Like all great ideas, I got the inspiration for this epic ride while having an intellectually stimulating discussion on the Strike Cycling group text. Everyone was discussing the driveway game plan for the week ahead, and I got the idea to ride from my house in Katy to the Driveway and then race. Riding from Houston to Austin has been on my bucket list for a while and what better time to do it than in April when the wild flowers are in full bloom?
Even after I got the idea, I needed all the stars to align. That meant: NOT a headwind since it was a one way trip, decent weather, a ride back, and preferably the Speed Loop at the driveway. I checked the weather a week out, and it was showing temps in the 70s and 15 mph winds out of the southeast. Perfect. Now that I had one box checked, I texted fellow Strike Director and Cat 1 Extraordinaire, Brady Reed, and confirmed that he was headed back to Magnolia after the driveway which meant I could get him to drop me off at my mom’s house in The Woodlands. When I checked the driveway website and saw the Speed Loop was on the schedule, I knew this adventure was meant to be.
I continued checking the weather throughout the week and the conditions continued to check out. On Thursday morning at 8:30 AM, I rolled out from my house in Katy to embark on my longest day in the saddle. The wild flowers were phenomenal all the way from Sealy to Fayetteville. Fields of yellow, pink and of course blue. The first stop was in Fayetteville at Mile 65. I knew I needed to maximize calories so I picked up a bag of Fritos and washed it down with a Glacier Freeze Gatorade. Fun Fact: Plain Fritos only have 3 ingredients (Corn, Corn Oil, Salt) and a small bag packs 720 calories.
The mental side of cycling is fascinating. For me, time on the bike is all relative. The first half of a ride feels like it takes the same amount of time regardless of whether I have 80 miles or 180 miles planned. Cycling is just as much mental as it is physical, and as long as you don’t let the thoughts like “How much longer do I have until I’m done?” or “I really wish I wasn’t on the bike right now” enter your head, time on the bike flies by. I also find on long rides that listening to music or podcasts actually makes time go by slower. There is an obvious safety advantage to riding without headphones in, but I find myself able to get into a meditative mental state where minutes melt into hours on the bike. Listening to music, I am aware every time 3-4 minutes has passed and time tends to drag by. Anyways, back to the ride itself….
Somewhere in between Fayetteville and Bastrop, I ran into a fellow cyclist near the small town of Winchester, TX. From a distance, it was obvious he was in the process of making a journey far greater than my own. His bike was loaded down with panniers, a tent, along with other stuff one would take on a cross country journey. Up until this point, my legs were feeling good and my average speed was over 20 mph but I still had to slow down to ride with him and learn more about his journey. His name was Jesse and he started in Jacksonville, Florida and was riding to San Diego, CA. He was riding a heavy Surly bike with platform pedals. There was a mutual respect present, as both thought the other’s adventure was greater than their own. We talked about bike touring for a while and swapped stories as I have a little experience after my failed attempt to bikepack the Colorado Trail last summer. I rode with him for half an hour, but before we parted ways he asked if he could take a video with me for his Instagram story. I obviously obliged being the social media superstar I am… He asked my name, where I was riding to, and then asked me a very difficult question. “Why are you riding your bike 180 miles from Houston to Austin?” I was stumped and had no answer to this question. As most bike racers can vouch, there has to be at least a few screws loose to dive into this painful sport.
I hit Buescher State Park at Mile 101. While planning my route, I had seen a 14 mile stretch of winding road that ran from Buescher State Park to Bastrop State Park. When I first looked at the map, I was worried it was a hiking trail due to its tortious nature. I stopped at the visitor center at the entrance of Buescher SP and paid my 3 dollar fee to take Park Road 1C that connects the two parks. This turned out to be one of the best 3 dollar purchases I’ve ever made. Park Road 1C is 14 miles of perfect pavement carved into the Texas hill country with endless roller coaster-esque punchy climbs. I would recommend everyone ride this stretch of tarmac at least once even if it means stopping for an out and back while traveling between Houston and Austin. It’s up there with some of my favorite roads in Leakey, Ft. Davis, and the Big Bend region.
I exited Bastrop SP at Mile 115 and stopped in Bastrop for Subway. A tough decision ensued: 6 inch or Footlong? For anyone that knows me, they know that this was an obvious choice and I sprung for a 12 Inch Rotisserie Chicken on Multigrain Flatbread. I decided to roll the dice on consuming a sizeable meal before getting back on my bike. I regretted it the first hour after I ate it, as I felt bloated and sluggish. The roads between Bastrop and Austin weren’t a highlight of the journey but they got me safely to the driveway. S/O to Strike Team Mate, Patrick Mannion, for the help with the route from Bastrop to Austin.
I arrived at the driveway with about an hour to spare before race time. This worked out perfectly as I didn’t want to get there too early as I was weary of being off the bike too long before racing. I picked up my number and met up with my Strike team mates. I picked up Subway cookies in Bastrop and ate them before the race washed down by a Red Bull that Brady generously brought me. Pro Tip: Don’t want your cookies to get soggy with sweat in your jersey pocket? Drop them into an empty chip bag.
The Red Bull and Subway cookies were clutch as I slowly started to feel pretty normal as it got closer to race time. This was a surprise as the last 30 miles from Bastrop to Austin, I wasn’t feeling too hot. As we rolled out and racing started, I was shocked that my legs didn’t feel completely awful. My real goal was just to finish the race and I started to realize I was going to be able to make this happen. As always, my Strike teammates rode strong as Brady Reed and Canyon Emmott attacked from the gun and almost stuck a break which is never easy on the speed loop.
I kept looking down at my Garmin to see how much racing was left and noticed it had said 8 minutes for a long time. It took me longer than it should have in my questionable mental state, but finally I realized that it was showing 8 hours and XX minutes. It was a new sensation for me to be racing on my ninth hour on the bike. This ended up being a blessing in disguise as the lap cards were out before I knew it. I wasn’t much help to my team mates in the hectic and blazing fast finish but I managed to finish somewhere near the front of the pack.
After a few cool down laps with the squad to discuss what could be learned from the race, I finally stopped my Garmin.
182.8 miles.
9:13:39 moving time.
19.8 mph average speed.
5,192 kJ
I’ve done a few rides in the 7-8 hour range but this was one of my favorite and most memorable. To say I earned the beer and Torchy’s after the race would be an understatement. I can assure you it won’t be the last time I make the journey on two wheels from Houston to race the Driveway and maybe next time I will even be able to convince someone to join me!
Austin is a Drilling Supervisor for Shell. He graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in Petroleum Engineering in 2014. He splits his time between Texas and Montana. He loves to hike, ski, hunt, eat vegetables and elk, and ride his bike. His favorite Taylor Swift song is “Our Song.” Austin started racing and co-directing the team in 2017.