MS 150 LaGrange to Austin!

**If this is your first time checking out my MS 150 blog, I suggest going to the oldest post and reading up from there. I chronicle my experience training and preparing for this ride and it's fun to see the process in order.**



Well, I did it!

It was a different experience than I'd thought it'd be, mainly because of not being able to ride the whole 150 miles. But I had a lot of fun and I feel really proud of myself.

After finding out that Day 1 was cancelled, we rode to Houston. The bus ride was really fun and a good bonding experience. We got to our hotel rooms and had a chance to settle in.

Every year, the MS 150 has an expo with discounted bike clothes and parts and items you might need for the ride. It was fun seeing everyone gathered there and looking for good deals. I got some socks which match my shoes! It's a slow process building up a good cycling wardrobe, but I'm making it happen piece by piece.

After checking out the expo, all of Team TacoDeli went to The Lasagna House III for dinner.

It was delicious! They had great gluten free options which made it easy for me to find something. It was great talking with other folks and the team and sharing both our disappointment and excitement.

Yum!

At this point, it was still unclear what our plans were going to be for Saturday night. On a normal MS 150 year, we would bike from the hotel in Houston and camp in LaGrange. That wasn't possible for this year because the camp grounds had flooded. Our options as a team were to stay another night in the hotel and be bused to the starting line very early on Sunday morning (yikes!). Or because one of our team captain's relatives had a ranch in LaGrange, we could be bused there on Saturday and camp at the ranch. The second option seemed much better to everyone. At dinner, we were waiting to see if the National MS Society would agree to bus us on Saturday and make the ranch option possible for us.

Thankfully, it came through that we'd be able to stay at the ranch! We'd leave in the afternoon on Saturday and then get to hang out on the ranch in LaGrange.

Because we had some time on Saturday morning, my mom was able to come visit me! It was an unexpected and lucky opportunity to get to see her!

After lunch with my mom, we were all shuffled into vans and driven to LaGrange. I once again am reminded of how lucky I am to have found such a great team to do the MS 150 with because we were able to stay at such a beautiful place!

There was even a canoe so we were able to go out onto the lake to pass the time on Saturday afternoon. It was still a little boring, however, and my body felt antsy having to do so much sitting when I thought I'd be getting a lot of exercise. But it all ended up being so much better than staying another night at the hotel. We had TacoDeli for dinner and did karaoke in the evening!

Here's where we set up camp. Couldn't have been more perfect!

Everyone went to bed early as we had to be up before dawn to get ready for the Sunday ride. It rained some during the night, but thankfully, we were under a cover and the rain didn't bother me at all.

It seemed like no time had passed at all when the alarms started going off. We all took down our campsites and started preparing for the ride. It would be about 70 miles to Austin.

A very early breakfast!

Then it was time for what ended up being one of the funniest moments of the whole adventure. The National MS Society graciously provided school buses for us to get from the ranch to the starting line.

However, fitting 100 people and their suitcases and bikes onto 3 school buses was quite a challenge. They were truly stuffed to the brim. Bikes were in the middle aisles. Suitcases were on the top racks or in peoples' laps. Folks had to climb over many obstacles to get to seats. When we all got everything packed in, no one had any room to move. It was great though! Very fun to see us all come together to solve this space problem.

Despite being squished, we made it to the starting line with all people, bikes, and suitcases in tact. The starting line was a bit hectic. Folks wanted to take a team picture but people had to go to the bathroom or get water refills or pump up tires, etc. So it didn't have everyone in it. 

I was just so pumped to get riding! I couldn't wait. It felt like a dream to finally get rolling. I was riding with some teammates and I wanted to stay with them throughout the ride, but I was too excited during that first part and I went as fast as I could! So much pent up energy to release.

We met back up at the first rest stop. It was cloudy in the morning and looked like it might rain some more, but thankfully, the clouds burned off and the rest of the day was so beautiful!

I felt great the whole ride. I had really trained well. I also made sure to get plenty of food and water which I learned through all of my training was crucial to a good ride.

It's hard to talk about why I love cycling so much. I could see how it would seem really boring to folks who aren't into it. You just do the same thing for hours and hours... But I really do love it! I love being able to go places and cover real distances and know that I physically powered myself there. And being surrounded by folks who also love it just makes it that much better.

We powered through all of the rest stops, making great time. When were were about 15 miles from the finish, we all stopped for a coke to get a some energy for the last push home. I love this picture. It looks straight from a coke commercial.

We were so close to the finish line!!! All the training and work and preparation was all about to lead up to this moment! I was feeling pumped and proud and happy. And then a funny thing happened when I was just a mile or two from the capitol building...

