I arrived back at home

I arrived back at home just before 8:00, safe and sound after riding my bike from Houston to Austin. I updated the whole way by sending photos to my Flickr stream (at right) so if you weren’t checking over the weekend, you can go back and review them now.
Got up at 4:30 on Saturday morning and picked Nacho up at 5, and from there we were off to Rhodes Stadium in Katy for the start. Leaving Clear Lake on I-45, you see the occasional car next to you with bikes in tow as well. As you get into downtown, you start to see more. By the time you’re on I-10 West past the 610 interchange, it seems like every car on the highway has bikes either inside or on a rack on the back, and “every” is not much of an exaggeration — with 13,000 bikers converging on two stadium before 6 a.m., there really isn’t much else on the road.
Because we’d dropped off our luggage at the Team Mission Control truck Friday afternoon, there wasn’t anything left to do except make sure we had all our numbers and bike gear and head to the start line, where we quickly found the Mission Control team. We were underway by 7:20 or so.
I hit the lunch stop around 9:45, same time as last year. I think my lack of training this year was made up for by this year’s lack of wind (and when there was wind, it tended to be tailwind). I think my pedals and shoes that I got for Christmas helped too; I didn’t have the clipless pedals last year. And thankfully, I never fell over with my feet stuck in the pedals! Though I was overly careful about taking at least one foot out of the pedals while I still had some good speed and balance going on… 😉
The hardest part of the first day came on the ~10 mile stretch between breakpoints 5 and 6, where the rolling hills really started to get on my nerves and my back and neck starting complaining. I took some Advil at a breakpoint that seemed to help get me through the last 20 miles into LaGrange. I enjoyed the afternoon by first taking a shower where, for perhaps the first time in history, there was no line for the girls, and a line at least 100 people deep for the guys. I took my shower and came back outside and Nacho was still waiting in line. Take that, boys.
Later that afternoon I got my bike gears adjusted and said hello to Fred, who was doing massages at the Halliburton tent. I also stuffed my face with a variety of food available in our tent, everything from hot dogs to ice cream Snickers. Mmm. They started putting away the tables at 7:30 or so, when I was finally able to lay out my air mattress. I read for an hour as it got dark, and finally crashed at 9:15. Apparently there were a few trains that passed during the night, but I didn’t hear anything until the first team started up their generator around 4 a.m. As generators came on all across the fairgrounds and breakfast was prepared, I dozed for a while longer and finally got up a bit before 5. I took my time eating, drinking coffee, packing up, and getting ready for the day. Nacho and I headed for the start line around 6:20 to get in line, and were on our way by 7:20 or so. We chose to go the “express” route.
The second day, though more painful in terms of neck, back, and butt, seemed a bit easier, just as it had last year. I guess there is something to be said for knowing you are getting closer and closer to your goal. After crusing along the rollings hills of Highway 71 (which get more intense as you approach the lunch stop in Bastrop), I got to lunch around 9:30. I wolfed down my Subway sandwich and got back on the road, eager to cover the remaining 35 miles to Austin. I stopped at each of the last four breakpoints to do a bit of stretching and just get off the bike for a few minutes, and finally rolled down Congress Avenue in front of the Texas state capitol at about 1:10 yesterday afternoon.
Somehow I managed to finish ahead of Steve (another guy from my division at work, and my ride home — Nick drove Steve’s truck to Austin yesterday morning to pick us up and drive us home, very nice of him to do), so I showered and gathered my things and we headed out of town soon after Steve and his friend Jason finished. They took the longer route yesterday, which must explain how they finished after me because I know Steve is a better biker. We were on the road by 3:30 and back at my car in Katy at 6:30.
I was home by 8:00 and in bed by 9:30. I’m still really tired and sore today, but happy to have finished the ride despite my horrid lack of training. I want to go home and sleep tonight, but alas, there is no rest for the weary! The Braves are in town and I want to see tonight’s marquee pitching matchup — Roger Clemens vs. Tim Hudson. Should be a good one!