I received the below from Eve, about an event.  I wasn't able to pick up the images from her email, which contained additional information which I summarized below Steve's email address:
All Bikers & Babes

Read below….time to get out of the house at night.  Please RSVP to Steve Hewitt.  Send this to anyone I might miss.
 Email to [email protected]
Where:
The Twisted Vine
1816 West Fifth Ave
Columbus, OH
Thursday, Nov 10, 6-9pm

The day started with a mistake when I entered the Rockmill Brewery address into Mapquest but with a Canal Winchester location.  Fairly straightforward directions, west on I-70, south on Gender and one other turn and I would be there except when I arrived I was not there, at least not at the Brewery.  I was close to Lithopolis so stopped at a market and asked if there was a brewery around, got directions and viola!...I was there but too late to join the main crowd who had already departed.  But, there yet to start were Kendas Janet and Paul and Caboose.  They were nice enough to wait for me and we rolled out at 9:25-9:30.  It should be noted that the Kendaites had been the first ones to arrive at the parking lot but intense negotiations about should they or should they not ride continued beyond when everyone else departed.

Early in the ride, Amanda revealed that Jamie Roberts, formerly known as "Group Killer" for his cycling exploits on the Tuesday and Thursday group rides, the guy who once lost 100 pounds and for a time was riding along side Buffalo Bill Butler (my new nickname for Craig Butler because, like the NFL's Buffalo Bill's from the 1990's, he has a long record of 2nd place finishes at Cheat Mountain, Mountains of Misery, etc...) will return to cycling in 2012.  I called Jamie to confirm Amanda's statement but he was coy and evasive so I lack the absolute confirmation but suspect Group Killer will be back.

In the days leading up to this ride, I failed to look at the route but assumed it, given the time of the year and excess clothing we would be wearing, would be a flat to rolling route.  Good grief!  By the time we came out of the west side of #33, having ridden up and down and then up and down many more times, we were riding south on Old Logan Road when Paul said the next part of the route was Crawfis, Savage and Chickencoop.  With that I had enough and swore when we got back to the parking lot I was going to punch Steve Hewit in the stomach and so, being a man of my word, did just that.

Prior to Crawfis, we had the privilege of being joined by Joe Giampapa, who seemed to enjoy soft pedaling as he rode at our scintillating pace.  We summited Crawfis and eventually got on to Pumpkin Vine but not before a map check, which spawned numerous other map checks.  As it turned out, only one of our group of 5 could read the road names through the dark marking that defined the route on a map that was many copies removed from the original.  To make a longer story shorter, I assumed the route took a left where it instead took a right and we lost Joe.  We got on to Rainbow and eventually back to the brerey parking lot where a feast awaited us after 42 miles and 3000' of climbing (everyone else finished with 56 miles).  Our host had numerous cheeses, bread with olive oil, dark chocolate and Belgium style beer brewed on site.

One thing about that beer, as good as it was it had an alcohol content of around 9% so it did not take long to begin feeling the effects. We bought a couple of bottles but I assured our host the real drinkers would arrive soon and he'd have to roll out the casks to meet their demand.  And roll in they did including Mitch O, Steve O, Jeff S, Mark R, Dustin, Tim F, Peggy, Flyin Tuna, around 15 of us.  Kenda Janet made sure nothing went to waste.

The heavy drinkers line up.

Mitch arrived, let the partying begin!

Well, wasn't that fun?  I staggered to my car and since Flyin Tuna and I share much of the same route back, we agreed in the event I was pulled over, she would race around and give the officer the finger, prompting him to give up on me and go after the real law breaker.  Of course, as you can see from this, she wasn't in too good of shape either.

This Saturday's Roving Ride, originally posted as departing from Cyclist Connection, has been switched to Rockmill Brewery.  It don't get much better than that, right?  Departing at 9:00am, most of us will either begin drinking beer, ride the 40 mile route or ride the 65 mile route.  My heart says begin drinking beer at 9:00am but my head says I'm riding in the Tour de Tucson in 3 weeks so maybe I should ride first and then drink lots of beer.  Use your search engine to find out where this place is but the address is 5705 Lithopolis Road NW.  I hear the long route has hills so this is not a ride around the lake, Erie or

That Flyin Tuna is such a publicity hound.  She called me to tell me she has switched out her lightweight "Woman's wheels" for her standard wheels that the rest of us ride.  Also, she switched out the pedals and so she wanted us to know if she is riding slower than normal, it is this equipment change rather than the weight gain or fitness loss issue. 

