This past weekend was my last training weekend before the  Bike MS: Sam’s Club Round-Up Ride in north Texas next weekend! The ride goes from Frisco to Fort Worth with an overnight at the Texas Motor Speedway, 105 and 67 miles respectively. This is my 7th year participating in a Bike MS ride, fundraising for the National MS Society in honor of my godmother and other family members that have been affected by Multiple Sclerosis. If you can, please consider making a donation in support of my participation.

I just finished tallying up my training mileage for this Bike MS. I started training at the beginning of February and so far I’ve ridden 1,183 miles. I think I’m ready for next weekend 🙂 Last Saturday, I rode the 10th annual Red Poppy Ride up in Georgetown. This year I actually saw red poppies! It was a nice but windy ride with a bit of mist almost all day. I rode the longest route, 102 miles. Despite the wind I was able to average 16.6 miles per hour so I was very happy but exhausted. While I was out riding, my husband did the sweetest thing anyone could do for me after a long ride – he went all the way down to south Austin to pick me up my favorite treat – a hand-dipped chocolate covered banana from Bananarchy! It was the most amazing food I’ve ever eaten, covered with graham crackers and toffee…. yum!

And now for my ride recap.

I saw the guy with the yellow recumbent bike again.

I saw my first red poppies early in the ride.

Walburg, Texas. An old biergarten.

A couple of red poppies and cyclists.

I think these are poppies too, but they were more of a purple color.

 

This ride has quite a large contingent of motorcycle escorts. They were very helpful, keeping an eye on things and helping us cross some of the busier intersections. This guy was like my own personal escort for much of the ride checking in on me a number of times.

 

Wildflowers and I-35.

A llama and his pal the donkey were just hanging out watching us go by. Isn’t he the cutest?

 

This ride had the bumpiest roads I’ve ridden this year. It was like riding on gravel in some cases.

 

Red poppies at the rest stop!

 

The rest stop was in Schwertner, Texas – a little town with a big heart apparently.

It has a big church, of course.

The little towns we rode through mostly felt like old ghost towns.

 

In Granger, I saw an old city hall with a lion statue in front of it.

 

Across the street, a matching lion guarded the park.

 

It had an old hardware store.

And of course Granger has a big church!

 

Randomly, I saw a large metal rooster in a field. And I mean really large, this photo doesn’t do him justice.

 

So many bluebonnets!!

 

 

Bluebonnets and yellow flowers.

 

A country cemetery.

 

Luckily, the ride went in a loop so I was only in the wind for sections. A few times I found some groups to draft off of and it was wonderful. I thought you might enjoy seeing what I looked like after riding 103 miles – check out that hair! I was sporting my new Ireland bike jersey, a birthday gift from Dad and Ellen.

 

 

On Sunday my husband and I rode our bikes to check out the Mueller Farmer’s market for the first time. It was quite nice and we bought lots of great food. It was an 18 mile round trip and I used my commuter bike and panniers to bring home our goodies. I think we’ll do that again.

 

Related articles

• Bike MS training update, April 19 – 20: A lovely ride to Elgin and back
• Bike training update – Red Poppy Ride
• Bike MS Training, April 12 – 13: A windy weekend