Mark C, in his latest installment of self flagellation, is leading a ride out of his church on Coonpath Road at 8:00am.  40-60 mile, hilly route to Clearcreek and back through Amanda.  For those of you who had long/hard rides on Thursday or Friday or, if you are doing the Top of Ohio century on Sunday, perhaps you would like a more mellow alternative for Saturday.  A group of us are departing from the usual parking lot in New Albany at 9:00am and headed to Granville.  This will be a relaxed. recovery pace of 45ish miles.  We'll be stopping at the coffee shop on the main drag, not the one on River Road because Poobah like the cina buns at the uptown place.

Also, Craig Butler, endurance athlete extraordinary and known as "Da Boss" has inquired about what is the current state of affairs and may be making a brief return to the cycling scene, perhaps this Tuesday.  Don't want to put pressure on the guy because he just started riding again so he's not quite the dominator but that likely will come in time.
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Thursday morning, 9:00am, I'm sitting on my bike on 669, a couple of miles west of Crooksville.  Soon, Steve Oxley and Mark C come coasting down a hill and I hop on, for a wild ride.  They are in the midst of a 160 mile route, I'm in for a more reasonable 92 mile route.  We left Crooksville via 669 (note one of the Google cars with the odd looking camera attached to the top was driving onto each street).  669 heads east to the Muskingum River and is a hilly route on fresh laid asphalt.  They were still laying it as we rode and our tires picked up lots of road debris.  We commented to each other what a fun experience we would have later in the day on our return via this road.  We reached the river, headed north on River Road staying to the west side of the river and upon entering Philo, ate at Subway.  We then went farther north on Millers Lane (hilly), right onto Clay Pike (hilly) and passing a golf course I used to play as a kid, made a right on Pine Lake Road (more hilly), went through Chandlersville and got onto Big Muskie Road (hillier yet) but did enjoy sweeping views to the east and west before arriving at the Big Muskie shovel.  Kind of neat.  

From there it was into Malta for a very welcome fluid stop.  The hills, the wind, the heat, the humidity and the hills again, made that Monster drink the best I've ever tasted.  The Gatorade wasn't bad either.  We headed north on 669 which borders the river before turning west, climbing out of the valley (groan) and following the hilly ridge into a head wind, on fresh asphalt that seemed to cling to our tires with the heat radiating from the surface.... arriving back in Crooksville with 92 miles and 5600' of climbing and just in time that I thought I could make the New Albany ride..

90 minutes in the car and I expected rigor mortis to have set in and jumped out of the car into a very active parking lot at 5:50.  Lisa T on the left, Farmer Mike talking to Peggy.

Huge crowd of 60-70 cyclists.The A group was freakin enormous, at least 35 and too numerous to name everyone but all the usual suspects.

Here, Shannon jumped into the back of his truck and announced some common sense rules that must be followed, such as no more running red lights, no more stop sign jumping to create gaps.....

.....saying all this under the watchful eye of COP's ride chair, Suzzane B (no, not the one with a beard).  Tonight's route was another creative one, ok, all the way out 161 to Granville but then, through Granville and up Jones Road, very nice and a return for 41 miles   I figured I could hang on for a mile or two and after turning the corner onto old 161, an ICBM was ignited and off we went.  Hey, my legs felt great for some reason and I was fine all the way into Alexandria where we turned left and then a right on Moots and finally, with a group that was now down to 20-22, we arrived in Granville with a 26.3 average.  Here, I bugged out and returned via Raccoon Valley, Jug, etc... finishing with 31 miles and 123 miles for the day.  Soon, the lead group arrived, Marty, Jon Morgan, Dave C, Terry, Mitch Tallen, Pete C and a couple others, with a 23.3 average....or 23.6, something like that. 
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I showed up at 4:30 tp participate in the Oxley/Clingan warm up ride, thinking that may be, given the forecast, the only opportunity to ride.  Upon returning to the parking lot, Steve H predicted rain by 6:00pm.  Mark and Karen Rossi hopped out of their van and said Jim Gynal (spl?) said no rain until 8:00pm.  After viewing radar screens on various phones, it looked to me that we'd get hit around 6:45-7:00pm, so I sat this one out....