The  morning view from our patio of the Oro Valley condo.  I've been thinking, surely there are others who read this dumb blog who have a condo or cottage elsewhere and maybe they want to rent it out on the many, many, many weeks they are not there.  Yes?

Here is an image of the living room.  Not shown is the flat screen TV, with wi-fi and games carefully selected by me, including Scrabble!!!!....and Monopoly!!!!!  Note the sofa bed so our condo can sleep 4.  Also note the picture of Monument Valley, which I spotted in a "starving artists" show in a local parking lot.  I am quite the art expert...no?

The dining room nook.  Note my wife's decorating expertise but that funky thing hanging on the wall was my idea.  So, we'll be in this condo for the next couple of years probably 2-4 weeks out of the year and I was thinking, maybe there are others who would like to spend time in the beautiful southwest, a couple of miles from Catalina State Park, secluded location with exercise facility, pool and grilling area but only 1/2 a mile from retail and restaurants including....Home Depot!!!!!

The kitchen area with everything plus a blender and croc pot!  So, I was thinking, what if there are others who read this stupid blog and they too have a condo or cottage to which  they would want the readers of this blog to have access? 

The view from the living room.  So, seriously, do any of you rent your condo or cottage and want me to list it as a link on this site?  I'll create a link from the home page that will link to yours, mine and well yours and my condos.  What would I want in return for providing you with this great promotional boost.....

....nothing that's what.  If you are currently listing your 2nd home on some other site just send me a link. If you have a 2nd home and would not mind renting it out while you're not there, just let me know.  Why would I expose your 2nd home to the vast numbers who visit this dumb blog?  Why not?  I'm not into this thing for any money, just to provide a service and be a good guy, which I usually am not but am trying.

OK, I admit I was a little apprehensive about a 26 mile climb but hopefully there would be lots of false flats or slight down hills during which to recover.  I shoved off from the Safeway at the corner to Tanque Verde and Catalina roads, kind of a traditional start point.  During the 4 mile run up to the start of the climb, I gained around 250 feet and passed a local cyclist on a Klien.  Ha! I thought, local loser finds out what chasing Marty Sedluck around New Albany's Thursday rides does for the Ohio boy.  I paused to take this image of the very obvious start to the climb.  Meanwhile, local boy passes me and I never see him again.  Ha! I thought.  Ohio loser finds out what short cutting rides all year does while local boy trains on 26 mile climb.

Soon, I reached the 4000' elevation marker, then the 5000" elevation marker but the slopes were always around 3-5% so not hard at all.  I passed numerous pull-outs for picture taking and was awed by the views but kept grinding along without stopping..  Soon, I reached the 5 mile mark and not so soon, reached the 10 mile mark.  Throughout there was a 50 yard stretch of slight down hill but otherwise, always up. Around mile 12 I passed through a flatish area with campgrounds but here things changed.  Probably the engineers, when building the road came to the conclusion, "Egads, if we continue at this rate we'll run out of real estate to make the top."  So, suddenly, the grade increased between 5-10% for another couple of miles and somewhere in there I passed the 6000' elevation sign.  Around mile 15 of climbing, I began worrying about my water situation and seeing a cyclist, of which there were dozens and dozens coming down the hill as I climbed, I finally paused at one of the pull outs to ask if there was water at the Palisades, a stop around mile 22 of the climb.  His reply, "Well, there caaaaaaan be."  What the heck kind of answer is that but he explained water is never assured at that spot so I may have to go all the way to the top at the small village of Summerhaven.  Note the great view and road in the middle.

