Legal Disclaimer:

Legal Disclaimer: Cycling is an inherently dangerous sport. The responsibility for each riders safety, fitness and the soundness of his or her bicycle lies solely with each rider. No effort has been made to insure the safety of the roads chosen by any member of the group, nor have the routes been screened for road or other hazards and may not be the safest route available. No effort has been made to ensure that riders in the group possess any degree of skill and/or judgment. By either continuing to read this blog or participating in a ride each rider agrees to waive and release any claims against fellow riders or the route organizers or the blog author on behalf of themselves and their heirs and assigns. This waiver and release of any claims includes claims based upon the negligence of said fellow riders, route organizers and blog author.


VIEW RIDES CALENDAR AT BOTTOM OF BLOG

Friday, April 26, 2013

Some Commentary And A Route Change

Tomorrow's weather looks absolutely ideal for a outing with the cast of unusual characters. Temps are forecasted to be in mid to upper 60s at start time and topping out in mid 70s by the time we finish up...perfect! Well, our Rides Calendar has scheduled the Molino Hill Too Far loop for tomorrow, but since we just did that a couple weeks ago, the powers that be have changed the route for tomorrow's perfect weather. Therefore, we are going Around The Bay! It all starts at 7am at Maygarden and Summit for this 65 miler. (Although, there will be a shorter version for anyone wanting to spend less time in the saddle...about 50 miles.) Regardless of your derriere's preference, we will all start together and maintain a moderate pace until the "parting of the ways" in Pace where the short group turns right and the long group turns left.

Really looking forward to the ride in the morning. It seems it's been so long since we have had a Saturday morning ride that wasn't cold, windy or both. Tomorrow should be none of the above! Uh...with the exception of course of the infamous Gargoyle Point Bridge crossing. Seems the day can be as calm and quiet and you hit that bridge and it's blowing a gale...and always a headwind. Even if that's the case for the morning, that should be the only difficulty for the day's proceedings. Oh yeah baby, it's going to be epic!

And speaking of epic; anyone enjoy the TERAD the other night?! What a fantastic frisky ride. In fact, the Left Lane, (who himself was a marked man) sent in a bit of color commentary for your Friday morning reading enjoyment. So, heeeeere's Left Lane:



Great ride Tuesday night.  With Hoagie edging out the field I felt Like there had to be a write up.



The HOAGIE by a FOOTLONG (or 11 1/4")!!!



An awesome TERAD this week with a surprise winner. Great turnout with most of the usual Couc's and some new faces as well.   This was a TERAD that I (The Left Lane) almost missed....you see I had to pick up my Mom at the airport around 4:00 and of course the airline lost her bag so getting her home to the beach and back for the ride up to S&M (can I say that??) was going to be a close call.  In fact I dropped her off on P'Beach around 5:00 and just had to drive home to East Hill, get dressed, fill my bottles, and be 4.5 miles down the road by 5:30...Impossible you say??? Not!!!



I was not going to miss this TERAD for anything especially as I lamented after sighting the long missing, from the Peloton, "Big Motor" Keith Irwin riding a kids bike in business casual on the beach and missing another TERAD...I guess I can make an exception to my lament because it looked like he was heading in the direction of the SandShaker for a Pint!! Its not the same without the Big Motor to chase down Scenic Highway each Tuesday after the TERAD.



Speaking of "not the same", another local cycling favorite Johnny "Bugno" Dukes will be leaving us soon to head for a new opportunity in Monterrey California. The Peloton will not be the same without JB who has been a regular for many years and regularly joined me and Nestordamus and Happy on the wintertime LLEMUR rides as well as joining me and the Hoagie on my front porch for after ride beers.  He will be missed!!



The Ride:

The weather was perfect for riding... in the 70's with around 10mph SE wind.  Not many antics early on with Left Lane, Prenti, Tom and The Rocket doing most of the early work.  Hoagie did most of the pull on the long straight before Creighton. As we crossed Creighton none other than Johnny Bugno snuck by a slumbering peloton to take the "unannounced" sprint points.



As we crossed into the park the Left Lane toyed with a breakaway but with no help and realizing that "resistance is futile",  sat up and was reeled in by Murphy and the peloton around halfway down Burgess....Oh well.



So the peloton was all together at the light on 9th avenue as we headed into the wind and by the runway with the Brizzard Boys opening up a little gap at first then the peloton rejoining.  Johnny B Sr. (good to see he has recovered from his recent accident) pulled the group most of the way to Spanish with Left Lane finishing the leg and then Hoagie pulling us up Spanish toward Maygarden with a closely packed peloton jockeying for position...I felt like I was at Bristol in a NASCAR race as Johnny Rocket locked me in until I took the right line past the leaders as we neared Maygarden then Rocket & Coolio pinching me in as we turned onto Maygarden.  If we would have had fenders they would have been abangin!!!  Good Stuff!!



The pace had been pretty quick the whole ride and thankfully there was not the usual explosion of speed by "The Professionals" on Maygarden and most of the peloton was all together as we headed toward  the Air Terminal with Hoagie doing most of the work.  As we passed through the Esses the whole group was still together with the lead going back and forth until around 400 yards from the finish, and the Sprint was On.



No sprinter I, I sat up and watched the end of the ride from around 30 yards back and I believe the Hoagie took the checkered flag by a FootLong (that's 11 ¼" in Subway measurement) with a host of Couc's nipping at his wheel!!!



As we talked later over Yuenglings, Hoagie said he was surprised that the usual hammerheads did not edge him out ...but I was not surprised ...Hoagie had been rounding into shape and with the go faster finishing equipment touches....a new Black Giro wind tunnel tested helmet and the set of Conti 4000S GP tires with Chilis Negros which I had given him last week the outcome made sense.  Hoagie said "Nahhh, those guys must not have been trying".  I said, "Shut up and have another beer"!!



The Left Lane

The official final standings after much peering over the photo finish photos:
Gold: The Big Hoagie (by a Footlong)
Silver: Nestordamus aka: Nestor the Molestor
Bronze: The Vortex*

* It is rumored The Vortex was aided by the controversial Rockets Propelled Assist (RPA) at about 400 meters from the line. Rarely seen in professional races of the likes of Paris-Roubaix or the TERAD, it is strictly in violation of The Code. Although there is no photographic verification, there were more than one eyewitness to the fact. No formal complaint was actually lodged against The Vortex as this was the first time on the podium for him since the Crusher ran over him in the Terrible Full Moon Crash. And since The Vortex did not solicit the Johnny Rockets propulsion, the decision was made to let The Vortex retain the third place medal. A decision that delighted the fans! 

See you out on the road,
Bob





1 comment:

  1. I Sure Will Miss All You Guys, And The Hilarious Color Commentary Posted On The Blog.

    ReplyDelete