....but others signed in, totaling 30, including Jon Morgan making the drive down from NA on the left, Paul Stock, .

We decided to abandon the official route which included the climb up Delmont past the old pig farm, a classic.  Instead, the group was to head south while keeping a wary eye to the west and as soon as the sky appeared the least bit threatening, either turn around or head east to Amanda Northern Road and come back in.  Here, Mitch T, Poobah, Andrew C, Mark C, Steve O and Euro-Patrick are poised to launch from the parking lot.  Patrick entered his first mountain bike race last weekend, finishing 4th.  Mark and Andrew, last Thursday, rode 200 miles in the cold and mist, including 3 hours after sunset.  Ahhh, to have a job where one works but one day a week. 

The group arrived back at the parking lot at 7:00pm, just missing the wind with a 22mph avg for the lead group.
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It's a somewhat well known fact that I married above my station in life but it is a burden I must live with, gladly.  The "She Who Must Be Obeyed" proclaimed recently that she likes boulders in the landscape.  So, this sent me off on a journey of the property, looking for a boulder.  Previously, I have lugged large rocks into the midst of our mulch but this time, I was after a larger prize.  I hiked into an area on which an old barn once stood, the only evidence of it being the foundation boulders.  I dug out one, allowed the snakes and creatures living under it to slither away, and began prying and shoving and pushing it out of the bush and into, the brush.  The thing is enormous and to give it a size perspective, asked my son to stand on top of it.  Huge isn't it?

I shoved and placed my enormous bulk against it and thought of the dude who was condemned to rolling a boulder uphill from Greek mythology. OK, I'm exaggerating a little.

OK, that was a plastic army guy but here is a softball perched on top, still pretty freakin big. no?  I managed to roll it....   .....about 15 feet and had to pack it in, just like riding with Marty & company on Thursdays!  I am undeterred.  I need a tractor but since I got rid of the old Ford 8N, I've got nothing but a weak back and orders from the boss so I will plug away, like Hercules pushing on the pillars at the entrance to Ceuta and eventually, will roll the beast into the designated spot, 100' distant.  Oh, about that Tuesday Canal ride, yes, we rode and more to come later!
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Dave Chesrown sent me the below.  Curious to see how others from our local cycling community did in the race but results not yet posted for overall finishers.  However, for part of the route, Marty was King

Just wanted to let all our fellow riders know that local boy Marty Sedluk was the winner of this weeks Ohio Spring Race Series Strava Challenge. How it works is Strava picks a segment on the race that all categories are measured on, this includes the Cat 1,2,3 pro's the Cat 4,5's and the Cat 5's. Every week leading up to this had been won by a Cat 1 or 2 Pro becuase they are just that fast. Kudos to Marty for putting it on the pro's and everyone else on this segment   http://app.strava.com/segments/1196022

Kevin Hollingshead, aka Polish Pony, was involved in a bike on bike accident this weekend, sending me the above image and report below.  Get well soon.

As you already have heard, I am now an official cyclist. They say you are not a cyclist until you go down, 21,000 + miles later and I finally did it.  My neighbor and I had already ridden around 30 miles and was returning from Amanda via Rock Mill Rd. We turned west onto Marcy and was going to turn right onto Heister, my neighbor was riding on the inside of my right rear wheel, he didn't see me motion to turn right and I essentially turned right in front of him:-( We both went down at over 24mph and to avoid doing a face-plant on the road I rolled and my right shoulder took the full impact. I jumped right up, turned around and saw my neighbor laying face-down on the road. I yelled if he was alright and he got up with just some road rash. He asked how I was and I tried to raise my right arm and could feel and hear grinding and assumed I had broken my collar bone. Within 10min I was in an awful lot of pain and he called 911. The squad took me to Lancaster Hospital and was administering morphine when a car wrecked right in front of the squad on Rock Mill Rd. The squad stopped and one of the medics attended the wreck while the other two medics took me to the hospital. The morphine really didn't help the pain so they gave me delotin at the hospital, which I must say is better than Jack Daniels! The x-rays revealed I didn't have a broken collar bone, but a grade 3 separation of the AC joint. I have attached a copy of my x-ray and a copy of the grade 3 separation for your pleasure and I won't hold anything against you under the HIPPA law:-) 