I kept going, mile 16, 17, 18......oh, oh, only a 1/4 of a bottle of fluids left.  So, I stopped at the "San Pedro" overlook and talked to some motorcyclists, one of whom used to cycle a bunch in Colorado but after moving to Tucson, picked up motorcycles instead.  He said the remaining 5 miles was fairly hilly but the last 2 miles was rolling along a ridge line.  I was wearing an OSU jersey and from behind someone asked, "Are you from Ohio?"  Why yes, I confirmed I was and turns out they are from Canal Winchester and had a good chat with them.  Their son lives in New Orleans, surrounded by LSU fans.  Note the message on the sign about being able to see into New Mexico on a clear day. 

So, running low on fluids I spit the bit and coasted down, a fantastic down hill with broad, expansive turns so even a notorious cautious descender like me rarely had to hit the brakes.  Ended up with 44 miles, 4800' of climbing, practically 2 and a half hours of climbing but got back down under an hour.  Not worried, I should have lots more chances to make the top and next time will carry an extra bottle. While a very long climb, most ways up the grade is low enough that you can recover easily and other than requiring patience to reach the top, is not a grueling climb.  Our experience in Oro Valley was very neat.  I'll post images of the condo we acquired.  Note this is all due to my financial advisor Adele, who turned my investment of $100 into a princely sum by having me short gold and other commodities right at the market high.  What a stroke of genius.

I'm back in Ohio and have found I did not miss the clouds much.  The good news is it won't be long before I'm outa here again.  The creature above was a very agressive chipmunk that ended up happy with a piece of apple at the top of Pachacho Peak.  The background appears to be very close but it's a couple thousand foot drop but this guy is unfazed by heights. 

If you ever get out here, between Phoenix and Tucson, it's a thrilling climb.  Start climbing right from the trail head for 1.7 miles.  This section is one of the milder ones requiring the steel cables.  Other sections are vertical and would be a rock climbers paradise if you can do it without the cables.  OK, ride report up Mt. Lemmon coming later today.

As expected, Monday was a day of furniture and decor shopping and it is all a blur of stores to me.  To get out of this experience is similar to ordering all the fishes to jump out of the ocean...it ain't gonna happen.  Mercifully, the day ended, furniture delivered, pictures hung and so Tuesday I hiked up to see the Remero Pools and took great images but I can't yet put them up, but will soon.  Oh yeah, bike arrived so I put it together and thus on Wednesday, did a shakedown cruise to Oracle, 21 miles north via Oracle road/Route 77.  Gentle grade all the way out of the valley so after 21 miles had 1800' of climbing.  Nothing steep just one long ramp after another after another and kind of boring but brilliant sunshine prior to pulling into the Circle K gas station/market.  Sought shelter at the side of the building while chugging a Monster and called Steve O to find out if anyone rode Tuesday.  Sounds like not.  I noticed lots of cyclists going south on 77 but none going north so probably I got started too late and everyone had already completed the main part of the ride and headed back to Oro Valley or Tucson.  Have heard a lot about Mount Lemmon so will do that tomorrow or Friday.  That's a 26 mile climb with an average of 5% grade and described as an epic ride.  Temp at the top is 20 degrees cooler than the valley but still around 70 up there.

Wow, lots going on back home.  Saw the wild animal escape in Zanesville and that is on the Blue Jay route off Kopchalk Road we take after stopping at the market on route 40.  Heard a couple of people were stabbed trying to prevent car break-ins in Pataskala and then the murder/suicide off I think York Road.  This has our son freaking out a little.  Guess not having mom and dad around (he calls us creepers) isn't the panacea he thought.  More to come tomorrow and h

I'm running out of time to do a professional ride report so I asked Cindy B, aka Flyin Tuna, to pitch in with the ride report.  I have to get up at 5:15am to catch a flight to Tucson and by 9:00am their time, I and wife will be basking in 90 degree temps.  I took the old Trek 5900 to Rick Miller, bike mechanic extraordinaire, to get it back in working condition and shipped it out to Tucson.  My wife and I spent some time out there last year and found Oro Valley, just north of Tucson and in the foothills of the Catalina Mountains, to be a good spot for a 2nd home.  I had looked at other areas like Florida and St. George, Utah (proximity to Bryce, Grand and other national parks was very appealing) but my main points were the winter temps had to be as warm as possible, the place had to have a great view of the mountains, the area had to be a cycling mecca, the condo had to be cheap and, well that's about it.  So, after a few disappointments with offers on other units, we finally got what we wanted.  I'll post some images of the views and what I am doing out there this week.  The first course of action is to figure out how to get out of the furniture shopping and at some point I have to figure out how to stay out there until April.  So, on to Cindy's report.

