Thursday Ride Report--Anchors Away

Dallas, on the right, waits for Steve H to ready the sign-in sheets.  While ride leader Rick thought he would be at the ride, we thought we ought to be prepared just in case and in this case, it was a good idea to be prepared.

Not brand new but kind of new, Shannon's ride.  I kind of like that white top tube contrast against a black frame.

Wow, what a great weather night and very, very refreshing.  Despite that, the crowd was not what some thought it would be, only around 55-60 but Evan, on the right, was making his first visit since the days the Thursday ride started from the church. Evan rolled out with a large A group of 27.

Plenty of space this week to stretch out and enjoy the shade. The Rivet group was down in numbers but still plenty strong with Ken B, Travis, Philippe, Kyle, Jon H, Pete C, Ghisallo Nick, Mike C, Aaron C and a few others.  They torched the relatively flat route of 33 miles and lots of casualties from the effort out 161.  The lead group finished with a 25mph average.

When you see me with camera, don't stare with a silly look, just smile.  Well done.

I call it the "Wilson Effect".  You read about all my short cutting, whining about how badly I suck so you see me head out with the A group and you naturally think, "Well Hell, if he is going out with that group then I can hang with that fatty." and so you come, tonight 27 of us.  Led by Scott B, Gus, Jay P, Evan, Jared, Andrew C, Ron B, Ryan S, Kristie, Dan R, Don, Ric, Hector, Scott, Koji, Deniece, etc... oh and a guy in all black or dark grey/black kit that when not taking a long pull and scattering us to the wind, would drop off but stay in the wind.  Dang, wish I could do that. He said he rides with the Riveters but a combination of stomach flu and hay fever had him at about 60%.
We burst forth upon the idyllic area between New Albany and Granville, our numbers reduced from 27 to 14-15 by the time we rolled into Granville with a 24.4 avg. Along the way, with a fairly strong and not helping north wind I found myself guttered by Andrew Clayton.  This from a guy on track to finish the season with 16,000 miles and there he is hunkered permanently at the gutter's edge. He should have been out on the left establishing a 2nd line with that level of fitness. 
We soft pedaled a bit at the left turn onto Raccoon Valley but the damage was long done and so many had dropped anchors out in the vast ocean of asphalt between here and New Albany.  We turned right on Louden and then left on Lobdell.  The downhill to the base of the park is kind of iffy and I hung well back but the group did not hit the hill too hard and with Jared towing me, I was ok.  We paused at Mounts to allow Ron B to catch on and then entered Alexandria at breakneck speed, eventually getting on to Jersey Mill Road. Here, the 60% Riveter pulled the entire ascent and I tapped out with a couple of ramps to go but what luck,  the group slowed crossing #37 and back into the group was I and remained so to the end, finishing with a 22.2 average.

 Some of the Riveters remained and were entertained by Luke, telling about his and Lori's experience in TN and then....

....with Kristie's arrival, the folks swarmed to the back of her car for a sampling of the usual high quality snacks. One can achieve a level of popularity unrivaled with a few hours in the kitchen each Thursday.  OK, on to the Saturday ride options. Coming soon.

     

I visited Rick Tuesday, passing the Lazy R Campground on Drycreek where there were 25-30 vehicles all in support of the Bruce Willis movie filming in the Granville area...well, anyway, Rick told me he would be at tonight's ride.  Now, back to the Willis movie, I had to stop at the Granville post office on Wednesday and the place was abuzz with the following information:
1. Lady working at gas station thought it was Bruce entering but turned out to be his stunt double with film crew.  Thinking this would be as close as she would get to Bruce, she asked and received permission to kiss the double's shaven head. 
2. The back of Moe's Barbecue was made to look like a bait shop for a scene.
3. Wanting to film a scene in the post office but not receiving permission from DC to use a post office box after closing, the crew rented a box for the minimum period and then used it after hours in a scene.  They were filming as late as 11:30pm.
4. The CVS pharmacy where we frequently stop for refueling was made to look like the front of a police department. 
Below are the routes for tonight's ride.
Route A/B 33 mile ride file https://ridewithgps.com/routes/7502711
Route C 22 mile ride file https://ridewithgps.com/routes/7502839