Finished 69.5 hot and hilly (~2,900 feet of elevation change) miles at the 2009 Tour de Goatneck in 3:36:10. Overall, it was a good ride.I was crusing with a 20.3 mph average speed through Mile 47, which was my first rest stop (stopped about 5 minutes). Of course there were some hills after that as well as a headwind, which dropped my average, but a 19.3 mph for the whole 69.5 miles is pretty good for me.
After crossing the finish line, I got back to my car and stared at my running shoes for about a minute ... brick run DENIED. Had my recovery drink (Endurox R4 - chocolate), took a shower, and then ate some pretzels & peanut butter, bananas and watermelon instead. :-)
Here are the stats from my Garmin Forerunner 305:
Goatneck elevation chart: Big (up)hills during Miles 33-39 & 50-60. :-P
Ride Review:
Course: 4/5 - road conditions were pretty good - little bit of chip-seal in the middle of route was the only downside; hilly, challenging course; good traffic control in the busy areas (and overall there wasn't much traffic at all)
Rest Stops: 4/5 - I only stopped at the 47-Mile rest stop (which had a luau party/rock and roll theme) so this is not a complete evaluation, but there were decent refreshments (pop-tarts & cereal in addition to fruit) and water & Gatorade (well-mixed, not watered down) at that one.
Logistics: 4/5 - easy online registration; reasonable entry fee; decent parking at Cleburne High School (good considering that there were over 2,400 riders); nice T-shirt (electric blue again, though!) and water bottle; no post-race meal, but at least there was some snacks (the aforementioned pretzels & PB with bananas, watermelon, and oranges)
Overall: 4/5 - will definitely do again; good, challenging course with excellent ride support
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