White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) Century

I rode the first annual White Sands Missile Range Century --108 miles actually--this past weekend on
my V-Rex (incidentally it was also my first century). Let me give it a plug for next year's ride.
WSMR is a restricted range, so it's a very rare occasion for the public to get a chance to view it
and you really don't want to miss this opportunity if you're fortunately enough to find yourself
anywhere near New Mexico or West Texas this time next year. BTW, I think you need to be a US citizen
also. WSMR is absolutely gorgeous: miles and miles of totally unspoiled Southwest desert wilderness,
colorful desert flowering plants, cactus, rock formations, mountains, critters large and small
(including those that slither and sun themselves on the pavement). Despite mountains in almost every
direction, the course is remarkably flat—about 80% of the course had a level grade. The only climb
was a gradual 900-foot rolling hill that you climb from about 40 miles to the mid waypoint. There is
no humidity and very comfortable. And best of all, there was no traffic or motor vehicles at all
(except for a few safety vehicles associated with the ride). There were about 200 riders, but only
three bents including myself (the others were a Strada and a Greenspeed trike). Hope to see more
bents next year.

If you want to here how it went for me, read on... My only problem with the ride was caused by my
stupidity. I drove down Friday with my family as kind of a camping trip, that was fun but my wife
and two young kids were reluctant to get up early for the ride Saturday. As a result, I was one of
the last riders to get on the course. I'm still a little kid at heart and even though this is a ride
not a race and my late start, I couldn't help it and I pedaled hard enough to work myself towards
the front. By the mid-way point, there was only a couple of riders left in front of me. By the time
I hit the 79-mile stop, I was the second bike to arrive, but I was also physically shot from pushing
into a 20 mph headwind and trying to go too fast--I guess I had the hitting the wall feeling. When I
got off my bike to stretch, I felt wobbly and a little sick. I filled up my water bottle, set it
down on the table and drank some Gaterade. My body just wasn't in a hurry to push off again and I
stayed at the rest stop a little longer than planned. After watching several other riders come in,
make their stop and pushed off again, I decided it was time to suck it up and finish this thing. So
I got on the V-Rex and actually felt a little better once I was riding again. Then about 4 miles
down the rode (25 miles remaining) I reached back for my water bottle. Guess what?, it was still
sitting on the table back where I left it at the last rest stop. I didn't know if I should turn
around and make this into a 116 mile ride or keep pressing towards the finish. I was so thirsty I
wanted to cry, but I couldn't afford the moisture. Anyway, I kept going and it was probably the
worst 25 miles I ever had on a bike. Along with my incredible thirst, everything else started to
hurt. Luckily when I finally arrived back at the start/finish my wife was there and handed me one of
those great big gulps from Burger King--which I sucked down in about a half second. Then I got
another water bottle and sucked that down, and started on yet another. I hope to never make a
mistake like forgetting my water bottle in the middle of the desert again.

Brian V-Rex/Tailwind

 

I done the London to Brighton ride in the UK last year only 58 miles but there was 27000+ riders on
it and I only saw 10 bents including my own.

It is a sad thing when you are one of so few.

