Ride for the Roses

MaxPrime said:

Is anyone here training for or planning to ride in this event?

I'll be doing the 70 miler (hopefully). I've only been riding for a month so far but I'm up to 40 miles so I am thinking there's a chance I make it.

My wife and I both are doing the 40 mile ride. We wanted to do 60, but alas, not an option. Should be fun, and since both my parents are survivors, a good cause.

Jon Packard said:

My wife and I both are doing the 40 mile ride. We wanted to do 60, but alas, not an option. Should be fun, and since both my parents are survivors, a good cause.

I'm also riding in memory of a friend - I really wish they had done the 60 miler as well.

I'll be there, and I'm planning to ride the full century. My longest ride to date has been a metric. I'm trying my first century here in Seacoast NH on September 26, which gives me a day to scale back my Ride for the Roses distance if necessary.

MaxPrime said:

Is anyone here training for or planning to ride in this event?

I'll be doing the 70 miler (hopefully). I've only been riding for a month so far but I'm up to 40 miles so I am thinking there's a chance I make it.

I did the century last year. The weather was really ugly. A cold front moved in that morning. It was about 50 degrees with a 20 mph North wind blowing gusting to 30. It rained too. It was the hardest century I have ever done, but it was a blast. I had all my cold weather gear with me so I was prepared. I hope the weather is better this year. I plan on doing the century again.

Good luck,
David

I'll be there. I've done the century the past few years, but this October my Dad and my Sister are making the trip to Austin and I'll be doing the 25 miler with them. 🙂

Last year I had to start with the century riders so I wasn't in a peleton - how's the pack at pacing in the RFTR?

I just noticed on the LAF site laf.orgRide%5FWeekendOpen ↗ That it looks like the ride is Cancelled I hope this isn't the case for you guys. I hope maybe I can ride in it next year. that would be alot of fun.

rumptis said:

I just noticed on the LAF site laf.orgRide%5FWeekendOpen ↗ That it looks like the ride is Cancelled I hope this isn't the case for you guys. I hope maybe I can ride in it next year. that would be alot of fun.

The run on Saturday is cancelled, the ride (cycling) on Sunday is on.

davidbod said:

The run on Saturday is cancelled, the ride (cycling) on Sunday is on.

Ya the ride is definitely on - construction forced them to cancel the run.

How'd everyone do? I finished all my 73 miles in a pretty good show - 18.2mph. The weather was GREAT.

MaxPrime said:

How'd everyone do? I finished all my 73 miles in a pretty good show - 18.2mph. The weather was GREAT.

I had a blast! I did my 44 miles at 19.6 mph! I've been riding since May, and this was my first 'official' ride. I had a great time, and will be doing 70 next year. It was awesome to be a part of a ride that had 8000 cyclists!

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was the drafting and strategy demonstration with video at the Expo center - if you didn't see it this year you HAVE to see it next year.

I wasn't sure whether I was going to do the 70 or 100 mile ride. I started with the first century group leaving just after the tandem group. Just after reaching Elgin I ran into a buddy who I ride with on Sundays. We decided with the wind and our wifes waiting for us back at the finish we would do the 70.

When we got to the rest stop at about half way through the 70 mile route we got liquids and some food and were getting ready to go when we noticed a big group waiting in the road. It was Lance with Bob Roll and the rest of his group. We wandered over and chatted with the group while they seemed to be waiting for some others to catch up.

Figuring they would catch us anyway we decided to go as we had been at the rest stop too long anyway. So off we went me in front with my buddy drafting behind. Towards the end of my pull at the front I noticed there seemed to be quite a bit more wheels behind me than just my buddies. When I motioned for my buddy to come by and take his turn, to my surprise the guy who came by was Bob Roll followed by Lance and the rest of his group. When I got back to the end of the pack my buddy told me they had followed us out from the rest stop and had been drafting behind me the whole time. I hadn't noticed as we had turned into a pretty sharp wind to head back to the finish. We stuck with them for another 15-20 minutes until the road got really narrow and the cross winds broke up the group. What a thrill that was.

About 15 miles from the finish a group of the 'Tour of Hope' riders went by and I latched on and rode with them until just before the finish.

that is AWESOME. great experience for you.

my group did our thing and had a great time, but no celebrities riding with us except former [censored] star cory kosse.

ok, just kidding. he's friend who posts here and i thought i'd mess with him.

This is my first posting on cycling forums!

I just returned from Austin and the Ride for the Roses. I rode the 40-mile route and enjoyed every minute of it. No celebrity sightings although I did enjoy Will Farrell's speech pre-ride.

davidbod said:

I wasn't sure whether I was going to do the 70 or 100 mile ride. I started with the first century group leaving just after the tandem group. Just after reaching Elgin I ran into a buddy who I ride with on Sundays. We decided with the wind and our wifes waiting for us back at the finish we would do the 70.

When we got to the rest stop at about half way through the 70 mile route we got liquids and some food and were getting ready to go when we noticed a big group waiting in the road. It was Lance with Bob Roll and the rest of his group. We wandered over and chatted with the group while they seemed to be waiting for some others to catch up.

Figuring they would catch us anyway we decided to go as we had been at the rest stop too long anyway. So off we went me in front with my buddy drafting behind. Towards the end of my pull at the front I noticed there seemed to be quite a bit more wheels behind me than just my buddies. When I motioned for my buddy to come by and take his turn, to my surprise the guy who came by was Bob Roll followed by Lance and the rest of his group. When I got back to the end of the pack my buddy told me they had followed us out from the rest stop and had been drafting behind me the whole time. I hadn't noticed as we had turned into a pretty sharp wind to head back to the finish. We stuck with them for another 15-20 minutes until the road got really narrow and the cross winds broke up the group. What a thrill that was.

About 15 miles from the finish a group of the 'Tour of Hope' riders went by and I latched on and rode with them until just before the finish.

Man, you pulled for Lance and Bobke...how cool is that! Bet you'll be telling this story for the rest of your life.

What color jersey were you? I followed the Lance group for a while, but the crosswinds split us up and suddenly I was almost all by myself. 🙁 Were there any U.S. Triathelete or Olympic track riders? I was behind a MONSTER on a Trek TT bike that had a U.S. Triathalon tattoo and was wondering who it was.

MaxPrime said:

What color jersey were you? I followed the Lance group for a while, but the crosswinds split us up and suddenly I was almost all by myself. 🙁 Were there any U.S. Triathelete or Olympic track riders? I was behind a MONSTER on a Trek TT bike that had a U.S. Triathalon tattoo and was wondering who it was.

I was wearing a 2004 USPS team jersey riding a black and gray EPX 303 SL. I didn't see any TT bikes at all. The wind sucked on the way back for sure. When I got dropped I was barely able to make 14-15 MPH on the most exposed open roads back to Elgin. There was one completely exposed hill going right into the headwind that I could barely make 10 MPH up. Once through Elgin though the tree cover and tighter terrain helped a lot. How did you like that set of hills after Elgin coming back into Austin?

I saw Lance a second time going the opposite direction as well. Apparently he finished, then turned around and rode back to one of the rest stops, hooked up with another group and rode back into the finished again. He came in the second time while I was talking with my wife at the finish. I got into the finish at around 12:20.

I don't know what it is about this ride in Oct., but last year the wind was realy bad too, just in the opposite direction and the temp was about 35 degrees cooler.

David

Oh ya - last year was ROUGH!

The hills weren't as bad as I feared - I've rode a bunch on 360 here in Austin where the hills are much worse. The wind was really tough on me in that dead spot before Elgin. I found a good century pack and got back on pace in the draft shortly after the last peak.