The mentor's ride (George Evans, Feb 07)  

Rode most of the route with Mark Sachnik, doing his first 300K, and Ryan from work, doing his first 200K brevet.

Cold start for me first 300K ride of the year.  But the wind mercifully held off until the temperature warmed up above freezing.  The first 25 miles were a breeze.  A lot of downhill from Weatherford to Lipan.  The heavy frost in the fields was pretty.  I was warm wearing a couple layers under a windbreaker.  I did put a pair of toe warmers inside my shoes that kept my feet toasty.

After we got to Lipan and took a break at the convenience store, someone turned on the big fans outside and everything changed.  There was a stiff wind out of the south (the direction we were going, of course) and for the next 20 miles, we spent most of the time fighting it with only a little respite in one all too short segment.  Finally, we got to the southernmost point and turned north on TX 108.  What change, having a big tailwind the next 9 miles to the stop at Gordon!

North from Gordon, we headed to Apple Pie Hill.  Said goodbye to Ryan after about 9 miles. He was doing the 200K and had to cut east to climb Cherry Pie Hill (the harder of the two fruit pie hills - lucky guy!).  Then up Apple Pie hill which was not all the hard with the nice tailwind.  I did notice that the wind had shifted to the SW, which did not bode well.

Once we got up the hill and turned SW on US 180, the real fun began.  The wind was really blowing and most of this area is very exposed.  It's also got a lot of climbing.  This was a easily a Cat 1 slog, as we just ground it out.  By the time we reached the turn north at Park Road 33, we were pretty beat up.

From there to Graham was a nice ride.  A few decent climbs to make it interesting, but we had benefit of the tailwind so we made good time.  Once in Graham, about 127 miles into the ride, the route back was mostly east so we were feeling pretty good.  I had a mexi-burger (cheeseburger wrapped in a tortilla, some chips, and some sweetened tea for dinner.  It must have been a good choice as I felt strong the rest of the ride.

After Graham, it was just up and down through Graford and Peadenville, before turning on county roads back to Weatherford.  I was awfully slow going up and down the short steep hills on the county roads, but after 175 miles, you have to expect some slowing down.  A quick run through Weatherford and we were done!

Congratulations to Mark for completing his first 300K and setting a new personal distance record.  Good job!