I have an appt. with the orthopedic tomorrow and not sure if surgery will be required yet. From what I've heard and read I could be looking at 4-6 weeks recovery. Now to the important stuff, the bike doesn't look that damaged and I will be taking it over to Rick tomorrow to let him work his magic. Outside of that I'm gonna miss you guys in the Peloton, but hold my spot:-)
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As expected, after Saturday's sleet/rain/cold the turn out for the MOC ride was good, including probably every wearer of Kenda garb who lives within 50 miles of central Ohio.  There was Mario, CT, Kendas Dave, Paul & Janet and others.  So many Kendas I can't remember them all and they all look the same to me anyway. 
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Poobah checks out a new Colnago with Di2 group.

We gathered at the entrance, including Dan in the center who, by not using Kenda brand tires, had two flats today to add to others on recent rides. May be time to change tire brand. 18 of us, including Steve O, Nathan, Poobah, the aforementioned Kendas, Arron, Mark & Karen Rossi, Flyin Tuna, Jeff S, Kevin K & others.....

....rolled onto the streets of Delaware.  Poobah was concerned about the wind direction, noting it would be in our face on the way back.  Of course, considering where he would be in our group at that point, it's like simultaneously worrying about the weather in Barrow, Alaska.  It's just not relevant.

After awhile, the speed ramped up, the group got stretched out and a lead group of 5 of us arrived in maybe Darby or something like that for a food stop at the local school.  Soon, everyone else joined us in the gym for PB&J sandwiches, bananas, drink & Doritos.  While this was a good mix, a couple of us left the school needing a Mt Dew or Monster fix so we planned to stop in a store as soon as possible.  Immediately upon leaving the store, the route splits appeared and the weak took the short cuts and the strong (Steve, Nathan, Aaron, Jeff, Dan, me & Poobah) took the 100 mile route.  The split occurred so quickly, I did not have time to hurl the usual insults.

Nice route, eventually taking us to North Lewisburg where we ran into a large group of people who were on the 88 or 91 mile routes, including Denver Dan, Frans, Jimmy, etc...  There were two Jimmys seen on our route today.  There was the Jimmy at the rest stop and there was the Jimmy in our group.  You didn't note me mentioning a guy by the name Jimmy in our group?  We all know him as Aaron but Nathan called him "Jimmy" for the first 57 miles until we set him straight. Because my riding distances have been so light the last 3-4 weeks, I expected the last 70 miles of this ride would be brutal but I was still in good shape at this point, mile 57 while Nathan takes a quick nap to recover and Aaron was looking around for that group that took the early split.  

Head and cross winds began to take their toll after leaving North Lewisburg but we kept plugging along with Steve O taking over whenever he noticed one of us flagging at the front, which was frequently.  The only downside to that was he couldn't help but pull away from us, which left whoever was 2nd in line, first in line and pulling again.  Eventually, Steve gave up on us and rode away with about 5 miles to go.  Couldn't blame him, like Tiger Woods forced to play  golf with a bunch of 15 handicappers, it gets old watching guys look for their golf balls in the woods all day.  We finished with 101 miles, a 19.5 mph average and 2500' of climbing.
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Yep, last night, on the same night that the NFL was conducting its draft of college football players, we had the NFL ride, the Not For Long ride. Why is that you wonder?  Well, since the weekend race is Sunday rather than Saturday, every A cyclist that has ever shown for a Thursday ride was at this ride save for a very few exceptions. Rich Lewis, Mitch Tallen, Dave Chesrown, Marty, Billy Campbell, Chris Grisvard, Pete C, Shannon, Rob Rhodes, Christian, Tim & Lisa Tyler, Gus & Peggy, Mike Rea, Doug M, Rick Miller, Jon Sada, Eddy, Paul Stock, Muscle Dude, Dustin, Jon Morgan, Ron, Mick, Dan, Dennis....30 leaving the parking lot.

