A good group of the Irregulars gathered Saturday morning at our usual PUE meeting spot for an 8:00 AM kickoff. Present were Martin, Gary, Wendy, RedRocket, JohnD, BobH, IvaHawk, Rando superman RRtRR. No Smitty.
Off we went down New Light. As we passed Ghoston, there was Smitty parked on the side of the road getting his bike ready. I later learned he had trouble getting up after working to the wee hours at his second job.
The day started chilly, but warmed as the hours went by to a comfortable, nearly perfect day for riding.
BobH continued his recent high speed pulls atop his new Scattante.
RRtRR is completely recovered from his PBP ordeal/adventure and is now enjoying the fruits of his superior conditioning that PBP required.
Smitty has not been riding much, he says. But, I learned that he’s ridden twice in the Rockies and once in Hawaii. So he has not been idle.
Martin has passed some 7,500 miles for the year and did three 200Ks as of Saturday earlier in the week. As I write this on Monday, I see he has done another 200K on Sunday.
JohnD just completed 493 miles in seven days in Cycle Carolina on a tandem with his wife.
I don’t know of anything specific for the rest of us. But, RedRocket, Gary, and especially Wendy must have been riding a lot themselves because they were flying.
Coming back on Bruce Garner/ New Light was a lot of fun. BobH got a good head start. We could see him far ahead. The peleton organized into a tight pace line, and we put Gary at the front. BobH was making good time, but the peleton was clipping along at 27 mph – too much even for a rider of BobH’s caliber. But, even after he was caught, he didn’t give up, surging ahead on yet another break away before Team Gary caught him once again. Never has such courage been displayed on a bike.
When we got to Ghoston, BobH went straight while we turned. Apparently, he wanted no more of what we had been dishing out. Or, maybe, he was just headed homeward.
On Ghoston just before Four Wheel Drive, a herd of deer came out followed by a snow white young deer. The Irregulars on this ride had never seen such a thing. Our attention focused on this sight rather than what we were doing, especially mine. You can be on a bike for hours and hours and something can happen in a split second. I saw a flash of jersey just in front of me, a quick turn of the handle bars and down I go before I knew it right in front of JohnD who couldn’t stop in time and literally ran over me with his front wheel. Fortunately, no one, especially me, was hurt badly. I have a couple of strawberries and a minor sprain on my wrist. It’s not bad but did cause me not to play golf on Sunday.
I tend to have my head down on hard climbs. I should have been “heads up” paying attention.
But, apart from that, it was a fun day on the bike, beautiful weather, good companionship as usual, and great route.
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