Honey Tour

 

Honey Tour

Burleson, Texas

May 25, 2019 

Fourteen hundred riders converged on the relative small town of Burleson (45,000). Burleson is an outstanding ride and being a suburb of Fort Worth, they are able to draw riders from the Fort Worth/Dallas complex. And a few from San Angelo.

 Christine is back in the saddle after being out all of last year due to a shoulder replacement. Yep, bicycle accident.

Brian was able to make the tour and we were looking forward to hitting all of the rest stops. We were not in a rush to complete the tour, and previous years they had honey at each rest stop and we found that honey spread over anything (except pickles) really hit the spot.

At first we were bunched up and you would think we were at the Hotter'n Hell Hundred with 14,000 but soon started spreading out into relatively safe spacing. We really appreciate the organizers for guarding every intersection for us, and there were many!

 Soon out of town, we started on a series of shaded small lanes.

Not captured here but there were also a series of DOWNhill  declines. Kept waiting for payback time.

Rest stop 1 was well stocked and plenty of good peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. And of course, great cookies.

 Christine caught up to us at this stop. She had waited on the start sideline until all of the 67 and 46 mile riders pulled out. Show-out wasn't but a few minutes behind us.

Christine leading us as we left the rest stop. Spoiler alert: whereas Brian and I had a respectable 15.6 average, Christine finished 2 mph faster than we. (Later I am sure she will tell her story).

Payback hills? Just long. Another spoiler alert: when they said gentle rolling hills, they meant it. Whereas there were plenty of rollers, only one registered 7% grade. The rest 6% or less. Bottom line: good ride for the first of the season.

Two more people taking advantage of a beautiful day with their own ride.

Chaps? Not necessary in this nice terrain. 

Would have to have been there. Great flower show.

 Another long incline but not steep.

Lots of nice houses along the route.

Rest stop 3 or 4. We skipped one as it was so close to another one. Rest stops were great, but we noticed that there was not bottles of honey at the stops as in past years. Disappointing.

Haven't talked about the wind but it was most noticeable when we were out of the tree sheltered windbreaks.

Trees would block the wind somewhat.

Brian taking one of the inclines with ease.

Good size herd happily grazing.

 
 By the time we got out of the shady lanes, it was getting hot.

 Garmin indicated a high of 96.8 degrees. Wind was occasionally welcomed.

One of the good rollers.

Too bad the field of flowers didn't show well.

Farm and ranch area.

Last rest stop before finish. Christine left us at this one as she had enjoyed sitting in the saddle all that she could stand. Said she was just going to finish as fast as she could to get it over with.

Meanwhile, Brian and I continued to enjoy the scenery.

 

As we were close to the last leg, we had the frontage road almost to ourselves.

 
 Entering little Alvarado on our return trip.

 

Welcoming committee of one and a welcomed sight. Lady in white had a nice convertible car.

 Brian said he drafted off of me, but in most of the pictures he is in front so he must not have drafted much.

 Brian still ahead of me.

 

 Entering the finish. To the left a rider found a little shade. It was hot and we had run out of shady lanes.

 Finish line up ahead at the high school.

Spotted an ambulance in the parking lot. From what I could tell, a lady was suffering from dehydration as she was given an IV while still in her pickup.

 
Chicken sandwich line. It was really good.

Brian, Christine, and I had our own picnic area. Great way to finish a great ride.