Great Rides This Past Weekend

This past weekend we had two great rides. On Saturday, the group did one of our all time favorites, The Twisted Hammock. We started out under sunny skies with a smaller than normal peloton. Although small, it got even smaller once we hit Beulah. Four of the original eleven turned back stating varying reasons. The surviving seven soldiered onward into the Hammock. (It's much easier to get into the hammock than it is to get out.) Crusher and Danamal were later overheard to say the pace was disappointingly slow. So, Crusher took up the gantlet and pushed the pace until about 1k to go. Then Aero Jim Britnell who was looking fitter than ever led the group to the line in a blistering pace. The Hammock Sprint was won by the Vortex who dedicated the victory to the MIA Gianni Bugno. Evidently, Aero wasn't getting enough exercise, because he was seen by the group riding back down into the Hammock as they rode out of the Hammock. Whaaat?!

The Bad Mayonnaise, Doug "The Devastator" Gehman and others took the shorter route after the first rest stop while Crusher and the Vortex opted for the longer miles. All were back together at the second rest stop just in time for the Vortex to be assaulted by an old crusty curmudgeon masquerading as a retired Marine. Crusher almost, uh...crushed the cranky codger as the other six riders circled ready for a throw down with a hapless has-been. It wasn't a pretty scene. (We still aren't sure what the, uhhh...gentleman's issue was. Maybe he was having another bad day. Maybe he just hates life.) Regardless, we headed down the road without incident...thankfully!

We rolled on around to Maygarden and back to the start line. Great ride! I had 61 miles as I was pulling into the garage.

Sunday was the Full Moon Ride. And want a fantastic ride it was! We had close to 20 riders of all talents and abilities. The sunset on the way out to the Fort was gorgeous as advertized. The Full Moon was equally beautiful over the Gulf for the ride back. Bad news though: Not a single meteor spotted. We even stopped along the way back hoping to see a couple of the shooting starts...nada. (That's Spanish...means nothing.) We did have two flats though. Wheelmen Matt flatted just before the second campground on the way back. We all stopped. As we are waiting, a couple of the more talented brethren amongst us began singing tunes from the 70s and 80s. At one point, one of the wannabe rockstars hit a high note and Chris Norton's front tire blew!!! That's right, while she was just standing there in flatted! The fans went wild!

Semper Cy, being the good kind of Marine, (is there any other? Uh, read story above) repaired it quickly and just in time as the fixers of Matt's flat showed up. The group, now all back together headed for home with no other events to share in this report. Great ride!!!

And speaking of great rides...tonight is the WERAD! That's right, 5:30pm at Firestone and Summit. Come on out! It looks to be a beautiful evening! See you then! And...

See you out on the road,
Bob