Gosh, it was windy, very, very windy and not so warm.  More people showed up then I thought and I was glad some of them were my peeps. 

I don't know the fast guys but Mark identified them as Billy Campbell, Marty and Dave Chesrown.  They seemed like nice guys until they took off and left me at the first hill.  I don't like guys who drop me or if you do drop me, you must wait for me.  Shame on you fast dudes.

Once them fasties left me, I got in with the broomwagon.

The highlight of any ride for me i the food.  One of my favorite places is the Pioneer Rstaurant in Blade N Burg.  This place has good food and it's specialty is them pancakes.  Mitch and Jeff ate the double portion and I made sure to stay ahead of them or well behind so I would not catch any of the tummy upheavel on them hills.  It was windy, very, very windy on the ride back but I hunkered down behind the guys who did not leave me so I was ok.  I was tired after the ride and made my husband give me a back, leg and foot messege.

Originally, this blog was created so there would be a record of the goofy events surrounding my cycling life, I'd print copies of the ride reports and then some day my children could read about what I did and think, "Gosh, our dad was a rather ordinary endurance athlete".  However, as Flyin Tuna has reminded me, dementia is starting to set in so I need to accelerate my life's recollections or else they'll be lost forever.  So, in the spirit of putting it down on paper so it is not lost forever, I tell the following very true tale.  

I was in Taipei, Taiwan on a business trip with a co-worker.  After a day of meetings, the owner of a small golf company invited us out to eat and while walking to the restaurant, we passed through a street fair that was resplendent in lights, colors, activity, fair goers and vendors displaying their wares in booths.  One in particular caught my eye, not just because a live cobra was coiled on a table, not just because a guy was toying with it but mostly because, there was no barrier between the crowd and the snake.  We stopped at the perimeter of the crowd to watch.  After playing with the cobra for awhile, it was grabbed, killed and hung from the booth rafter on a string.  Next, the operator hoisted a large snapping turtle over his head and began speaking rapidly.  The turtle was brought to the table and a clever was used to cut off the head. 

This is where things got very interesting.   The operator poured a clear liquid into the orifice where once the head was located.  Then the opening was cupped with a hand and the turtle lifted overhead and vigorously shaken.  The rapid speak continued as a helper appeared with a large plate containing shot glasses.  The turtle was turned upside down and the liquid contents poured into each glass.  People began lining up to pay for a drink of this alcohol/turtle guts mix.  The locals viewed it as a health elixir and it appeared all the drinks were to be sold.  Yep, strange but true.

OK, radar looked bad but I thought I should show up at the New Albany Starbucks, as did Dennis (who has a funny story to tell from his Tuesday skulling session).  Also there was someone for John Morgan's 5:00pm ride, a guy on a pearl white/black Trek.  I decided to trail run instead and did, ouch, that pounding is going to take some getting used to.  Wow, looks like tomorrow's ride will be fun with a WSW wind behind us and then once it strengthens, we'll be riding back into 25mph head winds.  I'm going to ride but I am reserving a spot behind Little Diesel and will guard it jealously

The walnut tress, of which there are approximately 15 on our property, keep raining walnuts so I keep gathering them and taking them to the walnut processing place on Refugee Road, just off York Road.  Unfortunately, they lost a very cool barn dating back to the 1800s to fire a few months ago, one of several barn fires in the area caused from arson.  They have a very good idea who the idiots are that started the fire so sounds like charges will be filed soon.  The walnut haul has broken a record, notice the skids of walnuts.

While waiting my turn in line, I helped others unload their walnuts, including one guy who had over 600 pounds.  This is the net weight after the hulls are removed.  I had my usual 100 pound outcome, which yielded me another $11.00+ which brings my total to $44.00!!!!!  One more load to go probably so I'll exceed......$50.00!!!!  Factoring in my time, this works out to about $3.00 an hour so not bad.  My previous best season was $21 so this has been a good money making season for sure.

