WERAD Report and Some Housekeeping

This past WERAD was fairly tame. A moderate size group left Firestone and Summit under mostly sunny skies for our weekly romp around the streets of northeast Pensacola. The peloton consisted of the usual cast of unusual characters as well as a few normal ones. (I'll leave it to you as to who is who!) The first trip down Langley was in the low 20s with Crusher (Uh, Foxinator, Winn Dixie, Grocery, Fumigator...take your pick, too many nicknames for me) doing all of the work at the front.

We got the green at Spanish so the pace continued with Left Lane then Vortex keeping in the low 20s. Once onto the Crit Loop, the Vortex spiced things up a bit with the Big Motor himself cranking it into the mid 20s. Once back on the Trail called Spanish, the pace eased a bit until we caught up to the Bad Mayonnaise and his escorts, Retro and The Mayor. With the group all together again, several took moderate pulls all the way around to the Burgess Jam Lane. At this point, Retroman put the hammer down to stretch the peloton out. Once back on Langley and all together at the stoplights, (have we ever gotten a green here?) Bad Mayonnaise lobbies for a civil pace until the summit at Pensacourt.

Well, the light finally turns that color that means romp and stomp and that is exactly what Mark "Too Much Color" Brill (TMC) proceeded to do. Before you know it, we're past the Pensacourt and the real race begins. TMC takes us to Spanish and is immediately jettisoned as Big Motor puts in an aggressive tug all the way to the S Curves on Maygarden. At this point Crusher, uh...crushes it around the corner to the long straight with 1k to go. The Vortex takes an albeit sissy pull and moves over for Retro who does about the same. This puts Lawman in the lead with a mere 500 to 600 meters to go. (I just love this kind of stuff!)

He expresses his consternation but decides to crank it up to the line with the Vortex and Retro in tow. At 200 meters from the line, Lawman jumps out of the saddle and charges for the line with head down and eyes blurred. Vortex and Retro have a great advantage here because they have been sucking wheel for the last several hundred meters. In fact, at the post ride interview, (The Kiss and Cry Area) the two suckers were observed wiping a black powdery substance from their faces.

Back to live action; The Lawman was cranking up into the mid 30s when, with 100 meters to go, Retroman jumps on it to his right. These two amigos went at it right down to the line with Retro edging out the win. Lawman took a well deserved second after leading out the other two. Where was the third amigo? Well, the Vortex was seen sipping a Pina Colada mixture from his water bottle as he crossed the line in what was an apparent lackadaisical effort at best. A real disappointment to the fans who had lined up for hours to see the reported Champion. (Where are those medals anyway? Anybody actually seen them?)

Regardless, congrats to Dave "Retro" Henderson for his WERAD win...and Green Jersey bragging rights! Also, for their monster pulls, Big Pull Bull awards (Red Jerseys) to Mark "TMC" Brill and Keith "Big Motor" Irwin.

Great ride and good fun!

And speaking of good fun; as you may or may not have guessed, these write ups, (color commentaries) are at best, tongue in cheek. It is generally understood that the Blogazoidal writers take a bit of literary license as well as a good deal of mud in our own proverbial faces. It is all in good fun and should be taken in the spirit of good humor. Nobody who rides in the Firestone and Summit peloton is exempt. Especially, if you do something grand or something stupid. In fact, that's where most of our nicknames originate. And, to be sure, it is one of the things that make our group fun, if not unique. Remember, you may be the topic of comic relief this week, but next week you may be the hero...or vice versa. It's all in good fun. However, if you are a bit sensitive, please let us know and we will be happy to exclude you and your antics from any future commentaries. And that was a housekeeping memo.

Great rides planned this weekend!

Saturday we're headed through the Back Door Loop! Please bring a photo ID so you can come onboard NAS. Pace will be moderate as both the shorter and longer groups will stay together for this 40 to 45 miler. See you at 7am at Fish and Wildlife.

Sunday will be the Easy paced ride of Pensacola Puttzn. This 25 miler is a perfect recovery ride or if you would like to bring new riders out for some group dynamics. Ride starts at 3pm at Firestone and Summit.

Monday (Memorial Day) has our peloton doing a brand new loop put together by our very own Chip "Circle K" Wilson! This 55 to 60 mile loop through upper Santa Rosa County has been dubbed "The Pacemaker" and has it all. Hills, flats and 2 rest stops to fill the bottles and tell stories. Chip, our Ride Captain for the day expressed, "Remind the crew, any attempted mutiny by "so-called" first mates will be put down by force. Conspiring mutineers will walk the plank!" Sounds like a great ride Chip! See everyone at 7am Monday morning at Firestone and Summit. And, as always, I'll...

See you out on the road,
Bob