2003 MS 150 Bike to the Brazos

September 27 & 28 Ft Worth Texas.

OK...It was Heidi's first year as ride organizer. She got no help from other MS 150 organizers because of intra-organizational rivalry for the scarce charitable dollars...so Heidi, PLEASE do not take this personally ....but the web-site was somewhat (I will be kind) misleading. "No hills"...no, not when you drive the course in a car, which is how they drew up the routes. So Heidi, if you are not a cyclist, please get some volunteers to actually ride the routes on a bicycle rather than draw up the routes from a map. First of all, the web-site did not give any directions to the start..."Gladney Center, SW Ft. Worth" is not enough to go on. I searched long and hard on the web-site trying to find directions to the registration and start...not even the "site map" gave a clue. I called directory assistance, and the first number I got was "not a working number". Then I followed directions given to a buddy of mine by the Gladney Center staff, and ended up well on my way to Abilene before I discovered the directions were not even close. Even a tip that the Gladney Center was located behind Harris Hospital would have gone a long way to avoid confusion, although "directions to start " would have been extremely helpful for everyone except those who live in Ft. Worth and who had ever even heard of the Gladney Center. The ride did start punctually though, although the start was on a steep incline leading out of the parking lot. Things weren't too bad till we turned south on a way-too-busy highway. Wide shoulder, full of gravel, glass, nails, screws, and all the other assorted odds and ends that litter such roads. I figured we would be on it only for a couple of miles. When I asked a motorcycle team passing, how long we would be forced to endure such a pitiful riding environment , I was first met with a shrug of shoulders, then they told me about twenty miles...all the way to Grandbury. You've got to be kidding me I thought, who in their right minds would cycle down a busy highway . Was this some kind of joke? Then we passed up rest stop # 2. Apparently, it was off to the right somewhere, but we never saw it. We did finally get off the highway, and I was just beginning to relax when we arrived for lunch, started looking at the map and realized things just didn't add up....miles , that is. Some little matter about conversions between the English system of measurements and the metric system. Although the map was scaled in kilometers , the actual mileage was miles!!!! Unsuspecting riders , who signed up for a 62 mile tour of flatland, ended up riding 85 miles of hills. Each rest stop would announce there was "about 25 miles to go." Maybe more issues with that annoying "miles-kilometers" thing. Heidi, at this point I am feeling sorry for you, because I know you weren't responsible for that "front" that blew in from the north at about 25 mph...or is that kilometers per hour ?  I'm sure all these problems will be straightened out by 2004. DeWayne Shepard (Roadkill)

I've never written a review for a ride, but have to put my two cents worth in on this one. First the positive, the people who organized the ride were very nice and seemed to be trying very hard. The food was great and the after-party fun! Thanks, Outback Steakhouse. Okay now about the ride. I have to agree with Shep. The website or any other materials did not give any indication of what we were in for. I've be riding for about 7 months now and my boyfriend and I have ridden in over 10 organized rallies. This includes the Hotter N Hell, the MS150 Red River Challenge, Mesquite Rodeo, Tour Dallas, Lancaster Country Ride, Cow Creek Country Classic and Hot Rocks rallies. This was the most difficult ride I've ever done. I was only going to ride the 50K and ended up riding over 40 miles to lunch. My boyfriend was one of the few who finished the 100K which turned out to be 85+ miles. I've never seen so many in shape, experienced riders sag back. There were rough roads, uneven spacing of rest stops (the first one with only water and sport drinks) a scary ride through town, busy highways with little or no shoulder and hill.... after hill... after hill. Usually you get a reward
for going up a hill by going down one.... not the case here. The ride around the first lake was nice, beautiful scenery. As always I'm glad I finished, but unless someone who rides helps with the logistics of this ride. I won't be doing it again. Really a shame because this is my favorite charity and the organizers seemed to have their hearts in the right place.- Alison

September 28-29, 2002

There were 119 riders in this years MS 150 Bike to the Brazos, each raising a minimum of $200. The ride began at Harris Methodist Southwest and proceeded to Glen Rose via Lake Benbrook, Cresson, Granbury & Chalk Mountain -- about 80 miles. There was also a shorter route that skipped the VERY hilly Chalk Mountain. This is the hilliest ride I've seen in Texas. We climbed 4000 ft.! The Chalk Mountain climb was difficult. Not really all that steep, but it kept going & going. Aside from 10 miles or so on US 377, the ride was pleasant on lightly travelled FM roads. The descent from Chalk Mountain was one of the most exciting rides I've ever had! It's on the shoulder of US 67, which wasn't that busy and was an excellent surface. I topped 42 MPH before I chickened out. ** There is no doubt that the long route is more challenging than the Hotter n' Hell. ** This ride exhibits the characteristics of a ride sponsored by people who do these things often -- I suspect the NMSS has a comprehensive handbook for hosting one of their rides as few details were missed and the riders were well cared for all weekend. ** Route organization was excellent. Many professionally printed signs indicated the route path and Gold Wings cruised the route at regular intervals to check on us. The organizers had a couple of panel trucks they used to SAG the riders. Forty riders took advantage of the SAG services. MedStar provided an ambulance & paramedics for both days -- the paramedics were looking sharp with their "Bike Medic" shirts. Two riders that I know of needed their treatment, but were okay after some rehydration. ** There were six rest stops and two water stops. The rest stops had an incredible variety: Bananas, apples & oranges, various Ms. Baird's baked treats, water, PowerAde, Starburst candies & Red Bull drink. Each stop had its own "special treat" and we got Toms peanut butter crackers, Clif bars & lemonade along the way. The rest stop at Granbury was a great lunch featuring Subway sandwiches, On the Border chips & salsa, pasta salad, yogurt & lemonade and was held along the river under some trees. ** The overnight was at Camp Tres Rios in Glen Rose where riders could choose to camp or rent one of the various cottages or motel rooms. The party began on arrival with professional massage for $5. Dinner was chicken with Caesar salad, rice & brownies provided by the Outback Steakhouse on Bryant Irvin Rd. in Ft. Worth. A DJ played cool tunes until almost nine and many of the riders stayed up past then. Refreshing drinks and adult beverages were on ice and a good time was had by all! ** Day two was fortunately much easier for us. Breakfast was served at 6:30 by McDonald's and the ride began at 8:00. This was somewhat of a SNAFU, as many of us expected an 8:30 start. The Sunday route followed much of the Goatneck route, including the "dreaded" Goatneck hill itself -- though the Goatneck is an anthill compared to the hills we climbed on Saturday. Only 2000 ft. of climbs for this day. Everything else was pretty much the same as far as organization is concerned. ** At the finish line, a celebration BBQ was waiting for the riders and we cheered everyone in. This is an excellent ride and I think many www.bicycle-stuff.com readers will want to try this one out next year. Perhaps we could have a Bicycle-Stuff team?