I know, some of you are thinking, "Mark, you ignorant dolt, you are denying the squirrels and chipmunks their winter food."  Not to worry, I only pick up walnuts from the land I mow and there are lots and lots of walnuts being stored, as shown here in this hollow log.  You probably can't see from the image but some active varmint has collected 100+ walnuts to tide themselves over during the winter, which I see is being forecast as another brutal one.  OK
weather looks iffy for tomorrow but if it is ok, rather than set up a ride out of the school in New Albany, we'll hook up with one of the rides out of Starbucks.  Maybe John Morgan will let us ride along with him or maybe Franz's group will let us slide in.

The 5:00pm ride call stokes the interest in many but only the truly fortunate can ride at that time, as evidenced by Grand Poobah, Mark Rossi, Ryan Roe and Jeremy hooking up for a fun ride out of Canal.  Ryan R was late arriving, roughly 4:58:00 and we all mutually agreed not to wait for the late arriving bum but at 4:58:01, a hissing was heard from Todd's tire and so we waited for the "Great One" to fix his bike, permitting Ryan to jump in too.

We headed out on a route that Ryan verbally sketched out for us that would eventually bring us into Baltimore.  Good roads, pretty good pavement, few climbs, light traffic...what's not to like and so we liked it.  The pull tendencies of each of us is interesting.  Ryan starts out strong, stays out front almost as long as me but fades over time and is barely moving forward by the time he finally drops off.  Todd starts out sprinting, maintains that pace for a .10 or .20 of a mile, glances back to see if I am still there, looks disappointed that I am and then fades off the front, completely spent.  Jeremy, probably the fittest of us all right now, puts in shortish pulls for unknown reasons.  Mark R, not in peak season form, puts in good, consistent pulls but I can tell he is anxious for the rear when he is finished.  Then I go to the front, pull for 5-6 mile at a high speed and only because I am not selfish, I give it up for the less deserving.  Yep, that pretty much describes things.   So, we pull into Baltimore having spent too much time driving into a head wind and then head west and enjoy a nice ride back via Basil Western and finish with 31 miles and a 20.8 average. 

Looks like Jeff S has a good roving ride out of Granville for Saturday but that weather forecast....ouch....the wind symbol is out now.  I'll be there but then on Monday, the blog is on the move for warmer regions and will report on that in due course.  While the Granville route is only 60 miles, there will be an option to go forward to Bladensburg for pancakes, adding many miles.

Quite a group of happy cyclists to be given a beautiful day to make up for last weekend's abysmal weather.  This normally low key, off-season ride was given a small boost of anticipation when Jon Sada called me to inquire if Steve O was going to ride.  Reading between the lines and knowing Jon's ultra competitive nature, I surmised Jon wanted to test himself against the finest our group has to offer (with Craig B focusing on ultra trail running marathons the title falls to Steve).  I then called Steve to alert him to this possible challenge and give him reason not to ride the cross bike.

Rolling out of Carroll, Todd realized he had forgotten to fill his water bottles so burst from our pack, rushed into a restaurant, then into the restroom and returned before we passed through the light at #33.  There were about 14-15 in our group.  After 5 miles, we arrived at a fork in the road and a message that invited those who wanted an extra hill to proceed straight while those who thought this option lunacy could turn left on Amanda Northern.  I of course instinctively turned left as did Dennis, SuperDave, Jimmy, Flyin Tuna, Ryan R, Dennis' friend Jeff, Grand Poobah and Larry P while Steve O, Dustin, Jeremy, Sada, Mark C and Jeff S went straight.

As we approached to the west of Amanda, Steve O, Dustin and Sada caught and passed us while a little later Mark C caught and stuck with us as did Jeremy and Jeff S.  Eventually at around mile 25 we reached the store in Oakland to find Steve, Dustin and Sada waiting.  After the normal hijinks, we left, shortly after the lead three had already departed.  A few miles further at the Clearport/Drinkle intersection, Jeff S, Ryan, Tuna and Mark C took the 75 mile option while the balance, having hooked up with 4-5 other cyclists, chose the 60 mile option.  I endured the usual cacophony of insults, thrown mostly by Ryan, for having chosen the shorter route but it's the off-season for me now and I'm looking for even shorter routes then normal.

