Just a Suggestion...

I'm looking forward to this evening's weekly Hammerfest! Seems the rain stopped with enough time for the roads to dry out and give us the chance to ride tonight. I didn't ride last night as the lovely Mrs Graves and myself were at a local yummo restaurant celebrating our 31 derful years of life together. (Yes, I know she was nominated for sainthood!) I thought it more important to go out with her than a bunch of sweaty cyclists. Go figure...

However, I am really looking forward to riding this evening. It will be the first time to view the carnage since Saturday's (somewhat) Sufferfest. Nobody that rode on Saturday showed up for Sunday's recovery ride. Huh, wonder why?! No matter what you may have heard, Saturday wasn't awful. Actually, the only difficult section of the All the Way Around the Bay Loop was southbound on Hwy 87 with that stiff headwind. Other than that, it was a really fantastic ride with just about perfect weather. But, it was a bit long for this early in the season.

When we stopped in Navarre to fill the bottles, Crusher asked if we were taking the beach road back to Pensacola. I looked around at the weary bunch and asked for a show of hands as to who would like to take the alternative route back...only the Crusher raised his hand. We stayed with the original miles...I think that pretty much summed up the ride. I had just under an 18mph average with 76 miles as I pulled into the garage. Great ride!

Several have asked me when we will do it again. I think maybe in late April or early May before the weather gets hot. That route would be brutal, as we experienced last summer, in high temperatures and humidity. Maybe next time we can add the beach road as part of the return trip. I think it ups the mileage about 5 miles or so. However, as long as we keep the rest stops short like we did last Saturday, the ride seems to move quickly. Suggestions anybody?

And speaking of suggestions; I have one I have been munching on for a couple of weeks. It regards the Wednesday evening ride. As most of you know, we, (Firestone and Summit), have been riding our Wednesday ride for a few years. However, a couple of weeks ago, the West Florida Wheelmen's President, Brett Laggan announced that they too would have a similar ride on Wednesday evenings. This caused a bit of consternation with a few riders in both groups concerned about two rides on the same evening, thus somewhat splitting the cycling community.

Well, here's my suggestion: Let's ride together as one group once a month!

How about a ride on the first Wednesday of each month?! We could meet at a "neutral" location like Roger Scott Park. We could create a loop that would incorporate some of their loop and some of our loop. For one evening each month we could agree to a set pace that almost all can ride...say around 17-18mph. We could even finish with the fun romp down Langley and Maygarden! Good fun, right?

Just think how good this would be for the cycling community as a whole! What do you say? It's a once a month unity ride...uh, ride of solidarity or something. I really like the idea and I think it would be great for cycling in Pensacola! What do you think? All in favor?

See you this evening and as always, I'll...

See you out on the road,
Bob