chinotex

I just dropped my bike off at the shop; supposed to have it back by Thursday, let's hope so. My back wheel was REAL wobbly.

aggie_grad

I only did the 27, but that was the hardest 27 I ever did. Up to the second rest stop was great going 20-24 with the two kids in tow. I should have known it could not stay this way forever. The last 10 miles were terrible. I am glad to hear I wasn't alone. The slight hills, bumpy roads, headwind, and tired kids made this a slow final 10 miles. I probably averaged 10 mph if I was lucky. It was still a great overall event for kids. They enjoyed all they had to do afterwards. A smoother road would have made things perfect.

chevy42083

Were you on a tandem pulling a trailer? If so I think I saw you before the ride.

Yeah, I went for a Sunday stroll and took the fixed gear... didn't wanna even try the roadie.

What did some of you other guys think of the ride?

aggie_grad

We were the tandem pulling the trail-a-bike. I think we were the only ones with that set up. My 4 year old son was on the tandem and the 6 year old daughter was on the trailer bike. Friends of ours brought there kids also with one pulling a trailer and one pulling a trail-a-bike. It was a great workout although I think I need to check every thing to see if it vibrated loose. I tightened a few things during the ride that I did not think would make it otherwise.

aggie_grad

Here is a piture of our 4 generations that were riding. This was definatly a rare oppertunity. I hope to get a chance to do more next year.

blwells

I AGREE. I never compain about a ride, but this ride was horrible....the worst!! Absolutely worst roads I have ever ridden on. I was cussing under my breath the whole way. I know the ride is for a good cause, but these people need to get a freakin' clue!!! We spend a lot of money on our bikes to have them destroyed by these horrible roads. I'm still pissed off about this one!

chevy42083

Yeah, at the VERY LEAST my wheels need to be trued.... and I weighed in at a blistering 119lbs the evening of the ride.... not like I'm pounding on the bike.

Probably gonna give the bike a once over, then ride my fixed gear till I can get the roadie to a shop to have a tune-up. It was in need before, but now... jeez.

dr. nate

I rode Tuesday night, I was nervous seeing as how I was going to ask Kourtney to marry me on Wednesday and figured I'd go for a ride. Not one chirp, jiggle, jang, it feels solid. I'm cheep and will hold off on a tune up until after Christmas. I did check it before I rode, the bottle cages were lose and that was it. Sure sounded worse though on those roads.

-Nate

chinotex

Wait, what??? How did that work out for you???

bluebottle1

I didn't look at the ride reports for this one until just now. I feel sort of bad for having said anything good about this ride. When I first rode this one, the roads weren't awful. Now, frankly, they are. I think the organizers have not bothered to look at the route or evaluate the road surfaces since first setting it out years ago. Coushatta Road, in particular, has gotten much worse in that time. I started out the day with a dicky front wheel. Riding Coushatta, I was really concerned about whether I was going to make it through the ride without totally destroying the wheel such that I couldn't finish.

Anyway, I won't be doing this one again unless the route changes substantially. I covered only the 44 mile, but Highway 36 and Coushatta Road are enough to dissuade me from trying it again.

dr. nate

The roads seem to be a county issue, most of the roads that were in Austin County were really bad. Not to mention that the section through Bellvile was horrible. Not only were two of the intersections not marked well, but the traffic was dangerously high. This could have been made safer with one police officer at each intersection (two total). Once we were back in Waller County, the roads weren't as bad.

-Nate

wrobertdavis

This was the highest priced organized ride I've been on this year. If they had not had a good BBQ meal at the end, I would have been asking for money back. They make sure and make it difficult to give feedback on the ride. I wrote a long letter and faxed it to the organization benefitted by the ride. Even though I put all my phone numbers, mailing address, and email address in my letter, I never heard a peep from them. I also contacted the MS150 since this is an MS150 recommended ride and let them know how bad it was. I did get a response from them, including a phone number to call to discuss my experiences. I plan to follow up with them next week and point them to the comments in this thread. I recommended that this ride be dropped from the MS150 recommended list.

Bob

blwells

Here is a link to a site that a lot of guys I know use to get a feel for a ride. There were no prior reviews of the Novemberfest until I submitted mine a couple of days ago. Just a couple of lines would help a lot of people avoid a disappointing, bike destroying experience...

https://www.bicycle-stuff.com/reviews/index.htm

wrobertdavis

Thanks for the link. Some people may think you are exaggerating bout the bike destroying experience. I took my bike into a shop to have it thoroughly inspected by a mechanic after ride. The headstem was loose. The Bottom bracket was loose. Two days later the frame cracked. I am certain Novemberfest contributed to this demise. Fortunately Specialized is giving me a new frame.

Bob

chevy42083

As I heard someone else say..... mountain bike would have been more suitable.... or atleast the safer bet.

wrobertdavis

Here is a follow-up to my original post. Yesterday I received an email from one of the organizers who found the original letter I had faxed. Its a shame it took two months to respond, but it was an appropriate and apologetic letter. She said they had heard from others who were also pissed about the ride and they heard the message loud and clear. They are going to change the route for next year and will make sure everyone knows they heard and listened.

Bob

dr. nate

Maybe they will move it to a county that understands that roads have advanced since 1920.

-Nate