We arrived in Sugar Grove and soon Steve and Dustin arrived and after a few minutes, so too did Sada.  Apparently their pace had finally taken its toll climbing a very tough Buena Vista and then again at Revenge.  Still, Jon hung in better then any of the rest of us but considering who is the rest of us I guess that's nothing to get too excited about. After a welcome break at the Sugar Grove store, here Todd congradulates Dustin for hanging with Steve, we headed out where I surprised everyone by taking the going out of town sign sprint.  

Good grief, then it was up Savage, down Carpenter and then up freakin Chickencoop, where Julia stood at the top snapping pics of the survivors, led by Larry P.  Larry was loafing for the most part due to a cycle cross race on Sunday but showed when motivated, what he is capable of.  The rest of the route was a blur of more climbing and pain and the Carroll high school parking lot was a welcome relief after 62 miles and 4400' of climbing.  It appears we will ride out of Canal at 5:00pm again this Tuesday and note Mark C, Jeff S and Cindy are riding out of Mark's church on Coonpath on Monday.  All are welcome.

I took my golf game, such as it is, to Raymond Memorial golf course to hook up with Dennis and his co-worker Rich and participate in a scramble event.  What a hoot the day was with Dennis and Rich being such great sports, allowing me to pull out every one-liner I had from a near lifetime of playing bad golf. I will spare you all a shot-by-shot analysis of the round but our overall play and score exceeded my expectations, finishing at 5 under.  We did not arrive at that score easily as it involved plenty of time looking for lost balls, including this one from a creek.  Dennis would have put more balls in the numerous creeks and streams except usually he didn't hit the ball well enough to get it to the creeks and streams.

Rich, an interesting guy with one son being a Navy Seal and the other teaching survival training for the Air Force.  These three spend vacations in the deep woods of Montana and when not there or not working at Siemens, Rich farms a few dozen acres on the side.  What he does not do is spend a lot of time refining a golf swing but given what he has accomplished, that's understandable.

What I could never figure out is how a guy with a swing that PGA pros would kill to have, couldn't hit the ball better than he does.  Here for instance, note the perfect form.  Anyway, it was a fun day.

Dennis, Jeff S and I gathered for the 5:00pm ride out of New Albany.  Meantime, there were many other rides leaving at the same time from other points in the village.  As we exited the parking lot, a group of 6, led by Franz, rode by so we immediately abandoned our route plans and jumped in with them.  OK, the pace was not fast but so what for this time of the year and they were on a 31 mile route, perfect.  I don't recall all the turns but we got on some roads I had not previously ridden and got on some in directions I had not ridden so it was all good.  

About halfway into the route, a woman wearing an orange jersey with "Alaska" advised us there was a rider off the back.  I turned and sure enough there was so I rode forward and asked the front two to ease the pace for a moment.  As I turned around again I saw it was Jeff S who was back there!  Dennis said, "I've heard of people losing their fitness over the winter but after one week?"  After we rode for a bit I asked Jeff if he had yet caught his breath or should we continue to soft pedal?  Ha, ha.  We eventually hit Cable and confirmed it is as crummy as ever but were not on it long. 

Eventually we reached old 161 where Jeff had recovered and was leading us.  I don't know what the heck happened but he ran over a beer bottle without warning us and so each of us followed suit......

.....causing Franz to have a flat.  You know me, I want to make excuses for the failings of others but how Jeff missed the bottle is beyond me.  Guess the slow pace led him to day dreaming or something.  With the sun low on the horizon, we plodded on with Jeff resuming the pull but suddenly, the woman in the orange jersey went around Jeff and pulled away.  This was a shocking development and both Dennis and I were embarrassed for Jeff.  Never before in the history of New Albany rides has one so strong been passed by one so weak.  Here I go again making excuses for Jeff but probably he thought his 15mph pace was warranted given the talent behind him, I guess.  Suddenly, John Morgan led a crew around us that included Gus but I did not recognize the 2-3 others.  Those of us could jumped on and rode into New Albany with 31 miles and a scintillating average of 17.6.  I told Jeff he probably had similar ride averages but on very hilly century rides.  Well, that;s all for now but tomorrow is the big golf match and I am excited to get out there and throw barbs at everyone and act like a clueless idiot.

