Sunday, June 01, 2008

Armadillo Hill Country Classic 2008

The Armadillo Hill Country Classic was held on May 10th starting in Liberty Hill TX, proceeding west and north up toward Bertram and Burnet before returning to Liberty Hill. The first 3 to 4 hours of the were overcast but warm and humid. The clouds eventually burned away and the temperatures were in the 90s by the end of the ride. There was a pretty large crowd there, we had to park in the empty fields next to the high school.

I ran into one of my friends from work before the start. He had ridden his bike there from his house, about 20 miles I believe. He said he'd do the ~60 mile distance to get a total ride distance of 100 miles for the day.

At the start, they did not organize the riders according to distance, but I imagine alot of the longer riders made their way to the front of the pack before the start. And shortly after, the stronger riders would naturally get past the slower riders, but dealing with that can be tedious and a little dangerous.

Along the way, at one of the rest stops was the 'Dillo Gate', you had to be past that point by a certain to be able to continue on the two longer distances. If not, they diverted you onto the 50 mile route. I was able to get past it in time. I proceeded to the rest stop that marked the turnaround for the 2nd longest distance, 80 miles. I felt ok so I proceeded to do the extra loop for the longest distance. There were some roads under construction in that extra loop, down to bare dirt, not the best surface for skinny road tires, I worry about getting a flat, or losing control on that sort of surface. Fortunately, neither happened.

By the time I finished, the bulk of riders had finished and left. There were a couple riders I passed toward the end that obviously had run out of energy, they were proceeding at a very slow rate. They had some subs and plenty to drink at the end, that was greatly appreciated.


This was the longest ride I've done by a just a little (the Outlaw Trail is just about the same distance).


A few pictures of the ride can be found here.

No comments: