Conquering the Coast

Questioning My Life Choices

Every time the New Harbor Bridge came up in my mind, it was like it was some sort of monstrous piece of architecture. When we had first arrived in Corpus on Thursday, we drove over it so I could get an idea of what it would be like. At the time, it was obvious that it was going to require a decent level of effort to climb it, but nothing worse than I’d ridden before (looking at you, Steamboat Mountain). But it was now the night before the ride and the bridge had somehow morphed into this never-ending stretch of road, whose steepness now resembled something out of a Dr. Seuss fever dream.

It was like that one Rugrats episode where Angelica finds out that her mom is going to have a baby and ends up having a nightmare about the whole ordeal. Only difference was the bridge wasn’t dressed in a “Big Boy” shirt and talking like a New York mobster, though I did feel like it was going to make “num-nums” out of me.

So no one is lost on my reference

I was here to ride the annual “Conquer the Coast” bike ride that United Corpus Christi puts on. I was also going to be doing the ride solo (granted I was riding with roughly 1,500 cyclists who showed up) as no one else that I knew was able to attend. Add in the fact that I hadn’t really completed a long ride in almost a year, and you have yourself a pretty solid reason for why I was getting a decent amount of anxiety about this event.

So, I’m sure you’re wondering how I ended up here.

Leading a West Texan to Water

About six months ago, I stumbled on Conquer the Coast via the WheelBrothers website. I immediately fell in love with the fact that the route goes around the entire Corpus Christi Bay. Having ridden in West Texas for the better part of the last 3 years, it was easy to forget there’s more than just mesquites and rocky hills to provide scenery on a bike ride. I decided that I would do the 66+ mile route, added it to our list of trips to take for the year and continued planning for 2025.

In July of this year, we ended up having a pretty major life change occur whereby we moved down to Beaumont, TX (see Goodbye, Abilene. At Least For a Little While. for that story). Because of this, I wasn’t able to attend Hotter ‘N Hell 2025 like I had originally planned. I was also in a completely new area and having to learn new routes and roads, so I hadn’t really had a chance to do any long rides. Not to mention that my new, back wheel didn’t want to stay trued up (it’s a whole story). In fact, by the time we had arrived at September, it had been more than a year since I had ridden 50 miles at one time (ie. Hotter ‘N Hell 2024).

However, I had been Zwifting. A lot. Between TrainerRoad structured training, robopacer rides, and ladder races with The Coalition, it had become my main cycling outlet. Plus, I was staying consistent with strength workouts, so it wasn’t like I was going in completely cold.

Still, virtual miles aren’t road miles. The fact remained that I hadn’t done any majorly long rides in quite some time, was going into this completely solo, and had zero experience with the route, weather conditions, or event organization.

So, yeah, I was a tad bit nervous about the whole thing. Which I guess is why it’s a good thing I wasn’t thinking about any of that when I registered for the race and booked our hotel.

Finding My Pace

It’s mid-August and I realize that I should probably start getting some miles in. I still didn’t fully know the area, but I figured this was a good excuse to learn it. There was also the issue of my back tire, but The Kickstand in Beaumont had apparently worked some sort of black magic on it during my last visit.

I took the bike out for a 30-mile spin, having created a route that stopped halfway at a donut shop (Saturday donut rides were a huge part of my cycling journey in Abilene, so I knew I had to continue that tradition here in Beaumont). To my absolutely incredible surprise, I maintained about a 15mph average. While this is a decently normal average speed for most cyclists, it had most definitely not been one for me. Ever. I’d been trying my absolute best to work up towards it for the better part of two years. I’m assuming that losing 40lbs and beefing up the leg muscles had a lot to contribute to that.

The 2025 Zwift Racing League (ZRL) season had also started up in September, and the very first race was a team time trial. Now, this ended up being the Tuesday before the race, so I was a little nervous that I’d end up wearing out my legs a little too much, but I’d already committed to showing up and I wasn’t going to leave my team hanging. The ride was a little over 16 miles long (16.3 mi to be exact) and only had a few small climbs. I ended up pushing an average of 18mph for almost the entire ride. I honestly could not believe my stats when I finished the race.

I know this may be shock to a lot of you, but I’m a kind of a nerd.

I figured with all of this awesome progress that I could work with the tools available to me to build out a quick plan for riding the full 66-68 miles without exhausting myself too much. Thankfully, Garmin has a whole “power guide” that you can easily create for a specific course. It pulls in your current functional threshold power (FTP)*, current weight and height, and a few other items and determines the best path forward for completing that course in a specific time range. It determined that I basically just needed to maintain a pace of 13-15mph in order to finish the ride within 4-5 hours. This worked perfectly considering that the course has two major time gates (I’ll talk about those further down), which added a nice bit of motivation for maintaining a solid pace.

