A Quick Visit to Ohio

The sun lights the sky behind my beloved Catalina mountains.  It is 6am and I have jettisoned reason so I have flexibility.  I am driving to Ohio, all 29 hours of it, with my bike, taking it to Rick Miller so he can fix what two Tucson bike shops could not.  

An interesting rock formation as I head east on I-10.

Farther east, lot of standing water indicates this area, famous for spawning dust storms, won't be active for awhile.

A rain cloud in the distance but it avoided me as I enter....

…..NM and take a pic of this neat view and also of.....

….a large Roadrunner statue.  I'm cutting it close but I arrive.....

….in Ohio on Thursday late afternoon to jump in for the final Cycling Club evening group ride.  Only 27 come out, down from the 70-90 cyclists during the peak of the season.  Central Ohio has a very strong cycling community.  Hundreds and hundreds of lonely country roads that stitch together small communities and farms.  The route variety is awesome with steep, punchy hills to the northeast, east and southeast, flat land to the west.  If only the weather wasn't so awful but there is the trade-off.

The race for a better bike is constant among all of us and Scott Billman has an especially nice one.

So too does Chris I, who had a variety of custom decals made for his.  

Cycling buddy Larry P in the foreground with John and Jon next to him.  Only two groups head out, a Rivet/A mix and then....

…..an A/B mix.  My fitness being less than ideal since I am coming out of my "off season" I hoped to hang on and did, finishing the 28 miles with a 19.9 average.  Always amazed at how much a difference group riding has on the cycling average.  A combination of drafting and motivation to stay in the group.  Andrew Clayton on the left, counting down the days until he heads south to FL for the winter.  There is another trade-off, great winter weather, a much closer drive but the roads are, for me, flat and boring.  I decided to ship my spare road bike to Ohio where I friend will store it so I can fly rather than drive.  Will never make that drive again, honest.