Bike Noob

Because I'm Always Learning Something New

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

Rest Stop Food

04.03.2012 by Ray Niekamp // 9 Comments

Now that spring is here, lots of us are contemplating organized rides. Which ones should we do? What do we look for on a ride?

One Bike Noob reader recently contacted me with a report about a 120-mile organized ride that left him underwhelmed. I’ll let him tell the story:

“The thing that really struck me was the low quality of the food at these stops. This was a pricy ride, with no obvious charity beneficiary, so you’d think they would have provided decent food on the road. I mean, I’ve been on some centuries, t-shirt rides and so forth where they ran out of stuff, even water. Those things happen. But, this one seemed like the food had been obtained by sending someone who’d never ridden before into Sam’s Club. There were bananas cut up and orange slices, so it wasn’t all crap. But, aside from the fruit, at most rest stops, there was only oreos and potato chips. Some of them had these uncrustable PB&J sandwich things and one had the real cheap, sugary granola bars – you know, the ones about the size of your index finger. One rest stop had these GU shots, in the original packages so a small percentage of riders got more than they needed and the rest, none. I say that as an early rider who got the package with a half dozen of the things, but they were too sticky to share on the road, except with really close friends.”

This rest stop manned by volunteers (not on the ride at issue here) appears to be well-stocked with lots of choices.

Hm. I’ve been on rides where they’ve run out of food, too — but I only experienced that because I was riding so slowly that I was among the last to get to a rest stop. This fella has a legitimate gripe, I think. To continue:

“Each item that they had was something that some rider could be craving at that particular moment, but they didn’t really add up to the sort of fuel that you need to ride long distances. Cookies are good, but you get a lot more mileage out of oatmeal or fig newtons or something like that, even chocolate chip, than oreos. I carried a Clif bar and a Snickers Marathon, but they were more for emergency purposes. I didn’t expect them to provide the bulk of my fuel. I realize that the various energy bars are more expensive than vending machine snacks, but if you are charging $70 for a tee shirt, a meal and sag service, it seems like you could come up with better food options, or at least some variety from stop to stop.”

Our reader wonders if he had just been lucky on other organized rides he’d been on. Are situations like this par for the course? Or, was this ride as  “sub-par” as he imagined?

In my experience, the volunteers who man the rest stops put a lot of effort into providing the kinds of foods cyclists need. However, I’ve noted that in many cases, the food is very predictable and lacks variety. Chunks of banana, orange slices, peanut butter & jelly quarters, and the bad Gatorade that’s mixed up in bulk are pretty standard these days. If you come across a rest stop with cookies, especially home made ones, that’s a bonus. Rest stops with fig bars are a pleasant discovery. And as our reader says, if you’re paying a hefty price to take part in the ride, you really shouldn’t have to rely on a Clif Bar or some other energy food you carry yourself.

What’s been your experience? Have you been on organized rides where the rest stops are substandard? Where the food doesn’t take care of your energy needs? I’d like to hear your tales.

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories // Rides Tags // organized ride, rest stops

The LBJ 100

03.25.2012 by Ray Niekamp // 8 Comments

Spring must be here. We can tell, because it’s time for the LBJ 100 again. This would be the third year in a row Pat and I have ridden this one. It starts at the ranch of former President Lyndon B. Johnson near Stonewall, Texas, and is a fundraiser for the preservation of the ranch’s history. It’s also a scenic ride and well supported, and seems to grow in popularity each year.

The Bike Noob anticipates a good ride.

Although I had ended last year’s ride suffering from slow slogs up endless hills, and had pledged to ride only the 42-mile route this year, I felt that I was in better shape and decided to tackle the 62-mile route (100k — hence the name of the ride. There is no 100-mile version). Pat would once again do the 30-mile ride.

The forecast had looked promising all week, with temperatures at the start expected to be in the mid-50s (12C). What hadn’t been predicted was the dense fog that settled in during the early morning hours. Prognostications that it would burn off by the 9 a.m. start proved inaccurate.

Some of my fellow Circle C Ranch Cycling Club members inch their way toward the starting line, which is still partly obscured by fog.