Now, those that know me well know that I’m a talker, just like my grandmother was. Brick walls beg for mercy when I walk by. But I get social anxiety in large crowds. Walking contradiction, I know.

The problem is, solo riding is much harder, especially when you’re facing 18 miles of mental challenge on Mustang Island. See, we’d driven the route on Friday, and that Mustang Island stretch – which organizers call “the toughest 18 miles in Texas” – looked brutal. Not physically, but mentally. Eighteen miles of nothing but road, with the ocean and bay hidden just out of sight. For an ADHD brain that thrives on dopamine and stimulation, getting stuck alone out there would be torture. So, finding a group to fall in with was going to be crucial. Because when you’re stuck in “no man’s land” for an hour-plus, knowing you still have miles to go before seeing civilization again, the mental challenge becomes very real.

Now that I had all that figured out, I guess now I all really had left to do was ride the dang thing.

*Here’s an article covering what FTP is, for those not familiar with it: Functional Threshold Power: What FTP Means to Cyclists – TrainerRoad

The Race

Okay, so where were we?

Oh, right! Monster bridge, fever dream, yada yada.

So, yeah, it’s Saturday, morning of the race. I kept waking up about once every hour thinking I had missed my alarm and even had a dream (nightmare?) where I did that and woke up too late to attend the race.

Weird vibes all around, I know.

Thankfully, I woke up on time. We got up, I got prepped and we headed over to Whataburger Field for the start line.

It was still plenty dark outside when we arrived, with only a small breeze coming in from the northeast. Granted, it was plenty muggy at the time, but I was hopeful that it would clear up as soon as we started riding. There’s always something magical about seeing a massive number of cyclists all gathered together, safety lights flashing about 1000 times a minute, all in different patterns. I think “magical” is the right word. Maybe it’s “seizure-inducing”? Who can really tell for sure, you know?

I gave Emilee the usual hug-kiss-noses (HGK, for short) and scooted my way over to the start area. In my opinion, this was one of the most chill, yet organized, starts I’ve been a part of. Lots of people really excited for the ride, and you could tell everyone was really there to just have a fun time. That went a long way in helping reduce my anxiety, if I’m being completely honest.

We all wait around a little longer for the clock to strike 6:49am. The announcer begins the countdown and finally gets to “1”.

And we’re off. Sort of. More like a mad waddle to the start line, since everyone always bunches up at the first. At one point I think we’re good to go, but then have to slam on my brakes, still about 2 feet from the starting arch, almost falling over because I almost didn’t get unclipped in time. Unbeknownst to me, this caused me to accidentally sheer one of the cleat screws holding in my left-shoe SPD cleat (we’ll come back to that later).

Finally, I was able to cross the start line, and on we went. I quickly fell into a nice pace, cruising at around 15mph, with the legs starting to get warmed up and ready for the first climb that we were quickly approaching.

Challenge #1 – The New Harbor Bridge

I’m not much of a climber when it comes to cycling. I’m trying to get better at it, but I still don’t love it much. Maybe actual climbers don’t like climbing either and they just act like they do so that other people will admire them? Maybe that’s what people think about cyclists in general as well? Regardless, I was going to have to do this climb one way or another.

Turns out the climb up the bridge was pretty chill. It was basically a 2% grade the entire way. I think the only thing that made it somewhat tough was the fact that it’s about a mile of a sustained climbing. I did what I had already planned to do and threw it into a lower gear and spun my way up that beast. I ended up getting to the top a lot faster than I expected, averaging about 11mph up the hill.

Even though the climb wasn’t as tough as I thought it would be, I can honestly say it was one of the absolute best payoffs of any climb I’ve ever summitted. The view was breathtaking!

Challenge #1 complete. Note to self: way easier than I made it out to be in my head.

I took a quick moment or two to snap a few photos, and then I was on to the descent.

Well, sort of.

Challenge #2 – The Ferry

I clipped into the right pedal and did a quick spin forward to start down the hill, and then I went to clip into the left pedal. Nothing.

10mph.

I went to clip into the left pedal again. No dice.

20mph.

Third time’s always the charm, so I tried clipping in harder. Still no luck.

30mph.

At this point, I figured I could wait to clip that foot in since something was obviously not working correctly, and I was quickly approaching speeds of almost Mach 1. Trying to fix it really didn’t seem too conducive to my personal safety at this moment.

