June 3rd Odyssey ride

[Flee]

I posted this on my team 1 mileage page. It was suggested that I should post here for all to see.



My account of the Odyssey. Motion based data of the ride.



We left Ben's (the ride creator) at 7:30am. 11 starters in all. It was smooth rolling until the thunderstorm hit. We had already done 1 mile of the Trinity River Levee when we had to seek shelter. So we chill under an over pass. Talk about how stupid we are. Then listen to our wives/sig others tell us how stupid we are. The reports and the radar were bleak. But once we got a short reprieve from the pounding storm we immediately began talk of continuing. Continue we did. The levee was now soft and miserable. I couldn't see anything past 50 yards. The lack of visibility fooled us into thinking that half of our group had turned back. So we forged on 5 strong. We were actually cruising at a pretty good clip. I guess we were just anxious to get somewhere, nowhere. The bike was a mess upon exit of the levee. We rode a short distance to the rail road track "crack head" entrance.

I am pleased I didn't have to worry about directions. The entrance to the rail road track was laughable. Once you get your bike and your person through the threshold you got to deal with a dicey concrete slope to the bottom. B-rad showed me how it was done when he slid down the embankment like he was on ice. Funny picture really, he was stiff as a board.....using his bike for balance and braking. This thing really was tricky. I had to use all my wits (arguably not much) to figure out how to get down this thing safely. Whilst in my deep concentration bitch britches comes flying down the slope B-rad style but at speed. I could here his cleats scraping so I did a quick turn around. Sure enough he was heading right for me and his path would not deviate. I shimmied to the side in just enough time, like a matador taunting his prey. The pay off? Rail road ties. Lots of emm. 1 right after another oddly enough.

The tracks were pretty tough indeed. Quite the rattling was done and I found that my drive train shook most of the superfluous grit off during this stretch. Not a moment of pleasure was to cross a mans mind during the next 30 minutes. Just misery. Made those Roubaix boys look like the fags they are. Spears and I had waited for Mike to negotiate the embankment so we started out as 3. Spears, myself and mike on my tail. It only took a minute for Spears to work a gap. I knew I was holding Mike up so I casually deviated from the mean to allow Mike to pass. Keeping in mind we are inside the tracks vibrating at a blurring pace. Mike catches up to Spears within a blink and Spears obliges by yielding. There were a few stretches on the line that had no rock support between the ties. Those short sections were 100 times worse than the rest of the tracks put together. They compressed disks, rattled teeth, and shook muscle off the bone. Or so it seemed. I had reeled Spears back in a bit, and that accomplishment had done a lot for taking my mind off of the misery. Not nearly as much as seeing the others waiting up ahead. I knew the tracks were soon behind me. A steep, wet, rocky incline was the transition off the tracks. The rear end of the bike slid out and I immediately lost 20 PSI in my toobless setup. Little did I know that this would be the start of my tire woes.

I quickly shot some air in and assumed that everything would seal up nicely. I had plenty of sealant. After the bike wash we were happily on the road. Doing 18+ and chit chatting about this and that. I had the unfortunate realization that I was loosing air. So I announced my situation to the crew. No problem, we were due for our first re-fueling stop. I would just spend that time fixing my flat. I decided to throw a tube in and leave my tire problems behind. Wrong again. The boys witnessed a "John Holmes" load of sealant when I pulled the tire off. My boys had a laugh at the stain I left on 7 eleven's lot. A quick sweep of the tire didn't reveal anything ominous. I threw a tube in, used the 7 eleven air compressor and Ben's adapter and was good to go.

We maybe got another 10 miles ticket off before the tire started going down rather rapidly. I encouraged the crew to go on but they
stood by my said and sacrificed a tube (mtb) and a big air (brad) so that I would have an opportunity to continue. While pulling the tire off it was easy to see what the problem was. A nail, 1 inch in length had found it's way to me. I picked this guy up between the 7 eleven stop and our current location. After some time and some fireworks, I managed to get the wheel up and running. I had tested the groups patience and they tested mine. It was a touch rocky but we all hugged when it was over. Our current location by the way, was 100 yards from the Champion Irving bike path.

Up and running we take a little right onto the path. I'm feeling pretty good as I have surely exercised my demons. The bike bath was a deceiving little wench. She lulled us into believing we were suddenly on a Sunday ride with the family. And then, something akin to "Bitch bot 5000" she reared her ugly Madussa like head. Slogging through 3 feet of water is more fun that misery, no doubt. But the thought of your sled and it's wellbeing do creep into the back of your mind. The 300 yard stretch was considerably deeper than the others, resulting in a rather elusive (f-off Brad) concrete path. Just follow the lead out man and his divine sight. After the polo fields it was an easy transition up to Royal lane.

Smooth rolling on Royal lane. Not so much. 5 miles of sweet clean tarmac behind us and the rear tire is going down again. I demand that my com padres venture on without me. I am coming to the realization that my ride will likely end soon. Mike doubles back one last time to ask if I need a tube. I told him that I didn't want to jeopardize his ride, but if he asks again, I won't turn him down. He reaches for his saddle bag with no hesitation. He tosses me a tube and heads off to catch the others.