I saw Skylar!! She was biking with the rest of the MS 150 riders. Our house is right off of the route we were taking and she wanted to meet me at the finish line. It was so awesome to see her biking with everyone else. I didn't believe it at first and I thought my eyes were tricking me, but it really was her! We got to ride to the finish line together which was a perfect way to end the adventure. :)

There was a party at the finish line so we got to wind down with more TacoDeli and good company. What a great adventure! I can't wait to do it again next year!

Preparation/Day 1 Cancelled

It's time! It's here! The Friday before the ride! I've made my list of stuff... checked off everything I need.. I am all packed and ready to go!

Perhaps this is too much stuff? It seemed like I needed it all at the time...

******************

I'm sitting on the bus about to go to Houston. Day 1 has been cancelled. The plan is to go to Houston, hang out and then leave from La Grange on Sunday. 

I am definitely feeling disappointed.  

There are always these complications to deal with in life. Things rarely go perfectly for anyone. And even with that knowledge, it is still disappointing. 

I am making myself feel better by deciding to do it again next year. I was feeling conflicted about whether or not to do it again because it is time consuming and takes a lot of prep. But I have enjoyed being with the team and I have made friends with a lot of the folks. Next year will be even more fun since I won't be new, I'll have some friends, and I'll know what to expect. And I'll hopefully get to do the whole ride!

It's been a great experience and that's what is most important. I feel like I'm in a great physical condition which I attribute to all the biking I've been doing. And I feel really proud of myself because I know I could have done it and it would have been awesome. The 70 mile ride on Sunday will be great and this has been an awesome adventure. 

So it is disappointing, but it won't ruin this experience for me. In fact, it just encourages me to do it again next year!

San Marcos!

Well, after last Saturday and the Rosedale Ride, I was not feeling too excited to bike 70 miles to San Marcos and back. Plus the weather was not cooperating. The sky was gray and gloomy, it was kinda chilly, and the wind seemed pretty bad again...

Here's me being nervous at the start of the ride.

Despite any nerves, we got rolling. I was trying to tell myself that it'd all be over soon, but if it was anything like the Rosedale Ride, I knew that wouldn't be true..

But luckily, the way down there was pretty nice. The wind was at our backs and it wasn't raining. I fell in with some people going my pace and it felt like we were making pretty good time.

We got to the coffee shop in San Marcos and it was nice to take a break and warm up a bit!

I got a huge cup of super hot jasmine tea so I couldn't drink very much of it before we had to head out, but what I had was really good.

Everyone was dreading the way back because we'd be headed into the wind again and the memory of Rosedale was fresh in our minds. We were also concerned about rain as the forecast predicted an increased chance in the early afternoon...

And it honestly wasn't as bad as I'd thought it would be! We were definitely slower on the way back, but it wasn't anything like last Saturday. We stopped in Buda at Walgreens and I had another chance to eat. I think that was key to it being a good ride... being able to get enough substantial food. I'm going to have to bring at least 5 boxes of Kind bars on the MS 150.

I look tired there, but it really wasn't too bad. We had about 15 more miles to go at this point which didn't seem too bad. I was happy that I was able to do this okay because I was getting worried that I wouldn't be able to make the miles.

Honestly, I feel like I could have gone another 30 miles. I definitely didn't want to.. but I physically could have. Which is a good sign since I will have to in two weeks!

Happy to be done and happy that it wasn't too bad!

We have only one more training ride before the big weekend and it's on Fitzhugh. Which is apparently a very tough ride. Everyone on the team keeps talking about how tough it is. I'm more nervous for that ride than the MS 150, haha. So hopefully it goes okay! At least I'm going into it with  a successful ride like today under my belt.

And then of course.. margaritas with Skylar again. We're staring a post-ride tradition! 

Rosedale Ride

Phew. The Rosedale Ride. Just thinking back on it makes me tired. 

This was another charity ride like Pedal through the Pines and the money went to The Rosedale School which is AISD's only school for students with multiple disabilities. There were routes of 23, 42, and 62 miles. I did the 62 mile one in order to increase my mileage for the MS 150 and it was the farthest I'd ever gone! But it was definitely a struggle.

The route was pretty flat and it was a beautiful, warm, sunny day... perfect conditions for a ride, you would think! And the first 30 miles really were great. Lots of pretty country side!

A cute new friend at the rest stop!

A cool graveyard!

A little church!

The wind, however, wasn't going to let me off that easily. As soon as we turned around and headed into the 25 mph wind, the ride became a serious struggle.

The wind was so bad that it would literally push me and I'd have to course correct to avoid getting blown over. 