Lee

"bandjhughes" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I rode the first annual White Sands Missile Range Century --108 miles actually--this past weekend
> on my V-Rex (incidentally it was also my first century). Let me give it a plug for next year's
> ride. WSMR is a restricted range, so it's a very rare occasion for the public to get a chance to
> view it and you really don't want to miss this opportunity if you're fortunately enough to find
> yourself anywhere near New Mexico or West Texas this time next year. BTW, I think you need to be a
> US citizen also. WSMR is absolutely gorgeous: miles and miles of totally unspoiled Southwest
> desert wilderness, colorful desert flowering plants, cactus, rock formations, mountains, critters
> large and small (including those that slither and sun themselves on the pavement). Despite
> mountains in almost every direction, the course is remarkably flat-about 80% of the course had a
> level grade. The only climb was a gradual 900-foot rolling hill that you climb from about 40 miles
> to the mid waypoint. There is no humidity and very comfortable. And best of all, there was no
> traffic or motor vehicles at all (except for a few safety vehicles associated with the ride).
> There were about 200 riders, but only three bents including myself (the others were a Strada and a
> Greenspeed trike). Hope to see more bents next year.
>
> If you want to here how it went for me, read on... My only problem with the ride was caused by my
> stupidity. I drove down Friday with my family as kind of a camping trip, that was fun but my wife
> and two young kids were reluctant to get up early for the ride Saturday. As a result, I was one of
> the last riders to get on the course. I'm still a little kid at heart and even though this is a
> ride not a race and my late start, I couldn't help it and I pedaled hard enough to work myself
> towards the front. By the mid-way point, there was only a couple of riders left in front of me. By
> the time I hit the 79-mile stop, I was the second bike to arrive, but I was also physically shot
> from pushing into a 20 mph headwind and trying to go too fast--I guess I had the hitting the wall
> feeling. When I got off my bike to stretch, I felt wobbly and a little sick. I filled up my water
> bottle, set it down on the table and drank some Gaterade. My body just wasn't in a hurry to push
> off again and I stayed at the rest stop a little longer than planned. After watching several other
> riders come in, make their stop and pushed off again, I decided it was time to suck it up and
> finish this thing. So I got on the V-Rex and actually felt a little better once I was riding
> again. Then about 4 miles down the rode (25 miles remaining) I reached back for my water bottle.
> Guess what?, it was still sitting on the table back where I left it at the last rest stop. I
> didn't know if I should turn around and make this into a 116 mile ride or keep pressing towards
> the finish. I was so thirsty I wanted to cry, but I couldn't afford the moisture. Anyway, I kept
> going and it was probably the worst 25 miles I ever had on a bike. Along with my incredible
> thirst, everything else started to hurt. Luckily when I finally arrived back at the start/finish
> my wife was there and handed me one of those great big gulps from Burger King--which I sucked down
> in about a half second. Then I got another water bottle and sucked that down, and started on yet
> another. I hope to never make a mistake like forgetting my water bottle in the middle of the
> desert again.
>
> Brian V-Rex/Tailwind

 

Hi Brian, Just a couple of questions... Does the WSMRC have a web site yet? What was the date? Can
you camp on the grounds? (oops that's 3). I have relatives in the area and may try to make it next
year! Sorry, I can't stop myself... how windy was it? I was there a few years ago with my nephew
kite flying (one of those serious kites) and it was just amazing! Thanks for the report! LL <*{{{><

BlackBent (modified)/Haro A7.3/Trek 1220/Trek 700/Bianchi Strada

 

[email protected] (llroadie) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Hi Brian, Just a couple of questions... Does the WSMRC have a web site yet? What was the date?
> Can you camp on the grounds? (oops that's 3). I have relatives in the area and may try to make it
> next year! Sorry, I can't stop myself... how windy was it? I was there a few years ago with my
> nephew kite flying (one of those serious kites) and it was just amazing! Thanks for the report!
> LL <*{{{><
>
> BlackBent (modified)/Haro A7.3/Trek 1220/Trek 700/Bianchi Strada

Actually I found out about the ride when looking at the New Mexico Touring Society Website <
http://www.swcp.com/~nmts >, which directed me to the website to sign up for the ride <
http://www.zianet.com/vinyard/ >. I also saw it mentioned in the Albuquerque paper. I don't think
WSMR has a dedicated web site for the ride yet. The ride was 12 Apr 03 and I'm not sure when it will
be next year; the organizers said they want to make it an annual event so I'm assuming it will be
around the same time next year. WSMR itself is still an active missile test range with exploding
ordinances and is very restricted, so you can't camp on WSMR grounds itself (you probably wouldn't
want to either). WSMR only opened thier gates to us for the ride (we were given numbers and had to
check in at each rest stop so they could make sure we didn't wondered off somewhere on the range
like enemy spies/the French) ;-) But there were plenty of camping places nearby. When we started,
the weather was perfect, low 60's and no wind at all. About half way through the wind slowly started
picking up steam. By the time I finished it was blowing 20 to 25 mph. Unfortunately it was mostly as
a headwind and that caused my average speed to drop from 18.3 mph after 75 miles (dang, I was
extremely proud of that too) to 16.6 mph at the end. Of course, running out of water hurt my average
speed an awful lot too.

Hope to see you there!! Everyone I talked to said the same thing, this was a great course/ride.

Brian V-Rex/Tailwind

 

[email protected] (bandjhughes) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> [email protected] (llroadie) wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
>

Brian: Curious about the denizen of the southwest, the goathead thorn. Were there any in that part
of New Mexico? My wife and I rode in Albuquerque last summer and in January, once with the Strada
rider (Carl) who gave us his Tour de Albuquerque, one of the best rides we had, and in January with
Kay (part of the Kay and Paul Greenspeed tandem couple team) who organized a Saturday ride. On both
rides we encountered the beastly goathead. Being from the midwest we didn't have any slime or liners
in our tires in the summer, so we changed the tube. In January we borrowed Kay and Paul's Screamer
(which had the slime) and caught another one but, as they do there, you just reinflate and force the
slime into the hole and the tire stays pumped up.