It was a little chaotic during the lead up to the ride.  Suzzane B, from COP, pulled in with a set of maps and the official COP sign-up sheets and soon thereafter, Shannon pulled in with maps and unofficial sign-up sheets.  Uh oh, I hoped this would not evolve into a permanent split but a few moments in private resulted in Shannon now having the imprimatur of COP and all is well with the Thursday New Albany world, still.  We did follow two different routes, the A's using Shannon's the rest using Suzzane's but that was only for tonight.

Dustin, one of the bright lights of the Canal Winchester boys, arrived.  Dustin has been having back problems and frequent treatments are cutting into his riding.  Unfortunately it was something else that took him out early in the ride.

Trapped in a day long gloom that exceeded the forecast by several hours, it was still raining as I left Granville but the horizon began brightening, the rain stopped and upon arriving in New Albany, the sky was clearing but the wind, geez, here it came again.  Had to be 15-20mph out of the northwest.  Poobah admitted that he had studied the map and knew where he needed to be at each turn to stay out of the wind.  He is so crafty.  Here, Todd continues his interview of fellow cyclists, trying to figure out where all the power has gone.  Pete C tells him badminton is not a bad sport.  

Our swarm pulled out of the parking lot, hit the corner and then, BOOM.  Shannon turned on the after burners and we rocketed out 161, turned left at Kitzmiller, jetted out to Jug, turning left and accelerated.  Meanwhile, Dustin was commenting to me that the road felt like it was rolling and then a few minutes later, POW!  Flat tire.  A few minutes later, POW!  Paul Stock with a flat, the group spread to avoid, reformed and the group rolled on, inexorably onward.  The speed and intensity began taking its toll, Rick M drifted back (knowing his ride schedule, he had probably already done 100 that day), I jumped across the gap while noting Lisa drifting back, Dennis then Ron but kept my nose close to Mick's wheel when suddenly, a largish gap opened in front of him.  Too late to notice and too tired to cover it was over for me.  Mick, Lisa and I turned left on Clover Valley, then Dennis caught up and we arrived at Miller Road to find the lead group turning around and re-emerging onto Clover Valley.   

We joined back up with the wind whipping across the road but I was fine and just before turning right and down wind onto Green Chapel, I had a vision.  Yes, I could see the future clearly,  I was going to ride with the group all the way to Louden and then turning south, I would get cut out with the cross wind and ride all the way back into that freakin wind, of which I am sick of now. I sat up and turned around, finishing with 15 miles and a 20.4 avg.  I've been looking at my ride results over the last several weeks, not good.
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In case you were not aware, there is the Ride4Autisim ride out of Cyclist Connection in Canal Winchester on Saturday, beginning at 9:00am with multiple route options found here: www.ride4autism.com and a COP Roving Ride out of Johnstown but it is promoted as mostly a "C" pace at only 42 and 52 miles.  On Sunday, there is the MOC (Mid Ohio Century) ride out of Delaware.  Check the www.outdoor-pursuits.org web site for more information.  If Saturday's forecast holds, probably be a huge turnout for the MOC.
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Craig, aka Muscle Dude, made the trek south again and this time brought Jon Morgan with him too.  Here, Poobah passes on his vast knowledge of racing Cat 6 back in the day to the Young Phenom's Nick and Logan. 

It was a blustery, blowy, tempestuous, airy, brisk, gusty evening across the windswept plains to the southwest and south of Canal Winchester, where we rode.  It was also freakin windy and the cross winds..... oooooohhhhhhhhhhh. It was all about position in the peloton for tonights ride and after drafting behind every person at least once, I can say that Muscle Dude and Euro Andrew are the best wind blockers.  Above, Logan Leland, came out for his first Tuesday Canal ride.  Logan has had quite a bit of success on the race scene this season, winning the Cat 4/5 in a field of 60 at Harrison's Tomb Road Race, 10th at the Cat 1/2/3 at Germantown and 10th at the Cat 1/2/3 at Lynchburg.  For fun, he came out to pound us.
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Mark C did his best to come up with a route that early took advantage of the typhoon force winds out of the northwest before swinging back north into diminishing, cyclone force winds.  Despite the wind and cool temps, a largish crowd showed of 44 with more first timers, including Butch and Peggster, Ryan Roe (here emerging from his car in the background) and others.  Ryan, living the life of a responsible hubby and father with little time to ride, is temporarily behind the fitness curve.