Thankfully, I was able to stop about a quarter of a mile after reaching the bottom and quickly learned about the cleat screw that had broken off. My cleat had completely turn about 90-degrees to the left, which is why I couldn’t get clipped in. This was honestly a best-case scenario, because an alternative could’ve been my cleat being stuck inside the pedal itself, which would have been bad-news-bears. I was extremely happy to see that the other cleat screw was still intact (remember, I’m using SPDs, so only two screws), so I tightened it down and got back on the road.

It was currently 7:30am and the ferry cut-off time was in three hours. The ferry was essentially at the 30-mile mark, so I definitely had enough time to get there. I need to note that the event organizers had worked with the city to block off a lane of traffic for us riders. This made a world of difference, as it gave us more than enough space to ride on a very busy highway while still remaining safe. I made my way across the Nueces Bay Causeway, being privy to an absolutely stunning sunrise, and quickly arrived at the Portland city limits. I decided to forego the first rest stop, only making a quick stop to make sure my cleat was still in-place.

The next 10 miles or so took us from Portland to Ingleside along highway 361. There wasn’t a ton of scenery, save for farmland and some refineries. What was nice is that even with having to stop for the slight mechanical, I was surrounded by a large number of riders. I never really got to a point where I could chat with any of them, but I was okay with that. Just knowing that there were people around was good enough for my mental wellbeing.

Soon enough, I made my way into town, with the clock showing 8:20am. I stopped at the rest stop in Ingleside to refill my water bottles, and to give my legs a quick break. I was at the 18-mile mark and only needed another 12 miles to get to the ferry. Barring any other issues, and assuming I could continue the pace I was going, I’d reach the boats in less than an hour. I threw a packet of LMNT electrolytes into one of my bottles, slurped down a goo, and headed on down the road.

The road from Ingleside to Aransas Pass was more of the same. There was a third water stop in Aransas Pass that I chose to forego, figuring I didn’t need much rest at the moment, and knowing there was just a few more miles till the ferry. From here onward, the road turned into the Redfish Bay Causeway, becoming a tighter 2-lane highway with several bridge-crossings. The lane closures had stopped after we reached Portland, but up until now we’d had a decent amount of cushion on the shoulder, as well as the fact that traffic had been light. Now, however, we had lost a lot of that cushion from the shoulder and people were eager to get a jump on the good weather and make their way over to Port Aransas. Most of this stretch of highway involved hugging the side of the road as much as possible and then grabbing shoulder space whenever it presented itself (mainly on the bridges). Drivers were kind for the most part, with only one or two trying to buzz us by driving past us as loudly as possible. Luckily, no major issues occurred.

At around 9:15am, I rolled up on to the ferry with more than an hour of time to spare.

Challenge #2 crushed.

Challenge #3 – Mustang Island

The ride on the ferry was fun, but short-lived. I’m pretty sure it took less than 10 minutes to get over to Port Aransas, but it was a much-needed rest. We rolled off the boat in single-file and then mounted our bikes. Like most people that traveled to this area, I really enjoy the chill nature of Port A. People just cruising around in beach carts, and the ability to literally just drive on to the sand. Part of me wanted to just get off the bike for a few hours and relax.

Instead, I had already opted for the premium vacation package of an 18-mile suffer-fest. Onward and upward.

In all honesty, the ride was fine. The headwind was trivial. I’d had worse in Abilene on any random Saturday during April and May, when gusts could be between 17-20mph. So, this was perfect weather as far as I was concerned. We did hit a little stretch of chip seal that was “meh”, but again, it could’ve been worse. I think the two main issues that arose were: A) the boredom (which I already knew was going to occur) and B) the heat. Granted, it was only around 89 degrees out, but having the sun constantly on your back eventually wears on you. I had to start using my third bottle of water for a quick cooldown every so often. I got to about the 40-mile mark and was excited to ride up on a water stop. I did a quick refill of my tanks (bottle and stomach) and was also able to bum some sunscreen off of the volunteers. I’d put some on at the start of the ride but had opted not to bring the bottle with me because it didn’t fit too well in my jersey pocket. I’d started getting a little nervous about that decision, so I was very thankful someone had a bottle to spare.