It's 1:00pm and I am on the side of Royal Ln in some industrial park just north of Beltline. I make my first phone call to the wife. "I got 1/2 big air and 1 tube", I explain. "If this doesn't work you will have to come pick me up. I'm just north of DFW airport". So I sit down, get comfortable and start what would be my final tube change. I methodically probe the tire, "John Holmes'" juice dripping off my hands, running up to my elbows. Aha! Two tiny thorns were discovered. So small, in fact, that I basically had to destroy them with my fingernails because I couldn't pull them out. Just enough in the big air to get rolling. Probably 30 psi. I hit the road with hopes that Bass pro will have some bike provisions.

I'm alone, but not lonely. I pull out the trusty Ipod to make my journey more compliant. My fortunes have changed. As Mike said, I have paid homage to the gods and now they shall reward me. As I am entering the Bass Pro parking lot, my brothers are coming the opposite direction after completing their loop of RL. Ben scurries across the lot. I give him the update and the game plan. Bass pro has fishing boats. No tubes, no floor pumps (yes, i was considering buying a floor pump and zip tying it to my camelbak). I say to Nancy, "isn't Grapevine Mills around here somewhere". Yes it is. I remember they used to have a bike shop. Yes they do. Sun and Ski. Like the pearly gates, they were open wide. I rode my bike right through the front door. Walked my bike to the maintenance department. My spirits were soaring. Bought $40 worth of gear. 4 big airs, 2 tubes, 1 slime tube. Mat topped off my tire pressure and saturated my squeaky chain with lube. I zip tied the bag full of goods to my pack and I hit the road.

The ride to Rock Ledge sucked. It might have been my least favorite part of this ride. Cars zipping by at 50mph sucks. Most gave plenty of room. Others were not quite so polite. I rode in to Rock Ledge. Sat down on the bench. Made a call to my wife and to Ben. Let's head home.

The return trip was a walk in the park comparatively. Even though I was alone I didn't have to touch my bike and that makes for smooth sailing. I wasn't blazing a trail or anything, but I was surprised how often I was on my little cog. No more gears, just churning out the miles. The sun had grown a little oppressive, but not brutal. A little honey pulled up next to me on Royal. She was doing quite well. We got stopped at a light so I decided some small talk was in order. I said "Turned out to be a lovely day for a ride". She said "It sure did. By the way, where have you been?". She probably figured something odd was going on since I was covered in mud, wet and had "Holmes" juice dried on my Jersey. I smiled, "well me and my buddies decided it would be a good idea to ride from Dallas to Lake Grapevine and back". A look of astonishment abruptly appeared. "Wow. That's pretty crazy", she says. "Yeah, I know". "You guys have some great roads over here", I continue. "Royal is great". She retorts, "Yes we do. I usually do a lot of riding on the Champion bike path". "Is that the one thats under water?" I probe. "Yes. Thats the one". "Yeah, I rode through that on the way out". "And I'm afraid I am going to do it again". "I know my crew rode it on the way back, so I got roll it again". She inquires, "Where are your friends?". "They are way up the rode, I've had 3 flats today". She wishes me well and makes a right turn. I cross the rode and head down the embankment to the subterranean trail.

The remainder of the ride went faster than I expected. I just keep turning over the pedals and checking my directions. I kept them on top of my thigh, under the leg of my short. A little smudged but they were perfectly easy to read. East levee was a cake walk compared to our outbound levee ride. Still a little softer than I would have liked but not really a problem. Called Ben for clarification on where to get off the levee. I was a moron and didn't read the next line that explained it rather clearly.

Downtown Dallas. Zip by Baylor. Shoot down Swiss. I know it's going to be over very soon. And sure enough. It was. In no time I was heading up Ferguson, taking a left on Dorrington (I believe). I didn't really know what to expect, but what I received was greatness. Cheers and Beer! Hollars, ata boys, and congrats. The journey was complete. 90 miles conquered. I survived.

It was 6pm. The ride started at 7:30 am.

Ryan

[Pman]

Wow! Great ride Flee! Nice writing too.

[Kaiser]

Cool ride report Flee. Thanks for sharing. As I say, the second best thing to actually riding is reading about it.

[FishrCutB8]

That is one hell of a ride report. I laughed, I cried, it changed my life. Seriously, man, you had comedy, drama, elation, despair. An epic post for an epic ride....when do you do it again???

[Flee]

Originally Posted by FishrCutB8

That is one hell of a ride report. I laughed, I cried, it changed my life. Seriously, man, you had comedy, drama, elation, despair. An epic post for an epic ride....when do you do it again???

Glad it did something for you. It was a rather epic day...no doubt. I tried to include those things in the ride report to represent the mental journey embodied in the event.

I still haven't cleaned the Karate Monkey. Still haven't pulled off the 1x9 setup. 1x9 is actually a pretty cool way to roll. I'll take some pics tomorrow of both my bikes. I have been meaning to show you cats my roadie rig anyway.

The ride will probably happen 1 or 2 more times before the end of the year. Mainly because the ride was created to be challenging. And the MAJOR challenge of the ride was not able to be included. Once you reach Lake Grapevine, you have to ride a 10 mile trail out and back. It just happens to be the most difficult trail in DFW by most accounts. So the ride mileage will jump to 110 miles. And the pain factor will escalate...substantially.

Ryan

[FishrCutB8]

Originally Posted by Flee

And the pain factor will escalate...substantially.

Ryan

NOICE!!!!