Katy Flatland Century

July 20, 2008

This is a great ride and well worth the drive from Dallas to Houston. Seems like in the last few years the turnout is diminishing somewhat, possibly due to high gas prices this year. Great route and great weather this year with dry roads and little to no wind. Sags were seen everywhere on the 100 mile route and the feed areas were well stocked. The ride start area being at Katy Hills Mall makes it very easy for arriving and leaving afterwards. Thanks go out to Northwest Cycling Club for putting on this event. MB

July 15, 2006

The good - Location was easy to find, I had picked up my packet on Saturday, so I have no comment for packet pickup, except to say that depending on where you parked you could be almost a good half mile or more from the packet pickup. The course was flat as promised and over 70% of the ride is in the country on nice roads, some better than others, but none of the notorious North Texas chip rock!! I did not like that most of the other 30% of the ride was on roads that were more traveled, even with the wide and smooth shoulders that we were riding on. It is just something about cars and trucks going by at 70 MPH. Most intersections were manned; however there were 2 in particular that were not manned and the signage were misleading. Both times the groups I was riding with split up while we figured out which way to go.
The Bad – I can only say that we are spoiled in North Texas with our rest stops and the volunteers. At the start there was only 10 Port-a-potties for all 2,500 riders. The start was advertised as 7:00. The race director began talking at 7:00 and we finally started at 7:10. Then to keep the start organized they started in groups of about 100 riders or so. No organization to which riders started first or last. I was in the first group, so I have no idea how long it took the whole ride to start. The day was HOT, when I finished at 5 hours it was 100. I rode with only 2 bottles and stopped at the 30, 50, 70 and 90 miles rest stops. At the 50 mile rest stop they were out of ice by 9:30. The volunteers were discussing if they needed to go and get ice, the 70 mile rest stop was better; however it was setup under one 12X12 tent. No place to find shade and they were also out of ice. Finally the 90 miles rest stop was better, a nice large tree and chairs under it. Unfortunately, a large congregation of local people had gathered to cheer us on and they were all taking a break under the tree while sitting in the chairs. While I was there a rider came in that was cramping and definitely in need of shade and a rest, no one offered him a place to sit. The finish was simple; however the Katy Mills Mall parking lot is a great place to start but a terrible place to finish. There was on large tent provided by the ride and a few other vendors; however on an asphalt parking lot it was just too hot to stay around.
The true question from a review is would I ride the Katy Flatland again. The answer is maybe. The 100 mile ride in mid July is a great ride for summer time mileage. The other riders I met and rode with were just as nice and courteous as those I ride with in North Texas. Knowing the shortcomings of the ride and not knowing if they can be corrected would give me doubt.

Thanks to all the riders that gave me tubes, air cylinders and a patch, 5 in all. Got a hole in the side of my tire and it kept pinching the tube, even with pathes. 5 hours of actual riding time but 7 hours and 20 minutes to finish cause of the tires. Because of the friendliness of all the riders, it allowed me to complete my 14th century.Very hot day, there was an ice
truck taking ice to all the stops since the heat was taking it toll. Later in the morning the ice truck bought out all of the supermarkets ice and had no more. Recommendation to those that carry water bottles in temps over 90 degrees, get a camel back. What a difference it can make for you especially on longer rides of 60 or more. Attimes I saw the sag wagons at exactly the same spot. Go figure. What good does that do the riders, especialy me with all the problems I had. Thanks for a great ride

July 18, 2004

I firmly believe that this year has someone new planning this event, someone who has never ridden more than 10 miles on a bike in his/her life. We were riding at a good pace, far from the rear of the "peleton" and all three of the rest stops we stopped at had the same problems, no bananas at all, one or two cookies, almost no other snacks except oranges and a whopping three porta potties for 2500+ riders. Marginal traffic control, warnings that one of the local sheriffs was looking for us wanting to write tickets, a weird comment about obeying law enforcement because "they have guns an you dont" (do they not know this is Texas, lots of riders ARE packing, which is irrelevant) and a new route change that all but did away with the nice shoulders we had last year made this a very poor ride. Additionally, last year we registered on ride day and still received a t-shirt and goodie bag but not this year. Even though this ride is virtually in our back yard and we enjoyed it last year we will most likely not be back unless the people in charge of this ride change. Try the Katy RAM instead, much better. PS. A good sized group of people wearing the jerseys of the sponsoring riding club were in a pace line in the middle of the lane, when a shoulder was available, blocking traffic, real bright guys.   I almost became road kill by a marked SAG truck! He was loading up someone on the side of the road and never looked for bikes (or didn't care) before he pulled out onto the road which forced me into the on coming lane.

We rode the 50mile. Very nice ride. Good roads - only two turns that weren't manned by volunteers. Lots of helpful rest stops and friendly co-riders. I would definitely return.

July 20, 2003

This is indeed a flat course. My wife and I did the 50 mile (actually 46.5) and it had a total of 150 feet of climbing. The road conditions were the best I have ever been on at a ride, concrete and good asphalt. Almost always had a nice shoulder. Traffic control was present at most major intersections and some minor. One word for people new to cycling, flat does not mean easy, remember that with no hills it is pedaling all the way, whew! Somewhere around 2300 people attended. Start could have been a little more staged. Parking was good. Rest stops were sometimes in weird places and on the wrong side of the road but reasonably well stocked with water, sports drink, oranges, bananas, animal crackers, chex mix and at one, Oreo cookies! Could have used a few more porta potties at the start, there were long lines. Registration took forever! Will do this again next year!

The ride, roads and the day were excellent. The marking of roads were great, the rest stops had adequate drinks etc. But I wish my fellow cyclists would offer better courtesy to the 4 wheelers. I know some of the folks that live and work around Pecan Grove, which is often an area the "Flatlander's" train. It is a known fact that on occasion general common sense is not used. On the ride Sunday, I saw a group of 4 guys riding a good brisk pace, the shoulder of the road was more than ample to do their ride. Yet they, chose to stay in the road 2 apart, on a 2 lane rode. A pickup truck was trying to pass (double yellow line), they would not let him. This is not the Tour de France with closed off roads. If you only knew how much this pisses off drivers and gives us a bad rap. Just because you have 2500 cyclists in a group, that does not mean we own the roads, we share them. We all know what happen last year to the 2 guys riding in the bike lane. Could they have been victims of a disgruntled driver? Think about it, the next time a line of 50 bikes are spread out over 300 yards, maybe you could let that car or truck "safely" make that left turn and gain a little respect.