Tour du Rouge - Day 2

After riding for the longest distance yet, I was pleasantly surprised that I felt as good as I did this morning. We had a great breakfast, dropped our bags at the baggage truck and attended the safety meeting.

Then it was off to the races for some, while a select few of us, who later in the day dubbed ourselves the "Six-Pack" settled into a cordial and leisurely pace. This is, after all, a tour and not a race. I settled into my now growing more familiar role as a "sweeper". The members of our group are Tim and David King, Jeff and Christine Carek and Carla Jennings.

We had an interesting day starting with the Pleasure Island Bridge. Carla and I went up last, she on her mountain bike and me on my Fuji. I was using the little ring/big ring combination to take the tall bridge. As soon as I hit the top, I went to shift to the big front ring and dropped the chain. That was embarrassing. I got it remounted on the front sprocket and flew down the other side. The next bridge over the Sabine River was not as difficult, but Tim broke a spoke on his rear wheel on the way over. That was something to watch from behind as his rear wheel wobbled all the way down the bridge. We had the ERV chase vehicle behind us that stopped and called one of the trusty Bike Barn mechanics back to our location for a quick repair. Have I mentioned that support on this ride has been stellar?



We had lunch at the Apache Gas Plant office on Holly Beach. Great lunch of spicy smoked sausage links. At that point (mile 55), we said goodbye to Carla for the day as her mountain bike as not geared for the long distances that we were traveling.

Shortly after, we made the turn north on Hwy 27 and got a tailwind. We were able to make about 22 mph for a while until I cramped up and had to ride the SAG wagon for about 5 miles to the last rest stop in Hackberry. My cramp issues solved by a copious amount of water, Gaterade, and a couple of nutritious snacks, we picked up a new member for our six-pack, Rebecca.

About 8 miles out of the rest stop we came to our last bridge. Someone asked me if I was going to stay on the top ring. I did. Seems like I flew by everyone ascending and descending the bridge. I later looked at my ride log and it looked like I was doing better than 40 at that point. One thing I like to do when I can get gravity's help to build that kind of momentum is to keep it. I just kept cranking and it seemed that those last 10 miles or so flew by. The crew said that I was there one minute and a dot on the horizon the next. Jeff said, "We ain't going to catch him!"

I finished about 5 minutes ahead of the group, ready for a rest.

Tour du Rouge - Day 1

We started the ride from the Double Tree just outside Bush Intercontinental Airport. I was able to stay with one of the lead packs for about 8 - 10 miles. Then I had about 20 riders come by me, like it was nothing.

The staff and volunteers are top notch. The rests stops are well placed and staffed by wonderful people. Many riders that I have spoken to have said that this is one of the best rides that they have ever experienced.

Now to the ride. The first day was a challenge for me. It seemed like I was climbing all day. Not big climbs, just a long and seemingly endless upward grade that made you wish for a few rollers to breakup the monotony. I had a great ride. Had some cramping issues about 5 miles out of China, which was the last rest top. Leaving the rest stop, I was in the group of the last 3 riders of the day. Shortly afterward I pulled away and paced at about 17 mph the final 15 miles into Beaumont.

Tour du Rouge Countdown - T-1

I had a great day, meeting with another rider, Riis Christensen, that lived very close to me and sharing a ride with him to Houston today! We attended the kickoff dinner where we were able to meet and begin getting to know some of the 52 riders that are going to be sharing the road with us for the next week as well as the organizers and support staff, who are all volunteers with the American Red Cross.At the dinner we learned that as of this morning over $140,000.00 had been raised by the Tour du Rouge event, benefitting the Gulf Coast chapters of the American Red Cross.All that I left to do is repack my gear for tomorrow and get some sleep. Breakfast starts at 6:00, with a gathering for the group photo at 8:00. The ride then will start at 8:30.I am working on learning to upload photos, so bear with me...More tomorrow,Chris

Tour du Rouge Countdown - T-3

3 days left.My friend Clay is working on obtaining an battery to boost my iPhone for the extended ride times that I am expecting for the tour. He is with UPG, which is an imported of batteries for various retail and wholesale organizations. My friends at the local Performance Bike shop came through for me by not only providing donations, but also a new Cycling Jersey.I can't thank all of my friends and family enough for all of the donations and encouragement that have made this excursion possible. Tomorrows post will be a rundown of all of the equipment, supplies and apps that I will use on the ride.

Tour du Rouge Countdown - T-4

4 days left!  At the start of the day, $260.00 short of the Fundraising goal.  Got about 2 1/2 hours of saddle time yesterday, so I am feeling better on the bike for longer periods.

Tour du Rouge Countdown - T-6

Just 6 days left before the "big ride" for the American Red Cross! I have a little over $600.00, depending on how the donation matching comes through from my employer, left to raise.  Help has been promised by a few of my friends and fellow riders from the Plano Bicycle Association that should surpass the goal.  I am starting to reach out to distant cousins at this point.  Gotta get over that "hump"!


Got an hour of saddle time this evening with Miss J tagging along. So as expected, progress was less than usual, but had a good time and took the opportunity to go over some riding safety tips and rules of rhe road with her during the ride.


Made a minor adjustment to the saddle on the bike and it rode a little better, which is an approvement as I didn't wear any of my "bibs" or cycling shorts with padding.  I cleaned and lubed both of our chains and took the opportunity to clear away most of the road grime that had accumulated over the last couple of months.


For those of you wishing to make a donation to the Red Cross for my ride, here is the link:
http://american.redcross.org/site/TR/SoutheastTexasTeamRaisers/COGPTXSoutheastTexasRegion-43336?px=9935373&pg=personal&fr_id=1402

Don't be afraid to give!  Only 6 days left until the event, so the time is now!

Tour du Rouge Countdown - T-7

Just 7 days left before the "big ride" for the American Red Cross! I have a little over $800.00 left to raise, but with the help of a few of my friends and fellow riders from the Plano Bicycle Association that should surpass the goal. As much as I would have liked to have ridden more leading up to the last week, I should be ok. The first couple of days will be the hardest if the weather holds true to form. It is always a factor on a ride, as we all know. Last Saturday, we had moderate winds out of the South and Southwest that seemed the be in my face for a good part of the ride. Combine that with a few of the hills that we faced and it can make for a long day. Going into this week, I plan on getting about 4 - 20 to 25 mile rides in just to have some "saddle time" on my new seat. If it doesn't feel better by Wednesday, off it comes and back on with the old one!