2015 Bluebonnet Express – Waller, TX

Been busy, so this is a few weeks late, but here’s this year’s Bluebonnett Express post.
Last year’s BBX was brutal. The wind was blowing at almost 20, and gusting to almost 30. It was grey, and dismal, and it was enough to make me hate every mile of the 55 mile route.

This year, though, was much better. The weather held, the sun came out, and the wind, well, held off a bit more than last year.

Overall, it was a great ride. The rest stops were top notch, the volunteers were awesome, and the routes were great. I only did the 45 mile route this year, but enjoyed every minute of it. However, this year I wasn’t able to fall into a pace line as easily as last year. There were only two that passed me but they were really strong riders and I couldn’t keep up. I tried to fall behind a few other riders but no one else was into it. Oh well. I survived. I met a couple guys in the parking lot who told me this was their first big organized ride, and they were trying to prep for the MS150 – like most of the other folks there. I started out before them, and didn’t see them after so I hope they had a great time.

The ride has a good mix of rolling hills with some good average sized downhills and some decent climbs, but mostly just some easy ups and downs. The roads are in good condition for the most part, except for one stretch where it was pretty rough. Not much else to say, so I’ll get to the pictures!

The MS150 is coming up in a few weeks. Remember, it’s one of the biggest fundraisers for the MS Society in the country, so please, donate to support our participation if you can!

Here’s the route – start at Waller Stadium, head south, then come back around up to Hempstead, and back east to Waller. It’s a great route through farmland and fields of wildflowers

Quite the line to get to the stadium in the morning. This is always a great sign because it means there will be a lot of great folks out on the roads with you.
Bike off the car, gearing up, getting ready. Rolling out!  View facing the opposite direction from the above pic, looking out over some of the farms. It’s hard to see here (click for the larger version), but that whole road is just packed with cyclists up to the stop sign waaay up there. I love it! The pack begins to thin out a bit. Over the shoulder shot before the first rest stop (I think). We’d had some rain recently – a lot of it – so a lot of the lower lying farm fields were flooded. Rest stop #1. Thanks to Kroger and all the other sponsors for their awesome snacks and ride support at the rest stops. Nothing hits the spot like a fist full of Fig Newtons and Oreos!  The clouds started to roll in after the first rest stop, and hung out for most of the rest of the ride. The sun finally came out later around 12:30 as I was approaching the finish line. Rest stop #2 (for me – I think it was #4 for the long-route folks). This was up in Hempstead at the school – I think it was a school. It’s a something. Again, huge thanks to the volunteers and sponsors for the snacks and refreshments. Special thanks to the lady who was furiously making PB&J squares for making me a few since there were none left!  Rolling out of that rest stop, this is the first view going down the road. Not bad. It’s flat in Texas. For real. Finally, here’s rolling back toward Waller Stadium for the finish line. The sun came out about 10 minutes after I took this. Overall it was another great ride, and I can’t wait to be back for next year. Many thanks to Northwest Cycling Club and Kroger for putting on this huge event. See you next time!