The ride starts on the runway of the ranch, behind the house. When Johnson was president, he would fly into the ranch on a small jet, which is still housed under an awning nearby. The ranch is operated by the National Park Service. We were a little late getting to the start, and heard the air horn go off to send the 85 and 62-milers on their way while we were still halfway up the runway. I caught up with some friends from my bike club, just in time to hit the bottleneck past the former “Texas White House.” The crowd of riders was in good spirits, and accepted that they would be dismounting and walking, instead of making a brisk getaway at the start.

Cyclists file slowly past the “Texas White House” just after the start of the ride.
The road past the house is a major bottleneck. We walked our bikes. But I heard no complaints.

Once we cleared the house, and the cattle guards in front of it, things opened up a little. I fell in with my friends Rick and Penny, and we soon caught up with another familiar rider. It was Pat. How she got ahead of us was a mystery, but she must have skirted the crowd at the ranch house. We said our hi’s, passed her, and moved on. We stayed together for about the first six miles or so, but Rick gradually pulled ahead out of sight. I, in turn, got well ahead of Penny. Then I ran into a problem I’d never had before: When I shifted my hands on the handlebars, I clipped the edge of my cyclocomputer, and it fell off the bike onto the road. I stopped, put the bike on the side of the road, and walked back to it, hoping none of the oncoming riders would roll over it. None did.

The delay allowed Penny to catch up to me, and we rode together to the third rest stop — but our first of the day — in Willow City. Willow City is a small hamlet, about 24 miles out from the LBJ ranch. The roads in the area are popular with cyclists, but also with motorcycles. We saw a large group of them today. On the way out of Willow City, a Porsche passed us in the oncoming lane. Then another. And another.

“The Porsche club must be having an outing today,” I remarked to Rick, whom we had caught at the rest stop. We didn’t count them, but guessed there must have been 30 in an unbroken line, adding their presence to the crowd in Willow City.

Beautiful downtown Willow City.
Penny heads for the Willow City rest stop.

By now, the field was well strung out. We were on a 17-mile stretch of road from Willow City to the easternmost point of the ride, in Sandy. It features lots of rolling hills — none terribly difficult, but they do take their toll on riders. This is where I first ran into trouble last year. But last year, it was sunny and warm. This time, the fog still hadn’t completely lifted. It had covered my sunglasses with a film of moisture, so I took them off and rode with my regular glasses, which didn’t get wet as quickly, for some reason.

Bluebonnets along the road.

When we got to Sandy (It must have been a town once — there’s a Sandy Cemetery, but not a building to be seen now), the rest stop was a welcome sight. Recent rains have eased the drought Texas endured last year, and the crop of bluebonnets — the state wildflower — is excellent. A carpet of bluebonnets decorated the rest stop, and provided a major photo opp for many riders. There’s just one problem with the rest stop at Sandy: From here, the ride turns back west, and is more uphill than down. I knew I was in for the most challenging part of the ride.

Prickly pear and bluebonnets coexist behind the Sandy rest stop.
Left: Celebrity biking dog Oleta relaxes with a friend while her owner is off to replenish food and drink. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the man in the shot is Rick Ankrum, the author of biking blog texbiker.net.
Right: She can make the idea of drinking pickle juice palatable. I had one.

This is where I ran into trouble the last two years I did the ride. I left Sandy before the rest of my group, knowing that they’d catch me anyway. The still-cool temperature (and I hope, my better conditioning) left me feeling much better than I did at this point before. But I was in one of the lowest gears of my small ring as I hit the long uphill section.

A typical look at the rollers we faced during the ride. The chip seal roads made it hard to hold the camera steady.

Rick and Joe, the president of our club, passed me easily about four miles out from Sandy. Penny and Joe’s wife, Judy, caught me at the next rest stop when I stopped to refill my water bottles. I had neglected to do that at Sandy, and was doing a much better job of drinking regularly than I do on most rides. Judy got out in front a way, and Penny and I slogged up the endless hills.

“Ya know,” I said to Penny, “my goal coming into this ride was to do this section better than I did it the last two years. And I am — but it doesn’t feel any better.”