I continued on the road, consistently trying to fall in with a group as best I could. I never really found anyone to chat with, but I did steal a few drafts when needed. I also had a few podcasts going in my ears (big shoutout to Old Gods of Appalachia), eventually moving back to some music when I needed some extra motivation to keep pedaling. I watched as the distance-traveled on the GPS got closer and closer to 48 miles, signaling that I was almost on the last leg of this route. I realized I’d been mainly staring at the road the entire time and looked up to see one last water stop on this road, with the JFK Causeway Bridge about 5 miles in the distance. I knew the only remaining time gate was the Naval base, which I needed to be there no later than 1:30pm. It was currently 10:30am. Knowing I had plenty of time to spare, I decided to stop and sit for a little bit and cool off. I think it was a solid choice, as I got to take a bathroom break, rest in the shade for a bit, and just refuel and rehydrate.

After about 10-15 minutes, I was off again, headed towards the last few miles of SH 361 and onward back to civilization.

Challenge #3 was in the books. I was honestly most proud of having gotten this one knocked out, since I now knew I was over halfway done with the ride.

My final challenge, the JFK Causeway Bridge, was looming just up ahead. One more climb, and then just a quick passage through the Naval base before the victory lap down Ocean Drive.

Final Challenge – JFK Causeway Bridge

Just like the New Harbor Bridge, I was fairly nervous about the climb over the JFK Causeway Bridge. I know that it comes across as if I’m afraid of climbs, but I’m really not. It really more of a discouragement because I’m just not great at it. Climbs can be extremely daunting depending on the grade, and they’re just a whole lot of work, especially when they’re part of an already-long route.

When driving the route the previous day, I realized that the JFK was pretty dang steep or at least felt that way in the car. As I rode down South Padre Island Drive, the bridge came into view. I queued up heavy metal music and cranked up the volume. I got to the base of the bridge and, once again, kicked it down a few gears so I could just spin my way up the slope. It was slow going, but the view on each side of me was incredible; literally some of the bluest water I’d seen that day. I resisted the urge to stand in the saddle. I wasn’t going to get anything for getting to the top faster than I was already going, so why risk blowing out my legs when I still had 20 miles to go?

While the bridge was pretty steep, I was surprised to find that it wasn’t as severe as it had felt when we were in the car. It wasn’t gentle, but it also wasn’t impossible. Looking back at the ride data, it shows the grade was pretty much a 4% from start to finish, but only around a quarter mile of climbing.

I thought it would take me much longer to the top than it did, but all of a sudden, I was there. I had done it. I looked around and I could see miles of blue ocean stretched out on either side of me. I had absolutely made the right choice in doing this ride.

Final challenge complete. The hardest climbs were behind me, Corpus Christi was spread out below, and I could practically see the finish line. Time to conquer this coast.

Coast Conquered

Down the bridge I went, getting off the highway and turning down Waldon Road and eventually merging onto NAS Drive. I entered through the gates of the Naval Air Station with no real fanfare. I have to admit that this was a tad bit disappointing.

In fully transparency, I realized I had been a little spoiled since riding the Hotter ‘N Hell 100K. That route takes riders through Sheppard Air Force Base, where they’re treated to an amazing tour of various fighter planes, with it culminating in a ride through a cheering crowd of Airmen. I’ve known some riders to show up to the HHH simply so they could experience that part of the ride.

In stark contrast, the Naval base was pretty drab. This is not at all to say that I am unappreciative of the various MPs that were directing and blocking traffic for us. My deepest thanks to every one of them that gave up their time for that. I think that I was just expecting something more, seeing as how Conquer the Coast has been a thing since 2004.

Nonetheless, I made my way through the base and headed down Ocean Drive.

The final stretch of the route was so cool! Ocean Drive seems to have its own vibe. You’re riding past beautiful houses and then treated to amazing views of the bay and downtown Corpus. I ended up making two stops along the way: once to cool down in some shade, and the second at the final rest spot in order to buy Beckah some time to get to the finish line before I did. I continued down Ocean Drive, making my way past Whataburger by the Bay, Joe’s Crab Shack, and Landry’s Seafood House.

Finally, the finish line archway came into view. I breezed through, pulling to the side and getting massive hugs from both Emilee and Beckah.

The ride was done, and I had Conquered the Coast!

Ride Video

Final Thoughts

Personal Achievement

So, was it worth it? Absolutely!

The plan I put in place worked like a charm. I averaged around 13.6mph for the entire route, and my total moving time was 5 hours 6 minutes. This was faster than a year prior, when I had ridden the 100k at Hotter ‘N Hell (HHH) 2024.

I feel that I’d be remiss to not mention the massive amount of progress I’ve made over the past year, as it relates to losing weight and general fitness (I talk about this in detail in My Inner “Fat” Child) Above, the photo on the left is me in August of last year at HHH. The one on the right is of course me at the finish line of Conquer the Coast a little over a year later. 40lbs down (shooting for another 10lbs before end of the year) and wearing a jersey one size smaller than a year prior. So yeah, I’m pretty freaking proud of what I accomplished this year.

