A Dangerous World & Sandblasted

Probably around 40-45 showed for the New Albany ride and were able to ride.  This despite Amanda Earnhardt treating the parking lot as if it was a NASCAR event.  We also survived a very ominous looking radar image that suggested a blob of rain was sweeping in from the north but it did not rain.  The wind picked up as if a storm was about to hit but not a drop of moisture hit us.  

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Not satisfied with running over one cyclist, Amanda pulled out, found another defenseless rider and ran him over too. 

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Actually, Amanda only came close to taking out Paul and in a classic, quick witted moment, Roy yelled, "Hey share the road buddy!"

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Farmer Mike made an appearance and after hearing how badly he had been injured, Dennis and I decided to ride with the B+ group, with Mike, to protect him from erractic cyclists.  Mike's injuries from a fall in Florida 6 weeks ago include a broken finger, cracked ribs and various other breaks that had bones jutting through his jersey at odd places, never to heal as original.

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Around 12-15 went with the B+ group including Dennis, Catherine, Flyin Tuna, Amanda, Kenda Paul, Roy, Gary, Farmer Mike, SuperDave & others. We made a left onto Kitzmiller and a strange application to an already paved surface had been applied.  The liquid was tacky but not so tacky as to retain the sand/grit that had been spread so tires picked up the sand and sent it back to the cyclists behind at surprising speed.  It was as if we were being sand blasted.  We finally got onto Jug and shook off the sand as best we could.  We cruised up to Miller and then Caswell, where Roy rode to the front and subjected many of his friends to a withering and remorseless pace.  Out Concorde we rode with a much smaller group of maybe 8, then up the hill on Sportsman Club, down Northridge to Stone Quarry and despite my best efforts to always draft, I was in front at the start of the final climb.  I rode hard enough to prevent anyone from passing and at the top, there of course was Dennis but also still going strong were Catherine and Farmer Mike.  We regrouped on Louden and maybe still had 6 prior to the climb, which set off a furious effort from Catherine and we barely hung on, but did and cruised through Alexandria, out Jug and back into New Albany.  Our group finished with 40 miles, a 20.8 average and 1250' of climbing.  Don't forget, Roving Ride out of Johnstown this Saturday at 8:00am to Bladensburg with lots of climbing, especially on the return route.

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