Freeze Your Fanny - Longview, TX

FEB 2, 2008

We didn't freeze our fannies this year. The weather was beautiful. The views were great. The goodie bags were awesome. It was a good ride this year with plenty of hills to jump start your aerobic fitness.

February, 2005

It appeared that the folks listened to some suggestions to make the FYF even better. The routes were slightly changed so that riding on Route 259 was kept to a minimum. This is much appreciated and made for a much more pleasant ride. The ride was well organized, signage was good, and the rest stops were well stocked, some had home made cookies. Good job and I'll look forward to next year.

February 7, 2004

This was my first FYF in Longview. The hospitality was excellent! Pre-ride coffee and donuts, and the delicious chili/rice after the ride provided by AMBUCS!! Overall, I liked the ride, itself. Once we got off the chip and seal on Hwy 259 and onto FM449 and FM450, the ride was nice and scenic with a good mix of hills and winding roads. Traffic control, rest stops, SAG and the volunteers were all great. Judging
from past reviews, this ride has made efforts for improvement every year. The kids that were cheering you on over the last hill was a nice touch and was appreciated. The only improvements that I would suggest are: 1st; find another route back to the school. Loop 281 and Hwy 259 on the way in was ROUGH with all that chip and seal on the shoulder. It seemed like my bike was taking quite a beating. Also, having to cross over several merging and exiting traffic lanes made me a bit nervous. 2nd; add an extra sign for the LEFT hand turn near Hallsville on the 56 mile route. For some reason, I and SEVERAL other riders missed the left turn for the 56. As I said, this was my first time riding in Longview. I'm sure the 'regulars' knew the area, but, some of us visitors were surprised when we reached the second rest stop at FM450 & FM 968 and learned we missed the turn. Other than those two points, this was a good ride. - Allez Cat

February 1, 2003

Great weather, gentle breezes, good turnout. Longer runs between rest stops than most rides . Only two stops on the 43 mile route, one stop on the 26 miler. ** Poor Directions to the Start. Enough hills for me.

Overall, the 56 mile route was a great ride with lots of hills. Signage along the route was lacking. In particular, the turnoff from FM968 onto 281 was not marked. And the entire stretch of 281 did not have any signage (until the right turn onto 259) so my group of riders continued on hoping we were going the right direction. One dangerous part of the ride was the area where the 10 mile route merged with the longer routes. The 10 milers merged onto FM449 at the time the lead group was going by creating an undesirable situation. (although there were no crashes that I was aware of).

What a perfect day for a ride. Clear blue skies and lots of Pine Trees. Great rest stops and friendly people. Breakfast included. Water bottle , head band , long sleeve T-shirt , and homemade cookies at the rest stops. What a deal . Great organization . Signage completely missing turning north off I-20 onto loop 281. We only went about a mile before we realized we had missed the turn. I rode the 56 mile route. I rode a total of 100 miles , and I must admit , the 44 miles I rode "off the route" were mush prettier and scenic...pine trees all the way to the edge of the rode , hard packed oil top roads (perfect for road bike) and NO TRAFFIC. The official route went down US 259, Highway 80, and several other roads that carried fast cars and 18 wheelers. The BEST THING this ride has to offer is a chance to ride beautiful , empty roads through the beautiful East Texas Piney Woods...why didn't the ride organizers take advantage of the scenery??? The route might as well have been organized in the Dallas area with all the traffic. All in all a great ride. I am giving up on ride organizers designing a route through small county roads with no traffic. I am wondering...is it because traffic control wants less turns ?? Surely they don't think it is safer to ride the shoulder of busy FM roads. Or is it because "racers" want to see BIG LOOPS running down the highway for 15 miles at a stretch without a turn? I had a fantastic time , and I will be back next year. A GREAT RIDE!!!!!

I wish organizers would be more aware that not everybody is a racer. We ride for fun and like the shorter routes and this one was very poorly marked. We missed the 10 mile turn and were lost for a while before finding the route again. Not a good experience if you're just starting to get conditioned. On the positive side, the people were great, the scenery was terrific, and the weather beautiful. We would ride it again, but wouldn't rely on the provided maps or markers.

Overall a great ride for a great cause (my second year to ride this one). The breakfast, goodie bags and volunteers were wonderful this year. Rest stops had plenty of everything--love those cookies! Many thanks to Dave from the Wooly G's bike shop for helping us get started after a mishap with my rear wheel! Only suggestion for improvement would be to consider routes away from automobile traffic. Looking forward to next year!