fantastic!

One of the other stops before La Grange was at Industry. The guys from West End Bicycles were manning a bike service tent there. We hung out with Daniel and the team while we ate our bananas before continuing west.

One of the most appealing things about this ride is the encouragement all the riders get from the communities along the route. It seems like entire towns turn out to cheer us on. And some do more than simply clap and wave.

Laura, Barbara and the rest of the West end crew rode into the Fayette County Fair Grounds at La Grange at about 2pm.

It was pretty hot by then, so we were grateful for the Hess volunteers who were on hand with cold water and iced towels as we got to the VFW Hall.

That was, dare I say it, just the start of the pampering that we received at the overnight stop.

In 2010 we queued for thirty minutes with everyone else for the communal shower trucks. In 2011 we lounged in folding chairs with a cold drink in hand while waiting for our turn in the Team Hess shower truck. After which we handed our sweaty cycling gear to a friendly volunteer to be laundered. Note the jerseys drying on the line behind Laura and Barbara.

Feeling a bit tight and sore despite the hot shower? Get a massage!

We spent the rest of the afternoon waiting for our turn to be kneaded, and chilling with drinks and munchies on the patio behind the VFW Hall.

We were eventually roused from our seats and coaxed into our freshly laundered jerseys for the obligatory group photo.

Then it was dinner time. Courtesy of the crew manning this beast.

The barbecues come big in Texas! And the food that came out of this one was delicious.

Well-watered and fed, we started thinking about sleep. As I mentioned earlier, no tent pitched on the grass for us.

Air-conditioning and indoor toilets if you please.

There was no excuse if you didn’t get a good night’s sleep. And there was no excuse if you weren’t well-fed by the time you got on your bike in the morning. The Hess volunteers served up a delicious breakfast from the kitchen next to our sleeping area.

The BP balloon lit up the pre-dawn sky as we waited for it to get bright enough to continue on our way.

The decision to be made at the start of Day Two was whether to take the Bechtel Challenge Route or the Pfizer Lunch Express. The Bechtel Challenge takes riders through Buescher State Park and Bastrop State Park. We chose not to take the Bechtel Challenge Route in 2010 because the hilly roads were wet and potentially dangerous. There were no such concerns this time. The Challenge adds about 17 km / 11 mi to the ride but it was well worth doing. The road wound through scenic loblolly pine woodland that is 18,000 years old.

Photo courtesy of Lady Vagabond at http://ladytraveltales.blogspot.com/2011/08/paige-smithville-and-bastrop-texas.html

Sadly Bastrop State Park and the surrounding pine forest were the scene of a devastating wildfire in September and October 2011. This was one of the most destructive single wildfires in Texas history. Bastrop State Park suffered significant damage affecting 96% of the park. The Challenge route was not an option during the 2012 BP MS150. However I am happy to say that the road through the park has reopened, and weather permitting, we will ride the Challenge route again this year. Albeit through an altered landscape.

Photo courtesy of Jay Janner at http://photoblog.statesman.com/bastrop-state-park-reopens-after-fire

We skipped the opportunity for even more pampering from the Hess volunteers at the lunch stop in Bastrop. We did the usual for the West End crew. No matter what team we were riding with, we congregated at the Whataburger for a burger, fries and a milkshake.

It was about 55 km / 34 mi from Bastrop to the finish line at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. We made one last stop at the Moose Family Center of Austin. The Moose Lodge is about 5 km / 3 mi from the Texas State History Museum. A perfect place for the West End gang to regroup so we could roll through the finish together. Sophie and Alisa joined, Tom, Barbara and I. We missed connecting with Laura and Dane. They thought they were late getting to the Moose and had ridden on.

It is quite a thrill to ride that last kilometer or so through spectators three and four deep on both sides of the road.

We took advantage one last time of the superb care – read cold drinks and snacks – provided by the Hess volunteers at the finish. Then Tom and I headed toward the State Capitol.

I am looking forward very much to my third BP MS150. It is going to be a treat to reconnect with my West End friends. Who like me have been spoiled by the Team Hess treatment in the past. Who like me can’t imagine riding the BP MS150 with any other team. And who like me are depending upon your generosity to raise as much as we can to put toward the search for a cure for multiple sclerosis.

Donate to Multiple Sclerosis Research and Treatment

2 Comments

Posted in Cycling in Texas and tagged Austin, Bastrop, BP MS150, Fayette County Fair Grounds, Hess Corporation, Houston, Industry, La Grange, Multiple sclerosis, VFW, West End Bicycles. Bookmark the permalink.

