Tour de Goatneck

It’s been a few months since I road my first Tour de Goatneck bike rally down in Cleburne, TX on July 25th.  Not much fanfare here but it was fun and I learned a few things.  This was only my second cycling event and I rode the 41 mile route.  I started out on my own but soon started drafting behind others.  I made no attempt to be a pro or expert and ride the thing completely unaided.  Within the first few miles I struck up a conversation with a more experienced rider.  He taught me a few things about riding up hills.  We plowed through all of the rest stops and finished in 2 hours 15 minutes at a little over an 18 mph pace.

An interesting aspect of this rally is that they staggered the ride starts based on the route length.  The 70 mile riders started at 7:30 while the 41 mile riders started at 7:45 and so on.  Or at least that’s how it was supposed to work.  When we started passing folks riding REALLY slow on our route, I realized that many of the riders paid absolutely no attention to the race start instructions and started with the 70 mile group regardless of the distance they were riding.  I’m running into (almost literally) this phenomenon more as time goes on.

At any rate, starting after the main group afforded me the chance to watch them ride out and snap a few photos and cheer them on.  It’s not often that athletes get to be a spectator, so I’m grateful for those opportunities.  Enjoy!

jb