Mike S. St. Louis, Mo.

 

"mike s" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [email protected] (bandjhughes) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> > [email protected] (llroadie) wrote in message
news:<37ba2541.0304150534.624a089[email protected]>...
> >
>
> Brian: Curious about the denizen of the southwest, the goathead thorn. Were there any in that part
> of New Mexico? My wife and I rode in Albuquerque last summer and in January, once with the Strada
> rider (Carl) who gave us his Tour de Albuquerque, one of the best rides we had, and in January
> with Kay (part of the Kay and Paul Greenspeed tandem couple team) who organized a Saturday ride.
> On both rides we encountered the beastly goathead. Being from the midwest we didn't have any slime
> or liners in our tires in the summer, so we changed the tube. In January we borrowed Kay and
> Paul's Screamer (which had the slime) and caught another one but, as they do there, you just
> reinflate and force the slime into the hole and the tire stays pumped up.
>
> Mike S. St. Louis, Mo.

Yep, I know what you mean Mike. I use tire liners, torn resistant tubes, plus green slime. Yet I
still get flats once and a while from those &%$# goatheads. Heck when I'm stopped at traffic lights,
I often pass time by pulling out goatheads stuck in my tires. But clearly the goatheads are much
worse here in Albuquerque than they were down at WSMR. Before the ride, I took the tire liners out
of the V-Rex and just went with torn resistant tubes and green slime. I figured the reduced rolling
resistance was worth the risk and green slime usually does the trick, especially when combined with
torn resistant tubes (plus even in the worse case, I've gotten pretty good at fixing flats). But I
didn't pick up a single goathead for the whole 108 miles, and I checked my tires at each rest stop.
Didn't see anyone else with goathead flats either.

Brian V-Rex/Tailwind

 

Here in West Texas, goatheads are the bane of off-road mountain bikers. Mean buggers--you might as
well run over a tack. But I've never had a problem as long as I keep my tires on the pavement. I
try to ride in the same "groove" as the right wheel of the car tires, when I can. That's where the
pavement is slickest and any goatheads, stickers, and other spiney things will have been already
picked up by some other tire. Mountain biking, however, is another matter altogether. The bike
shops around here sell a lot of slime and tuffy tire liners to ATB riders. Riding lawn mowers need
slime too.

Bill Anton Vision R-40 SWB OSS Lubbock, TX

"brian hughes" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> "mike s" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > [email protected] (bandjhughes) wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
> > > [email protected] (llroadie) wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
> > >
> >
> > Brian: Curious about the denizen of the southwest, the goathead thorn. Were there any in that
> > part of New Mexico? My wife and I rode in Albuquerque last summer and in January, once with the
> > Strada rider (Carl) who gave us his Tour de Albuquerque, one of the best rides we had, and in
> > January with Kay (part of the Kay and Paul Greenspeed tandem couple team) who organized a
> > Saturday ride. On both rides we encountered the beastly goathead. Being from the midwest we
> > didn't have any slime or liners in our tires in the summer, so we changed the tube. In January
> > we borrowed Kay and Paul's Screamer (which had the slime) and caught another one but, as they do
> > there, you just reinflate and force the slime into the hole and the tire stays pumped up.
> >
> > Mike S. St. Louis, Mo.
>
> Yep, I know what you mean Mike. I use tire liners, torn resistant tubes, plus green slime. Yet I
> still get flats once and a while from those &%$# goatheads. Heck when I'm stopped at traffic
> lights, I often pass time by pulling out goatheads stuck in my tires. But clearly the goatheads
> are much worse here in Albuquerque than they were down at WSMR. Before the ride, I took the tire
> liners out of the V-Rex and just went with torn resistant tubes and green slime. I figured the
> reduced rolling resistance was worth the risk and green slime usually does the trick, especially
> when combined with torn resistant tubes (plus even in the worse case, I've gotten pretty good at
> fixing flats). But I didn't pick up a single goathead for the whole 108 miles, and I checked my
> tires at each rest stop. Didn't see anyone else with goathead flats either.
>
> Brian V-Rex/Tailwind

 

There's a nest of them in the parking lot behind the Battle Mountain Inn. We learned from bitter
experience that it was sensible to carry one's bike to the road rather than try to ride it - this
after Rob English collected seven holes in the front tyre of his Bike Friday :-(

Dave Larrington - http://legslarry.crosswinds.net/
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