ctpres

Location: Westpark toll RD @ HWY 6, currently riding about 10 mph on MTB and good for two or three hours. If needed I can dust off the road bike and get that up to 15 mph in a week or so.

ctpres

Wow thanks - wish I had seen that earlier - just spent two weeks in TX hill country and west TX before that.

faulker479

There are shop rides in Katy and in Sugar Land. you are caught right in between both. Society Cycle Works in Sugar Land has a good ride with multiple speed groups you may want to check out. That is the one I frequent.

memebag

What do you mean?

memebag

Those are allowed on some rides.

the sci guy 

I'd guess mostly because the majority of "rides" are for serious "riders" and aren't recreational jaunts. Having a trailer-bike won't work in a pace line and probably won't hang with a group of guys going 20mph anyway. Not to mention the moral decision of taking your small child out onto busy streets in traffic.
Trailer-bikes are better left to the saturday afternoon family time outing.
When it comes to the pay-to-play t-shirt rides that lead up to the MS150, i think it's a mixed bag. Some allow, some don't, because there is a mix of shorter & longer routes for people of all abilities. You'd have to check the ride's website.

Tanstaafl

The main reason the MS150 does not allow Tag-a-longs is the added length. There are times during the ride when bikes can become bunched up in groups. The MS150 feels the extra length of tag-a-longs in these situation creates a hazard to other bikes, as well as to themselves. Trailers behind bikes pose the same hazard.

audrey27

Well it is nice to ride a bicycle in a peaceful and quite environment such as biking trails in a park.

SAGit

I believe Katy Flat Land, Fort Bend Literacy and Bluebonnet rides allow tag-a-long. Start in the last group with the shortest distance and y'all will be out of most of the bike traffic. I would make sure to install bright blue/red flashing taillight. I would also add a rear orange flag on the trailer bike. IME, unlike regular traffic where vehicles can zoom by your left, rear vehicle traffic slows down and give more room in passing when the drivers see a young kid riding in the back. I would also add a rear mirror so you can focus on holding your line when bikes or vehicles are about to pass.

SAGit

On Saturdays, you can head West on the West Park Toll Way 10' or15' (or 25' on 1093) towards South Katy: Handlebar Cyclery or Lifetime Fitness Katy. Both have A,B and C groups. Southwest Cycling Club meets at Hwy6 and W.Airport but they only have A and B groups. Most of the rides start at 7-7:30 am.

texbiker

I am considering The Crime Stoppers Spirit Ride in Livingston this Saturday. There are other rides too. Check the event calendar at Texbiker.net.

texbiker

I would say the level of difficulty for the Crime Stoppers ride is some hills but nothing too big. Generally terrain in SE Texas is not very hilly. The challenge can be the weather conditions.

memebag

I think different rides have different rules, but none of them can make you not ride on public roads. They just tear down the rest stops and open any marked off lanes to cars at some point.

faulker479

The only thing I would add is make sure that the parking lot/space your car is at doesn't have a gate that you will not be able to open.

Tanstaafl

The shorter charity rides (routes out to abut 60 miles) would like to end around noon. Any ride offering a century route is going to have the course open until 3:00 or 4:00.

The charity rides depend on volunteers for just about everything. People are willing to help, but if you tell them they will be done by 4:00, and they are still sitting out there at 5:00 and beyond waiting for that last rider or two, you may start to find yourself running short on volunteers next time.

If you are the last rider, and the second-to-last rider is 5 or 6 miles ahead, the ride officials may ask you to SAG ahead to the next rest stop so you can 'catch up' with the rest of ride. As mentioned earlier, you are on a public road and you are absolutely free to continue riding. At that point we usually let them know if they do not SAG ahead, they are no longer supported. No SAGS, the rest stops will be closed, and no police support.

Jeff

the sci guy 

It's a decent ride. Through nice area. The food at the end was always good. The hills aren't too bad. Its up to you how you're feeling.

faulker479

A few buddies and i are going to do the 100 mile route. This will be our first time to do this ride, but have started at that park with R2R.

SAGit

the sci guy 

Was bummed there was no Bike for Mike in Fulshear this year.

faulker479

It was tough. My buddies and I were planning to do the 100 mile route. Because there were going to be rest stops, I didn't bring any nutrition with me. I only brought two water bottles with Scratch in them. There was plenty of water and Gatorade at each rest stop, but most of them had cookies, bananas, oranges and Shipley's doughnuts. Shipley's was a sponsor, so I get it But I guess I was spoiled with the rest stops that R2R, the MS150, and Tour de Cure provide.

At the 6th rest stop(mile 62): the heat and lack of nutritional planning on my part caused me to throw in the towel. I didn't SAG, but found the most direct route back to the start line was only 10 miles away. So I took the short cut and ended up with 73 miles. It was the first time, in a long time, that I decided to called it.

My friends decided to keep going but by the time they got to I-10, they decided to skip the loop that was south of I-10 and just headed back. They said they wanted to "make sure I was ok." So they got about 92 miles in for the day.

I plan on doing this ride again next year, but will be better prepared nutritional wise. I've just become too used to depending on the rest stops.

SAGit

Tanstaafl

I'm doing Kates ride for the first time this year, but I never miss the Fayetteville ride. Lots of rolling hills out there in Fayetteville. I think the terrain for Kates ride is much flatter.

Jeff

Mindcrime

Both are good. Kates ride is not flat, the 60 mile route should get you a little more than 2k. Not super hilly or anything but there are a few sections that will bite ya if you aren't expecting.

The Fayetteville ride is very well attended, and very well run. It is not an easy route for the long one. Harder than quite a few centuries I've been on, especially later in the ride in the heat, there is very little shade and the hills don't quit.
I'll be at both as usual. On my new Red Diamondback, probably in NWCC gear at both. Say hi if ya want

SAGit

Pedaling the Prairie, who's going? I love this ride but why the 9 A.M. start?

Tanstaafl

I can remember many years when the start of the PtP ride was teeth chattering cold. I can't think of year it wasn't. Since the longest route is 71 miles, I am guessing they thought they could start a bit later and still finish at a reasonable time while allowing it just a bit more time to warm up before the start.

Just my guess.

Jeff