J&A Shop Ride Details

Want to kick-start or re-start your cycling in 2009?

The Jack and Adam's Sunday shop ride is the place to start. Here is what we plan to offer for 2009.

January 4^th through February 22^nd: A 26-mile no-drop ride starting from the shop at 8:30am prompt. We’ll take some less used roads out through East Austin to Decker Lane, a short ride down Decker Lane and then back over the same roads. The distance for the ride is almost exactly 26-miles.

If you are not ready for the full 26-miles, you can cut the ride short and turn back at numerous points, but you’ll be on your own unless we catch-up with you on the way back. We provide a detailed ride cue sheet with directions, distances and road names.

This ride will get you up to speed for the Rookie and Skeese Greets Women's Tri. It will also be a good base for Shiner, MS150, Tour De Cure, Couples Triathlon or any other early season sprint races.

March 1^st through June 28^th: We’ll cover the same route as the start of the year, but add-in a full Decker Lake loop. This has some real hills and will add approximately another 12-miles to the route, making a 38-mile ride. Again, these will be no-drop rides.

We expect that by mid-May, many will be riding off the front and working on their speed for races like the Rookie, Couples, and Danksin Triathlon. So having the Decker Lake loop in will be a great experience.

July 19^th through September 20^th: We are thinking about extending the ride to include the Longhorn 70.3 course. This would yield ride of some 92-miles. This would need SAG support, and because of the long distance, and vastly different speed or rider, would probably only be no-drop rides for the first 4-weeks through August-16^th. So this has to be confirmed. Again, we’ll provide cue sheets if we decided to go ahead with this.

Ride Cue sheets: We’ll provide a detailed route cue sheet for the ride. These will contain the distance from point to point, plus the total distance, the turn directions and the street names. These will be posted on the shop website.

GPS Files: We’ll also provide .gps files which can be loaded into various devices including the Garmin Forerunner 205/305 so you can track your ride. These will be posted on the shop website.

Google Maps: We are also experimenting with providing the routes online. You can see the 26-mile route online at Bikely already.

What’s a no-drop ride?
A no-drop ride for us, means that either Jack Murray, one of the Jack and Adam’s shop managers, or Mark Cathcart, a former triathlon club chairman and 2003 British Triathlon volunteer of the year, or another designated rider, will always come back for you if you can’t keep up with the group and check that you are ok. We may not ride the whole course with you, but we will make sure that someone comes back for you before EVERY turn.

Hopefully once the rides have been going for a few weeks, groups of similar riders will form and you’ll have someone to ride with for the whole ride. Again though, even if you do get dropped and we’ll try to find a pace that accommodates most riders, we will come back for you, and make sure you don’t get lost or stuck alone in case of mechanical problems or punctures. We will ask the group to wait at the turns, but that will be up to individuals based on their training needs and time available for the ride.

Will there be SAG support?

No. At this point we do not envisage providing any food, water, or mechanical support for the rides. They are group rides that start and end at the shop, nothing else. We expect all participants to take the same precautions and come prepared as if you were riding alone. If you break down, we will do our best to help out on the ride, but if we cannot get you back on the road, you’ll need to make your own arrangements for pickup/rescue.

There are Gas stations and shops in the first and last 10-miles of the ride, but nothing around Decker Lake. Once the weather gets warmer, you’ll need to make sure you bring enough water for the temperature and based on how much you sweat plus any food/bars/gels etc.

Experienced and faster riders: There is normally a faster group that goes off from the shop, you are welcome to go with them, or start out with us and ride-on, on your own but using our cue sheets for guidance.

Brick sessions: Because of the proximity of the Jack and Adam’s shop to the Lady Bird Lake Hike and Bike trail, some people will want to run after the ride. There will be no formal run support, but you would be able to do anything from about 1-mile, out to Riverside and down past the Long Center, round to S 1^s St and back along Barton Springs Rd; to either a 5k or 10k loop on the trail itself.

Rain days: On days when there is heavy rain or the roads are very wet, we will likely cancel. You are welcome to show-up with the route cue sheets and do the ride, but we probably won’t, you’ll be on your own!

Cost: Since the rides are unsupported, there is no cost for them. They are free.

Thanks to Mark Cathcart for putting together this plan!

J&A Shop Ride Details