The course is pretty much a net downhill from Cleburne to Glen Rose, then you have to climb your way back. I thought that we were going against the wind since my mph wasn't that good when I got to GR. But it seemed that when we headed back up the hills toward Cleburne we were still heading into the wind. It was 13-15 with gusts up to 20mph.

I purchased a gel flask and that is the greatest thing. No fumbling, no mess and no trash to deal with. (I just hate it when I see other people throwing those empty packets on the street!!!).

Consumed:

Gatorade: 160 oz - 37oz/hour - 1000 cal
Gels: 6 - 660 cal
Enduralites: 8

Calories: 1660 - 386/hour

The combination of the gels and enduralites every thirty minutes seemed to work real well. I did get tired at times, but seemed to have a more constant energy level.

Drank a couple of cups of Gatorade and ate my other powerbar.


I'm not in the greatest of shape since I had to take some time off to get over my injury. I didn't push that hard and don't know if I even could have if I tried.


This was my 2nd time to do this. This year there were 2,350 people which is a little big for me - I don't like to bike in crowds. But it is good to see all of the different people old and young out for the ride.

I did see a lot of tri-bikes and aerobars and also saw a few people running after their ride. So triathlons gaining popularity is probably another reason that bike tours are attracting more participants.

I'll plan on doing it again next year. Glen Rose is my home town and it is kind of fun to bike from Cleburne to GR and back. When I was a kid that would have blown my mind that I'd be doing this at 39 years old.