Bike Noob

Because I'm Always Learning Something New

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

Doin’ the Dillo – Again

05.08.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 2 Comments

Went out to Liberty Hill, Texas for the Armadillo Hill Country Classic, run by the Austin Cycling Association. It’s a great ride through some nice Hill Country scenery, and is always well attended. I last rode the ride in 2008, and was looking forward to going again.

This year, I convinced Pat to join me. She’d done well on other organized rides lately, but didn’t seem enthusiastic about this one. At first, she told me to go on my own, then said she’d join me and do the 28 miler (there were options of 14, 28, 42, 50, 61, 78, and 105 miles).

Pat waits for me to finish snapping pix so we can ride to the start.

Although I hadn’t registered until one hour before the deadline Thursday night, both our names were on the roster, and we got our numbers, t-shirts and goodie bags. Pat liked the fact that the high school where the ride started was open, and we could use their bathrooms instead of porta potties. Note to self: From now on, on organized rides, bring extra safety pins. We got only two pins to attach the ride number to our jerseys, and I was serenaded by the flutter-crackle-pop noise of the flapping number throughout the ride.

The start went off without a hitch, and we were soon in the country. The day was overcast, with a cool 65ºF (18ºC) temperature and a brisk wind from the northwest. It made riders work harder, but it wasn’t blow-you-over strong, so it was still doable. I figured it would slow me down, though, so instead of the planned 61-mile route, I decided to go 50 instead. A few friends I met at the start told me they planned the same thing.

Cyclists head down the main street in Bertram, Texas.

The Armadillo is known for its well-stocked and friendly rest stops. I skipped the first two, but made sure to stop at the one in Bertram.

A cyclist thanks the ladies for volunteering at the Bertram rest stop.

Replenished and refreshed, I headed out for the second half of the ride. The country roads were in various states of repair, some with new chipseal, others worn smooth by  the local traffic. Live oak trees canopied the riders in some stretches. And then there were the hills. Not killer hills — except for one short, steep one — but long rollers. My increased mileage this year helped, and I started passing other riders on the way back to Liberty Hill.

A typical view during the ride.

At the next-to-last rest stop, I ran into my friend Scott, who’d been left behind by his group. Scott has been out of the country for work lately, and hasn’t been riding much. He was getting cramps in his calves on the uphills. We decided to ride the rest of the way together.

We pulled into the high school parking lot at about 11:40 a.m. Pat was waiting in the car. When I asked her how her ride was, she replied, “Great! I breezed it! Now I’m pissed that I didn’t go 42 miles.” She’s getting stronger on the bike.

My own time surprised me. Although I still felt strong at the end, and had blasted some hills that beat me up two years ago, my on-bike time was only four minutes better than 2008. Thank goodness there’s always that brisk northwest wind to blame.

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Categories // Rides Tags // ride report

Comments

  1. Sine Botchen says

    May 9, 2010 at 9:53 am

    I’m glad the wind wasn’t too much of an issue for y’all yesterday. Thanks for the update!

    Reply
  2. Alice says

    May 10, 2010 at 12:51 pm

    Sounds like a nice ride with some great scenery. Glad the weather wasn’t hot. That makes for a much better ride, it seems.

    Reply

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Get Email Updates

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 257 other subscribers

Categories

  • Accessories
  • Bike fit
  • Bikes
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • clubs
  • Cold weather
  • Community
  • Commuting
  • Components
  • crash
  • cycling
  • Equipment
  • Favorite rides
  • fitness
  • food
  • guest post
  • Heat
  • Injury
  • logs
  • Maintenance
  • Mental
  • Nutrition
  • Odds 'n ends
  • People
  • Poll
  • Racing
  • Records & stats
  • Review
  • Rides
  • running
  • Safety
  • soreness
  • Specialized
  • Technique
  • Technology
  • Tips
  • tires
  • training
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

Recent Posts

  • Getting Back on the Bike: Road Cycling Tips for Older Cyclists
  • Are BCAAs and EAAs Good for Cycling?
  • How to Fix Numb Toes When Cycling
  • How to Find and Vet a Bike Club
  • Celebrate Pearl Izumi with Big Savings in the Memorial Day Sale

Categories

  • Accessories
  • Bike fit
  • Bikes
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • clubs
  • Cold weather
  • Community
  • Commuting
  • Components
  • crash
  • cycling
  • Equipment
  • Favorite rides
  • fitness
  • food
  • guest post
  • Heat
  • Injury
  • logs
  • Maintenance
  • Mental
  • Nutrition
  • Odds 'n ends
  • People
  • Poll
  • Racing
  • Records & stats
  • Review
  • Rides
  • running
  • Safety
  • soreness
  • Specialized
  • Technique
  • Technology
  • Tips
  • tires
  • training
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized

Archives

  • May 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • March 2022
  • October 2020
  • November 2018
  • May 2018
  • September 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • January 2016
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008

Copyright © 2026 · Modern Studio Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Go to mobile version
%d