Nathan, wearer of one of the more freakish looking jerseys, telling his brother-in-law Dean about watching "Kill Bill Volume II" in his van before the ride.  Someone else told me it was some other movie if you know what I mean but what Nathan chooses to watch in his van and why he arrives 2 hours before the ride to do it is his own business and the behavior is not that odd.....

So, the A group was looking rather intimidating.  Mitch Tallen, Jon M, Muscle Dude, Logan, Euro Patrick, Nick, Dustin, Jim Rauck, Scott, Poobah, Steve O, Mark C, Jeff S, Nathan & others that had approximately 18-20 of us leaving the parking lot in the A group.  We had just crossed Winchester on Waterloo when the sound of a gunshot signaled a flat, this time in Jeff S's wheel.  We then soft pedaled all the way into Lithopolis, which was kind of curious but not unwelcome as there was no way Jeff was going to fix the flat and rejoin.  Through Lithopolis and out Elder to the road crossing we moseyed along.  Upon crossing the intersection, one of the group's useful idiots (me) yelled something and so Logan took off and the action ramped.  

We hung a right (maybe on Oregon Rd) going north, the winds swept the peloton and I was caught out in the vicious cross wind but fortunately, this stretch of road was brief and I managed to hang on.  I noted Poobah sitting comfy to the right of someone up ahead.  I admit, I was envious, even jealous of his drafting ability.  Certainly I aspire to have that skill one day soon. We made a left on Berger, back into the cross wind briefly on Richardson, left on Hayes and then right on Braun.  Yes, a flat route but with the wind, I could see those at the front were working hard and I admired them for it. Eventually we got onto Pontius and upon reaching Duvall, Mark C from the rear screamed "Left".  What is interesting here is the bulk of the group had to slow and turn around while Mark, Steve, Mitch and 1-2 others managed to make the turn unimpeded and then rode hard, later describing it as "soft pedaling".....hah!  

This was not good because it meant guys like Logan would be motivated to catch and predictably, he hammered south on Goodman and the cross wind had Logan, Jim R, Craig, Poobah, Jon M, Nathan, Patrick, I and Dustin stretched from white line to white line.  If you were not in that line, you were finished and I'm not sure if anyone else was still hanging on once we finally caught the "soft pedalers" at the turn onto S Bloomingfield Royalton.  So, roughly a group of 13 headed east, crossing #674 getting on to Winter and finally arrived at Cedar Hill.  I was in good shape here, at mile 27 and began thinking about the glory of arriving at the parking lot with this select group.  Only thing that could screw up that plan was the cross wind and it did.  I found myself with no protection as Poobah sat ahead and to the right of someone while riding in the freakin gravel!  No kidding.  I dropped back a little and Steve and Mark went around me as we approached Royalton Road with a largish John Deere bearing down on the intersection.  One of its lights were out, giving me the impression the light was blinking and signaling it was turning south so surely it would slow.  I was going for the intersection crossing when Nathan screamed. "Stop, Mark".  I here by state that Nathan saved my life and now I am indebted to him forever.  Chamois cream application, water bottle runs, whatever he needs, I am there for him.  

Would the group check to see everyone made it through?  Hah, not a chance and ahead, I could see the cross wind cut out Poobah, then Mark C and probably the group was then small enough there was room for everyone to fit in.  The lead group finished the 37 mile route with a 21.6 avg, with Euro Patrick winning the sign sprint.  I finished with a 20.7 avg and 1066' of elevation gain.  How about that weekend forecast?  Maybe it will change.
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