Event Organization

Would I do it again? Again, absolutely!

Conquer the Coast has easily become one of my most favorite rides to partake in. A lot of that is thanks to the event being so well organized. There is both a website and a Facebook group dedicated to the event, with the latter being the best place to get updated information (such as route changes and announcements).

Packet pickup was a cinch, with riders able to pick them up the day before the race, as well as the morning of. If you purchase a jersey with your registration, you’ll pick it up with your packet as well. They provide you with a race number (serves as a beer and meal voucher for after the ride), a wristband for entering the Naval base, and a few other freebies/goodies. The whole process took less than 10 minutes. There are no timing chips, nor any race results, which was perfectly fine in my opinion.

As it relates to the ride itself, it was obvious that the organizers work hand-in-hand with the City of Corpus Christi (seeing as how the chamber of commerce is the organizer, this makes sense) and local law enforcement to ensure a safe ride. While it was not a closed route, they made sure that the majority of it had a lane dedicated to cyclists (I’ll provide more info on this below). Several off-ramps were temporarily shut down so that we could cross them safely, along with police officers directing traffic at major intersections. There was never a moment of the route where I didn’t feel safe, and that is a major accomplishment for anyone putting on any type of endurance event.

Beyond the Ride

Corpus is absolutely a fun place to visit. It has tourist attractions, while not being a tourist trap. You can get to a beach within 10-30 minutes (depending on which beach you’re wanting to visit), and there’s always great food to enjoy. I honestly wish we would’ve stayed for a few more days, and we will probably try to make that happen next year. And while I know it may not always be the case in September, we really could not have asked for better weather. Mornings started out a little muggy, but a nice, sea breeze would make itself known soon enough, cooling everything down a few degrees.

Overall, my verdict is that this is a well-organized event, in a beautiful area that provides tons of fantastic places to make some great memories.

For Future Coast Conquerors (Quick References)

I want to use this section as a way to just organize some of the high-level pieces of information that I feel would have been really helpful to me prior to the ride. I’ll bullet point out a lot of this, as opposed to it being a narrative. Please keep in mind that this information is subject to change in future rides, so always refer back to the website and Facebook group for the most accurate information.

Event Information

Routes

Traffic and Roads

Confirmed coned/dedicated lanes for race attendees:

Right lane from New Harbor Bridge all the way to Portland
Starting a little bit after the last rest stop on Mustang Island (highway 361), the right lane became coned off, continuing over the entire JFK Causeway (including the bridge) all the way until the off-ramp heading towards the Naval base.
Entire right lane from Naval base down the entirety of Ocean Drive

All other sections of road followed normal “road-riding” procedures.

Busiest, non-protected road seemed to be the section of highway 361 that goes from Aransas Pass to the Port Aransas ferry.

Additional safety measures:

Police officers at major intersections
Several off-ramps temporarily shut down for safe crossing

Water Stops

Mainly just water, Gatorade and some fruit.
- I believe most of them have first aid and sunscreen, as well as a dedicated first responder.
Locations:
- Portland
  - Parking lot near First Community Bank
  - About 9.5 miles
- Ingleside
  - Stripes
  - 18 miles
- Aransas Pass
  - HEB
  - 23 miles
- Port Aransas Ferry
  - Literally right before getting on to the ferry
  - 29.5 miles
- Mustang Island Substation
  - 39 miles
- Island in the Son Methodist
  - 45.8 miles
- Directly after leaving the base
  - 57.8 miles
- Orleander Point at Cole Park Parking Lot
  - 64.9 miles
SAG Wagons are available, and a number for these is provided by the event organizers.

Local Eating Recommendations

Landry’s Seafood House
- Sits directly on the bay and provides some of the most fantastic views of any dining spot.
Whataburger by the Bay
- I mean, this is just an absolute must! You see a photo of it in basically every Whataburger in existence, and it’s the only one with an elevator in it!
Catfish Charlie’s
- Simple menu and good food. Enough said.
Marty McPies
- Solidly good pizza, and the place itself is just a whole vibe. Highly recommend!

Local Bike Shops

Bay Area Bicycles
- I did not have a chance to visit this shop, but I did call them. They were extremely nice, and I will be stopping by the next time we’re in town.
Bicycle World RGV
- I stopped in to grab some goos and they had a really good selection of them, as well as other sports nutrition items. Obviously, the also had tons of bikes and bike supplies.

Conquering the Coast

Questioning My Life Choices

Leading a West Texan to Water

Finding My Pace