Tour d'Temple 2008

Tour d'Temple took place on May 31st, starting, strangely enough, in Temple, TX. The route followed a NW direction up to Mother Neff State Park, and the returned in a SE direction back ot the start (I rode the 100K route). The inward leg used a slightly different route (some was shared). Unfortunately, this being Texas, and for all intents and purposes, summertime, the S/SE wind was present from the start, getting worse as the day went. Thus, the ride out to the Park was relatively easy, but the last half of the ride was much more difficult. The final 5 miles or so parallel I-35 heading south, and it seemed almost always uphill.

The route was not overly hilly, no worse than the rolling farmland country where I normally ride. There was one large hill, near the north end of Mother Neff. However, it was with the wind, so not as tough as it could have been. Once north of the park, I was alone except for one other rider I had passed on the climb. The "directions" were painted arrows on the pavement, and given I saw no one else, I started to wonder if I had missed a turn. I stopped and let the other rider catch up, she had a map and as it turned out, we were almost at the road to turn back south.

The time for the 100k distance was a bit slower than usual, I believe mostly due to the persistent headwind for the later half of the ride.

I had driven up to Temple the night before and stayed in my son's house. It's about an hour drive, so, it was easier to do that before and not have to leave so early from my house. Plus, I got to rest there some after the ride before driving back.