I usually ride about 15mph and I can get up to 20-25mph on flat roads, but on this ride, full speed was 9 mph!! I was crawling! And the ride ended up taking me 6 hours... it was a very grueling experience.

At the second to last rest stop, about 46 miles, I noticed my front tire was really really low. I pumped it up as much as I could with my hand pump and made it to the last rest stop at mile 51. But when I tried to pump it up again, the tire blew out. I was tired and hungry and so sick of the wind and I really didn't feel like changing a tire... 

But I did it pretty easily which was a cool success. It took me a while to learn how to change a flat. There was one winter break that I spent two hours trying to change a flat, got completely covered in grease, and was never able to actually change it.. So it was nice to be able to change it in 5 minutes this time. 

I finally struggled to the finish line and was very happy to get off my bike and out of the ridiculous wind!

I had the chance to talk to some people on Team Tacodeli about the Rosedale Ride and I was glad to hear that everyone else had a hard time as well. When someone brought up the Rosedale Ride, everyone groaned and talked about how horrible it was. Let's hope the MS 150 won't be this windy!! Or at least the wind be at our backs..

Skylar and I celebrated with margaritas and then I promptly fell asleep on the couch. When Skylar tried to move me to my bed, I said "But I have to bike there!" 

At least I got a cool t-shirt out of it (pictured above) and theoretically I'm now a stronger cyclist... 

Back to Manor!

Next up was the bike back to Manor! We actually made it to the little town this time which was great. I'd never seen it and it was really cute (pictures included below!).

I did this ride with BikeAustin instead of Team Tacodeli because they were doing the ride to Andice again and I just couldn't stomach that for a second time. I rode with this BikeAustin group once before around May 2014. I wondered if anyone would remember me...

And they did kinda! A lot of the same people I met on the first ride were there and they had a vague memory of meeting me. It was nice for this to be a familiar experience instead of jumping, once again, into a group of people I don't know.

We did about 50 miles and the route was really great, through cool country sides and such. We past a ghost town! I wished I could have stopped and taken a picture but no one else really seemed interested in doing that. Haha. I want to go back and check it out though. It seemed like a tourist attraction, but it was still pretty cool to bike by. I think this is it: www.ghosttownaustin.com

Most of the folks on the ride were quite a bit older than me, but I met and talked with someone around my age which was cool! When we got to Manor Grocery, an older guy started talking to me about the MS 150 (he'd overheard that I was doing it) and was giving me "advice" such as shift down when I'm going up hills in order to make it easier.... yeah, thank you... 

The Manor Grocery was really cute!

I definitely want to go on this route again. It was a great ride with not too many cars, great scenery, and I could take the southern walnut creek trail for parts of the way if I wanted.

When the ride was over, some folks told me not to wait a year before riding with them again. How nice! I already feel a lot more comfortable with that group and will definitely ride with them again when the MS 150 is over.

Pedal Through the Pines

After the difficult ride that was Andice, Pedal through the Pines was really great! It was put on by the Family Crisis Center and it usually goes through the Bastrop State park, but there was construction so the route was changed a little bit. It still took place in Bastrop and the country roads were great.

The biggest plus of all was that Skylar rode with me!!! She did the 25 mile version and I did the 40 mile, but we got to ride together for a little bit. There was a pretty big hill at the beginning of the ride and I actually got through it pretty easily. I was passing people up all over the place! It was a nice confidence builder after last week's ride.

Skylar and I split off from each other and I continued on to the 40 mile route. It was hilly and windy, but not too bad. The sun was shining and it was warm. Overall a great ride!

I got to see this cute little church. And there was also a graveyard that I didn't get a picture of... But really not to much to report on this ride. No news is good news!

The end was a little weird because there was no celebration or anything at the finish line.. but we made our own post-ride party!

Overall, a really great ride and one I'd like to do again next year! 

Andice!

Ack! It's been so long since I actually did this ride... I haven't been good about keeping up with posting. I have been riding a lot more and the rides have been getting harder... perhaps a little less fun to look back on. :)

But I am back in the saddle and going to catch us up.. starting with my ride to Andice!

I did this ride because it was one of the Team Tacodeli rides, but I couldn't make it at the time they were riding so I ventured out on my own. I was a little nervous. It was going to be 40 miles in a part of town I'd never really been in (far north) and I didn't know what to expect. 

The first part of the ride was on a pretty busy road. The cars were going like 60-70mph which always rattles my nerves a little bit, but I kept calm and pedaled on. Eventually it turned into a less busy road and the scenery got prettier as well. 

My nerves didn't go away as soon as I started to ride as they usually do. I was kicking myself for getting into this. It wasn't that pretty of a day either. It was cloudy, gloomy, and a little cold which did nothing to help my mood. 

