Super Bowl Ride
The day started early. With a commuter bag packed with an extra water bottle, a sandwich, banana & apple and a camera I set off for Bike Mart North in Frisco. Today would encompass roughly 60 miles of riding from Frisco to downtown Dallas. It is the 24th annual Super Bowl ride, designed to bring cyclists together from all over the Metroplex converging on the West End in downtown Dallas.
I loaded up the Fuso and set out for the Frisco store expecting a large group for the ride south. While not as big as I anticipated, we left the store with 16 riders and headed for Middle Mart at Coit & Campbell on a casual pace with the only goal to arrive before their 10 o’clock AM departure. This would be my longest day on a fixed gear, a method of transportation I have learned to love over the last few years.
Once at Middle Mart we had a full thirty minutes to drift around, chat and peruse the used bike section of the store. There, I found another gem waiting to be rescued and converted into a fixie. I’ll need to go back and snap some photos, but from memory I believe it was a lugged, pink, Mercier Paris with a full Campagnolo group. The paint is a little worse for wear and it was marked as a 52cm, but I’m not certain if this was a seat tube or top tube measurement. Either way, it looks like a solid base for a conversion. I think it would be most fun to play with the paint scheme, using a contrast color on the lugs. If it were a little smaller I would be tempted to build it up as a single speed for Betty, but I think it might be a little long for her. For me? I think it might be a bit short.
Heading out at 10 am we rode south on Coit (scary) as a large group and took a right on 635’s service road, turning left under 635 and riding parallel to the White Rock Trail until we reached Medical City. I feel that this route was a bit brash, and having a large group on such a busy road was a bad call. Meandering Way is a much safer route south. It has fewer traffic lights and a better road surface, would have provided a better means of keeping the group together and drops us off at the trail head for White Rock Lake. I’m not sure why we took Coit, and while everything turned out OK it could very well have been just the opposite. Luckily, I made a great friend on the ride down from the Frisco store, and Keith and I developed a quick rapport and wiled away the miles.
We continued pedaling south and picked up Boedecker, a street that took us past North Park Mall, through Preston Hollow, across the SMU campus and right to the Katy Trail. From here we rode down the Katy Trail and were deposited, after some careful navigation past walkers, dogs, joggers and roller bladders… to the American Airlines Center in Uptown Dallas. We traced the criterium race route around the center, bombed down the long hill and sliced our way into the West End. Some riders had already arrived and we saw bikes parked at Hooters, Landry’s, Sonny Bryan’s, TGIF, Dick’s Last Resort and The Spaghetti Warehouse.
While everyone peeled off to fill their stomachs with pasta, burgers and beer I continued riding and headed into downtown for some photo opportunities. I cruised past one of my favorite locations, the Dallas World Aquarium, but never stopped to shoot a picture. I had a couple of ideas, but for some reason I just kept rolling. East on Ross took me to a small museum district for a little lunch and some great shots with props for the King Tut exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art. The large lawn outside the DMA also provided me with a great place to sit and eat. Right next door is the Crow Collection of Asian Art, the Myerson Symphony Center and a few small churches with curious designs.
I took full advantage of all these areas, snapping photos and enjoying the opportunity to exercise some fixed gear photo spots that I’d been contemplating for a full two years! The lighting wasn’t perfect and my point & shoot camera isn’t the greatest, but I think I got what I wanted. Content, I headed for Deep Ellum, but part way there was sidetracked toward the Farmer’s Market before changing my mind again and heading back to Elm and cruising toward the restaurants again. Upon arrival I made a discovery: Everyone had already left. I knew the way home, but having a few people to ride with is better than none. I caught a few groups on my way north, all of which were headed in different directions. Lewisville, East Plano… the diversity was nice to hear but still left me completing the loop solo.
All in all I had a great ride. The miles were good and didn’t feel nearly as far as I have guessed them to be… perhaps I’ve over-estimated? In the end it doesn’t matter. Some riders took an extra long route, heading out to White Rock Lake for a lap before picking up the trail and coming back north. I considered this solo, and things would have been fine, but I really didn’t feel like spending my whole day out on the bike with Betty at home on a rest day! The route certainly was enjoyable and I plan to use it again in the future to create a nice, long Sunday cruise. In all likelihood, it will take place on the fixie. For its part, the Fuso did perform flawlessly. Silent, smooth and the wonderful steel frame soaked up the miles of rough pavement without fail.
Labels: cycling, Dallas, fixed gear, fixie, Fuso, Super Bowl
posted by GreSam @ 20:17
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