Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Honey Tour

Honey Tour
Burleson, Texas
May 27, 2017
 Brian from San Angelo made the journey to the Honey Tour. The last two years almost has him addicted to the honey served at the rest stops. 
 Christine from San Angelo was also there. 
 And moi.
 The ride was to start at 9 a.m. but riders eagerly started to line up early. 
 As start time became closer, I would estimate over 1,200 riders were lining up.
 When we took off, I thought I was at HHH. We were bunched together rather precariously. We were well into the ride before I felt it was safe enough to take a picture of the great scenery.
 We just recently returned from northern California with the big red wood trees, but these trees still make San Angelo's mesquites look puny.
 Rest stop 1. All rest stops were well stocked and had friendly volunteers. I didn't take a picture of all of the rest stops, but it seemed they were ever 5 miles. About the time you got your speed back up, there was another rest stop.  If anyone got dehydrated or sugar deprived, it was their fault. 
 A thunderstorm was forecast for the afternoon, but during our ride we just had cloud cover and a strong cooling wind. Very strong cooling wind.
 The honey tour roads were great.
 It was Memorial Day weekend and a very thoughtful and patriotic resident did an outstanding job honoring the fallen. I was caught by surprise at this display and Brian and I turned back around to get a snap shot. I stopped to get the photo and several riders asked if I was OK, as all hard core riders know, you don't stop to take pictures on a "race".
Note the flag. It indicated that the wind was with us. If so, it sure didn't last long.


 Brian's maintaining his over-fifteen mph average while taking in the views.

 I could exaggerate and say this was rest stop #15, but it was only #10.  
 Without exaggeration, this was about the worst road of the ride and still put Tom Green County roads to shame.
 The entire ride was a series of rolling hills of 3-6%, so it kept one interested without tiring one out.





 I took this shot to remind myself of the excellent support we had at all of the intersections.
 Rolling back into town.
 Clock is hard to see, but it was a little after 11 a.m., and we were about to finish. Good average considering the 16-25 mph wind.  
Brian continues his into-the-wind riding position as the ride ends. Once again I forgot to take pictures of the amenities at the end of the ride. Chicken sandwiches, accouterments, water, and cookies. There were other sweets but the Oreo cookies captured my complete attention. Sweet ride, sweet rest stops, great scenery and great volunteers. Thanks.