Then, it happened again. I moved my hand position, brushed against the cyclocomputer, and it flipped off onto the road. Once again, I had to stop and walk back to retrieve it. Penny had been a little bit ahead of me, and so didn’t know what had happened. By the time I was ready to get going again, she was out of sight.

A nice, long downhill leads into the final rest stop, and I rounded the corner into it with elan. Penny and Judy were just about to pull out when they saw me.

“Don’t wait for me,” I told them. “I’m refilling my water bottle. You two go on ahead.”

I was hoping to catch them during the last four miles of the ride, but was never able to do it. So, I think I have the dubious distinction of being the last of our club to finish. By the time I got through the food line and found a place to sit in the big tent at the finish line, most everyone else had left. Pat had pulled the car closer to the tent than where we had parked it originally, and I scarfed down the sausage wrap and potato salad and spinach salad — good food!– and we packed up to head home.

Pat had her own assessment of her ride. As she described a particularly tough hills section to me, I said it must have been only on the 30-mile route, because I didn’t recall anything like that. “That’s right,” she said. “I was riding next to a guy who had done the 62 and 42 in previous years, and he said that part of the 30-miler was tougher than anything on either of the longer ones.” She doesn’t ride a lot of hills, and was plenty sore that evening.

I’ve ridden a little more this year, and done more hill work, so I thought I was better prepared for this ride than in past years. I was, but at the end, I was still worn out. Pat drove the 60 miles home, and when we got there, I flopped on the bed and slept deeply for two hours. Then I woke up rested and refreshed. As my baseball hero, Ernie Banks, used to say — “Let’s play two!” I’m ready to go out and do another one.

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories // Rides Tags // metric century, organized ride

Those Fall Rides

09.15.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 2 Comments

Temperatures here in Texas are finally starting to moderate. Our overnight lows are positively fall-like, with overnight lows expected to plunge to 68°F (20°C) next week. And when the weather changes like that, we can look forward to some of the better organized rides of the year.

Okay, I’m being a little sarcastic here. But the good rides do start up again in the fall, and I realized too late that I haven’t been pointing toward any of them. For two of the last three years I’ve done the Outlaw Trail 100, which is on October 8 this year. I’m going to pass on it this time around. I just don’t have the mileage base that would allow me to finish 100 comfortably. I’m sure I could finish it uncomfortably — I just have no desire to. Another century I’ve thought about trying is the Waco Wild West in Waco. But that’s in late September — too soon for me.

Realistically, the time to start planning on those fall rides is in mid-summer. Last year wasn’t a problem because our weather was moderate by Texas standards. This summer has been the hottest on record, and while it’s been easy to get in some good hour-and-a-half to two-hour rides early in the morning, anything much longer than that gets you into the really hot temps of the day. I have no enthusiasm for that. So my mileage has suffered this year, my time in the saddle is down, and my overall cycling fitness ain’t what it used to be. There’s always next year.

However, there might still be some rides worth attempting. A couple in November offer possibilities. The Tour de Gruene (green) is a weekend-lomg event in New Braunfels, Texas. There’s a race, an individual and team time trial, and a recreational ride along the scenic Guadalupe River. Maybe the river will have water in it again by November. It’s a ride I haven’t done, but have been thinking about trying. Another is the Austin-to-New Braunfels “Wurstride.” It’s a good 60-miler, and was the scene of my first metric century four years ago. I haven’t been back since. It might be time.

So, getting started to prep for these rides at this late date means I have to build my mileage again. My “long” rides this summer have averaged 30-40 miles. Time to extend that distance. They say a 10 percent increase each week will do the trick — both in weekly mileage and in the length of the long ride.

And what the heck. I declared at the beginning of the year that organized rides no longer held much interest for me, and while it’s true that I’m not crazy about shelling out 50 bucks just to ride with sag and food stops, I can still do those same routes on my own — just making arrangements to be self sufficient. But I like the group ride. The atmosphere is fun, I get to see folks I don’t see on the bike that often, and I get to ride routes I don’t ride that often. I’ll probably do at least one or two of the better ones around here.

How about you? Do you have a favorite must-do fall ride? When and where?

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories // Rides Tags // group rides, organized ride

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Next Page »

Get Email Updates

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

Join 259 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