Austin or Bust

Posted on November 28, 2012 by alchemyrider

As the Houston winter turned to spring conversations turned to the MS 150. The main event of the year for many in the Six Thirty group. There was an expectation that you were riding the MS150. What could possibly stop you?

The MS 150 is a two-day ride of between 150 mi / 240 km and 180 mi / 290 km, depending on which of the three starting points you choose in Houston. Day One ends at the Fayette County Fairgrounds in La Grange. The final destination is next to the Texas State Capitol in Austin. The purpose of the ride is to raise money for multiple sclerosis research and other services supported by the National MS Society.

75 mi / 120 km was well beyond my longest ever ride. My first challenge was to convince myself that I could ride that far. So I rode the events that were billed as MS 150 training rides, like the Humble Lions Bike Ride in March. I huffed up the climbs at Cat Spring, Chappell Hill and Bellville, hoping that I would be adequately prepared for the mythic hills of Austin. By March I felt I probably had enough miles and climbs in my legs to sign up for the event.

I was a very late entrant and was lucky to get a place. The MS 150 is a very popular ride and the 13,000 places get snapped up very quickly every year. I was, it seemed, a beneficiary of the appalling weather that plagued the 2009 ride. Day One had been cancelled and the rain, wind and cold made Day Two miserable for the riders. Some of whom had decided not to sign up for the 2010 event. Leaving spots available for latecomers like myself.

Once I had my place in the event there were two things to do. One was to raise the minimum fundraising pledge. I had left myself very little time to hit up my friends for donations. Most of whom were looking for their own donors anyway. The solution was simple. My biker chick and I split the required amount between us.

The second task was to find a team to ride with. The obvious choice was my employer, but the Hess Corporation team was full. Tom B. came through for me, again, and managed to get me a last-minute spot on the Exxon Mobil team with him. I was so late that I had missed the deadline for ordering a team jersey. Not such a bad thing in hindsight. I don’t think it would have done me much good to be seen in an Exxon Mobil jersey by the great and the good of Hess Corporation.

As the big day drew closer I continued to worry about never having ridden 75 mi / 120 km before. So the weekend before the MS 150 I rode in The Space Race. A loop from Gulf Greyhound Park in La Marque through the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge to the west, then north to the outskirts of Angleton before heading eastward toward Alvin and back to La Marque. I felt good at the halfway point. I felt really terrible with 20 mi / 32 km to go. I was hot and tired and hungry and barely maintaining forward progress into a constant headwind. The event was billed as a 100 mi / 160 km ride. I was so thankful that the finish came sooner than advertised. I didn’t get my first century ride under my belt that day. But more importantly I did come away convinced that I could finish the MS 150. Even if it almost killed me!

A group of Six Thirtyers rolled out of Jack Rhodes Memorial Stadium in Katy at dawn. It would take far too many words to describe the energy, the excitement, the exuberance, the entertainment and the exhilaration of the next two days. This is one of those events where you truly had to be there.

In Bellville and Fayetteville and La Grange and Bastrop and Austin there were crowds lining the streets ringing cowbells, blowing bubbles, waving signs, cheering, tooting horns, shouting “thank you.” We even had live music. A fiddle band at one point. A bagpiper in full regalia at another. There were brigades of cheerful volunteers at every rest stop. The familiar faces of the West End Bicycle guys at their bike service tent in Industry. Everyone encouraging us on with a friendly wave and a smile.

This is some of the Six Thirty group at the lunch stop at Bellville on Day One. There were five of us in Exxon Mobil jerseys. Only one of us was actually an employee of that company.

On Day Two we all put on our Six Thirty jerseys. It has become a tradition that the group foregoes the Bastrop lunch stop sandwiches provided by the MS 150 organizers for the much tastier fare at Whataburger. Texas’ own burger chain.

This was the first time I had been to a Whataburger. I shouldn’t have waited so long. As Whataburger say in their commercials, “It’s shut your mouth good.”

After our burgers, fries and shakes it was 32 mi / 51 km to the finish line in Austin. Where Tom and I naturally had to pose in front of the Texas State Capitol building for the signature glory shot.

I knew right there that I would do this ride again in 2011. What I didn’t know right there was that the experience in 2011 would be even better.

4 Comments

Posted in Cycling in Texas and tagged Austin, Gator Ride, Houston, MS 150, Six Thirty, Space Race, Whataburger. Bookmark the permalink.

Old Roots, New Routes

Tag Archives: Austin

2016 BP MS150

How To Join a Bicycle To a Car

2013 BP MS150 Day Two

2011 BP MS150

Austin or Bust

Previous Posts

On the Wheel . . .

Follow Blog via Email