But I kept going and going... 

Eventually I got to Andice! The way there didn't feel so bad. I congratulated myself for making it there. The general store was pretty cute and I talked to a couple of people. One person asked me how far I was going and when I said 40 miles, he said something like.. glad it's you and not me! At that moment I was kinda wishing that it wasn't me either!!

But it was only a 40 mile ride and the MS 150 is a lot more than that so I told myself this was good practice and I needed to toughen up a bit.

I headed out onto the open road. Feeling cold again after the break and ready to be home. The wind (as it ALWAYS is) was worse on the way back. And it felt like it was getting dark quickly. I left at like 3:00 or something like that which is later than I usually ride, but I felt confident about getting home before dark. Which I did, but riding into the evening ending added another level of gloom to the ride. 

It was difficult getting home. The wind was more intense and the hills felt bigger and I made the mistake of not eating very much. That was really what made it difficult. I was hungry and tired and still ten miles from home!!

But I finally did get there and I hobbled into the Starbucks with a dazed look on my face. I got some tea and some almonds and nursed myself back to life.

It was a good experience, a good training ride... but it was also difficult. I guess that's most of life! 

Solo Ride to McKinney Falls

Yesterday was a great day! The weather was awesome. I got to spend time with Skylar and I got to go on a really nice bike ride by myself while Skylar was working.

I've been wanting to bike to McKinney Falls for a while, but I had thought about biking there and hanging out there for a while and that never really fit in my plans. It didn't fit in my plans yesterday either, but I decided to go for it. I need to try routes other than the Southern Walnut Creek Trail for my training and this seemed like a good day to go on an adventure!

The ride was really nice. There were bike lanes pretty much the whole way except for the last bit heading up to the park entrance. That part was scary because cars were going 50 mph and were trying to drive past me in the same lane. It was dangerous! I don't understand how people can feel comfortable doing that. Riding a bike is often precarious... I could hit a rock or swerve the wrong way and fall down. They wouldn't have time to stop and they would certainly hit me. 

I started biking right in the middle of the lane, which I should have been doing from the beginning,  and that fixed the problem. I guess I was just used to being in the bike lane.

Anyway, I made it safely!

There was a really long line to get in the park. It was a beautiful day and I am glad that people were out enjoying this great park!

Here are pictures of the falls from my visit a couple of weeks ago. It had just rained so there was so much water.

I'm not sure which of these is the upper falls or the lower falls... but they're both beautiful!

Not too much else to report for that ride. The ride home was great, but uneventful and then Skylar and I went to Cafe Monet and painted some cool stuff!

To Manor We Go!

It's already February! And the MS 150 is only two and a half months away.. After taking several weeks off from training, it's time to get back at it. And the weather this weekend was great for bike riding. Sunday in particular was really beautiful.

Skylar and I started the day off by going to FrankenBike, where they sell and trade bike parts for cheap and also were giving ladies free tune ups! We got our bikes checked out (they both need a little more work to be in perfect shape, but they are safe to ride thankfully!) and headed out to Manor on the Southern Walnut Creek trail.

I really love this ride! I did it by myself last year and started at my house which ended up being 30 miles. There are just the right amount of hills to make you feel like you're really getting some good training in without being too intimidating. So I was excited when Skylar said she'd go with me this time! It's nice to share the ride with someone.

We ended up just doing 20 miles to ease back into it, plus we didn't have a ton of time after we did FrankenBike. But 20 miles ended up being the perfect amount.

I really like the Southern Walnut Creek trail because it's away from cars and you get to bike through some cool scenery. There's one part that opens up to this cute little farm. I love to come up on the wide spaces after biking through a somewhat narrow path through tall plants. There used to be a water station here maintained by the Ghisallo Foundation, but it's currently not there anymore.. not sure if they decided to take it down permanently or just have it take a break or what.. but in any case, I miss it! It was nice to have a chance to fill up on water and read different news about bike stuff happening.

We came up on the end of the paved trail which was about 7 miles and took a quick photo and water break. The trail ends at this random park where they fly toy airplanes and helicopters. It's cool to take a break and watch the little helicopters fly around and do tricks.

Then we started on the road to Manor which is pretty hilly, but fun, and makes you feel like you're getting a good work out. It feels like the country even though you're only ten miles out from Austin.

We got to Manor High School and then we were ready to turn around. Snapped some photos with this sweet fireworks stands and headed back! 

It was a really beautiful day and it was great to spend it biking with Skylar! And I feel good to get back in the habit of training on the weekends. The MS 150 will be here in no time.. yikes!

Speaking of which, if you feel like donating to my campaign, here's the link: Kelsey's MS 150 Participant Page. Thanks!!