Only The Brawny Rode

Yes, there we were, just six of us, not including the seventh that showed up in his pajamas drinking a hot coffee. The wind was blowing near hurricane force and the skies threatening to open up and dump upon us. The situation looked grim. Only the brawny bike riders arrived at this starting line. Names like, Crusher, Danamal, Vortex, Nestorine, Prenti and uh...Happy. (Okay, the last name isn't that brawny, so what. You get the idea.)

There was some somber discussion amongst these chosen few as to what route should be taken on this beastly day. After some sage reasoning from the more experienced in the group, it was decided to ride with the wind to Fort Morgan and beg the wives for a ride home. Uh...then we figured that wouldn't work so we headed towards our reverse Pine Forest Loop. Good choice!

As this small band of brave souls rolled away from the pajama wearing coffee drinker leaning on his beemer, (Left Lane) you could hear the fans quietly singing the theme from that old Green Beret movie:

Brawny riders, they decided to go;
Told their wives, they didn't want to though.
Of all the riders in the world today;
Only six, rode on their stormy way.

Yes, these beastly brave riders put all personal care and safety aside as they headed into the teeth of this brutal storm yesterday. They took turns pulling into the terrifying wind...still they soldiered on. Each one remembering, "one for all and all for one" or something like that. It was one of those extremely rare rides where every member of the tiny peloton worked as a well oiled machine. Each one bearing the load appropriate for the day. It was a work of art and science altogether. The fans were going wild. (What few there were that braved this brutal day.)

These six savvy warriors made to the half way rest stop and refreshed themselves. Then off again into the teeth of the terrible storm. At times, the headwind would rip at them like Coolio attacking his favorite donut at Krispy Kreme! When they would make a turn in the route, the crosswind threatened to tear apart the eschelon itself. However, once they had made it to the Tailwind Express section, they flew down the road like the brawny bike riders they are! (Everyone can hammer with a tailwind, right?) Good fun and great ride!!!

The Vortex, (great name for this ride) won the rest stop sprint and Danamal won the final sprint for the day! Congrats to both! What an awesome ride on what appeared to be a pitiful day for riding. The group did, at one point, get sprinkled upon, but they made the whole ride without any real rain. All told, 45 miles at a 18.3mph average.

Now, how about tomorrow's ride?!

Well, looks like we are going to have to play this one by ear. Check back on this Blogazoidal in the morning as we will give everyone an update as to the ride status. We'll make every effort, just like yesterday, to give as much notice as we can. However, I doubt we will be doing the Twisted Santa Rosa as scheduled. We'll decide in the morning at 7am at Firestone and Summit. Hope to see you all in the morning! But, I'm not sure until then if I'll...

See you out on the road,
Bob