The ride start was in Pilot Point, about 10 minutes from my house and it was sponsored by MADD, needless to say my little bottle of Captain Morgan's on the back of my bike, didn't go over very well.

I arrived early and met up with Danny, Nathan and Burt. The ride started at 8:30 on a route that completely circled Lake Ray Roberts. Nathan, Burt and Danny quickly pulled ahead of me, but I did manage to catch up with them at the 15 mile rest stop. After a quick break we started to head north along the I35 service road and quickly got up to speed. We were traveling at about 25 mph, occasionally hitting 30+ mph. The roads at this point were smooth and flat, plus we had a strong wind at our back. When we turned to the East, we had to deal with a wicked cross wind, especially on the bridges crossing the lake.

We all managed to stick together until about the 30 mile mark. At this point Nathan and Burt pulled away slightly and then I dropped Danny on some moderate hills around mile 35. All of us still averaging over 19 mph at this point.

The last 8 miles were pure hell! We knew it was coming, but had hoped the conditions would improve by the time we reached the end of the ride. As we turned south on 377 we were meet with a 21 mph head wind, with gusts over 30 mph. I trudged along, passing a few folks along the way, traveling at a blistering pace of 9 mph. About a mile from the finish, I meet up with Nathan again, who had been waiting for us at a gas station. We took a short break as we waited for Danny than the three of us finished the ride together.

The head wind on the last part of the ride really killed my average. I finished up with 46 miles at 17.3 mph average for the ride. It was a great route, a beautiful ride and considering how close it is to my house, I'm sure I will be doing it again soon!