Armadillo Classic (50) & Solo Ride (57)

October 29, 2016, Liberty Hill, Texas:  The morning began with A Dude Abikes awaking before the alarm, at 5 am. Not a great start.  But still better than the 4:24 am wake-up by lightning camping out at the Hill Country Ride for AIDS six months and a day before.  It was on that day I first rode a century — 100 miles (104 to be exact).  That was no picnic.  Today I was planning on going for it again, but events conspired against me, as they often do in bike riding, as with life.  Today was Bike Austin’s Armadillo Classic to “Support Cycling by Cycling.”  And I sure did a whole hell of a lot of cycling.

First there was the ADAB patented pre-ride Epsom salt bath. By the time I got it drawn and got in, it was time to be getting dressed. Then, it wasn’t hot enough.  And I had to take a dip in my host’s very chilly pool to bring down some inflammation from the massage I got the day before for an irritated TFL joint or something.  Then I had to get a hot shower to recover from the pool.  My host then made a lovely bowl of runny yogurt with apples and protein powder, to which I added oatmeal.  I directed driver and rider Gregg to the wrong school.  By the time we arrived, I had to sprint to the porta-potta.  Then get all my stuff together. 7:30 came and went and I missed the start.  Relieved.

The third member of Team T.I.T.S. (Time in the Saddle), Saurabh arrived early, so we figured we’d ride together.  But the fog rolled in and the sheriff held us up an hour.  I lined up with the 68-milers, which was my original goal anyway.  It was good to see fellow riders from the Peddler Bike Austin rides.  They finally let us go and I y the time we reached the cut-off point for the 68-milers, it was too late.  They had closed the Dillo Door.  So 50 miles it was, exactly.  I met up with Gregg and Saurabh and we rode for a while.  I had made great time the first 11 miles, so dawdled at the rest stops, taking on as many banana and peanut butter wraps, cookies and pickle juice that I could, chatting with the volunteers, EMT and other riders.  It was a social ride, after all.

More to follow, but I wanted to get this out there.