B Ride 6/19/10

Great day for a ride, eh?

12 of us started out from the school and headed towards Stoggy Hollow via James Rd..the usual. Terry led and Dave B. brought up the rear. No muss, no fuss heading N on 89....
James Rd is well a climb, but I survived and even managed to keep the main group in sight! Dave rode along with me and all that...good stuff. The first flat was Dan, a new fella. Doug's brother - in -law...it morphed into a stripped gear, I don't know how, but we left him there, with a call in for transport, amongst the hemlock and mosquitoes.

We made it to 198 no problems and heading down...a paceline was attempted, but it fell apart, or never really got started, anyway, we all flew down the highway and pulled into you know where.
The guy behind the counter almost didn't serve us because we were only going some 40-ish miles...he said a group of riders had gone through earlier and they were going 60-something miles, don't know if that was the A riders...seems like they go further than that.
Well, everyone snacked and hydrated and checked their phones and berries and palm pilots and all that techy stuff. It was the general concensus that, while yes, the muffins are good, they are just too damn big!

Second flat was down on 198 approaching the Chaplin line. Eric pleaded for us to just leave him, but no, we waited patiently while he and Don took care of it. You know, you ever want to see someone climb a hill like it was nothing...Eric's wife Donna has the nicest style... just as smooth, no upper body sway, just makes it look so easy! I am envious, as always, of riders who climb and speak in conversational tones! She is a very nice person and a good riding companion.

No other happenings to speak of...except on N. Bear Hill Rd by the Johnson Farm, Don Baxter, whose been in the club for several years now and just started riding B, hit a PR for mileage and avg, and he's one of my favorite people to ride with.

Third flat happened just as we were rolling into the school...how cool is that right? Brian, who has only been a rider for this season, and started out as B...in order to ride with Terry, had a bit of a tough ride towards the end, but hey, who hasn't...anyway, no change was necessary and all 11 of us congratulated ourselves on great riding, great weather and great days ahead. While this ride isn't full of dramatic notes or (thank God) crashes...I think it will stand out as being one of my good ones...I felt good, was in good company and did 55 miles @14.7avg...getting ready for a couple of centurys if the planets line up right this year!
As Don and I rode back to Storrs we passed Dianna and thought maybe she'd lost her C riders, but realized they had all finished up and she was out enjoying some extra miles.
Happy Fathers Day to all.