I hit so many balls today my hands are bleeding from the effort.  However, that is not the problem.  The problem appears in the image.  I used to smirk when watching hackers try to hit a golf ball but now I am the hacker and I ain't smirkin no more.  Seems I have developed a snap slice, which is when the ball leaves the club face and immediately dives to the right.  This is not an easy shot to hit on purpose but I have developed the habit, somehow.  Friday will be a long day but I am trying to remember some of the funny comments from a near life time of playing golf so at least I can be tomorrow's funny man.  Here's a classic, after a guy hits a putt and the ball falls short of the hole you say, "Does your girl friend play too honey?" or this favorite, "The last time I saw a face like that it had a fish hook in it."  or, "You play army golf....left, right, left, right."  I'll be drinking my first beer riding down the first fairway.

OK, there will be a group ready to ride at 5:00 or a little after if you are just pulling in to the parking lot then and can get on your bike quickly.  Nervous about golfing tomorrow, I think I'll go to the driving range today and try to determine which club I least hit the suckiest and then just play with that all 18 holes.  I'll have a driving range report later.

Dennis, next year's Junior Muscle Dude and current Style Queen, has asked me to play golf this Friday at an OSU sponsored even as part of a foursome scramble.  After making it clear to him I have played golf only once each of the past 3 years and definitely suck (much more so than cycling) I have agreed to fill the spot.  I will have a full golf cart riding ride report following this event with images of likely Dennis wearing pink pants, white shoes and white shirt if he dresses conservatively. 

We gathered at Canal, all 5 of us but if you are taking a ride you would be hard pressed to find 5 better people with whom to ride.  Grand Poobah, Mark Rossi, Jeremy and Ryan Roe.....ok, you could find 5 better but thems the ones who showed up so off we went, riding last weeks route in reverse.  Coming through Lithopolis we arrived at the intersection with the adjacent cemetery.  A large sign proclaimed a special on burial plots at $395.  Considering it a bargain, I asked Poobah if he wanted to go in on one jointly and whoever passed first, got the plot.  Typically, he said he'd go if we split 60/40 with him paying the 40!?  How should I interpret that?

Ryan took a pull and missed our turn, taking us off the route but eventually we got back on it. The rest of the route was uneventful as we rode at an off season pace, even with Poobah taking lightning strike pulls and riding the gutter with me behind, as usual.  We crossed Cedar Hill where Todd made a left to follow the route but Ryan continued on with the rest of us following.  Eventually we made a left at Amanda Northern, took the hill on Slough and arrived back at the parking lot with 29 miles, a 19.6 avg and 1085' of climbing.  I was asked if there will be a similar ride out of New Albany.  Anyone riding?

Friday night.  Sitting in front of weather radar...not looking good with a green blog crossing into Ohio bearing down on central Ohio so I make the decision to sleep in on Saturday and leave those who showed up in Canal for our CFC alternative ride, in the lurch.  Don't know if anyone rode.  Later, thousands of walnuts laying around in the yard and need picked up.

Here, is maybe the greatest invention since the blender...a walnut picker upper.

Roll the thing around the ground, the tines open up, walnuts gallop into the corral and are caught.  I worked diligently covering several areas under walnut trees while dodging the plunging missiles from the trees.  Got hit once on the side but better then getting conked in the head.  After packing several containers I head to one of 10 walnut processing centers in the state of Ohio, this one only 4 miles away.  This year's payment is $0.11 per pound of walnuts, up from $0.10 last year.  Dump walnuts into a weird looking machine that takes the husk off, leaving the walnut.  I end up with a little over 100 pounds and walk away with $11.21.  Good pay day.  

OK, I'm gathering information from CFC participants and may have more later but if you want to post your comment about your personal experience, others will enjoy it for sure.  Probably you most want to know the outcome of the Jon Sada vs Rick Miller challenge ride.  They began in Sugar Grove as planned and began on the route.  Coming out of New Lexington, rain picked up and became a fairly miserable ride.  Rick packed it in around Mconnellsville where Todd Lee was seen standing naked in a Laundromat watching his cycling gear tumble dry.  John G and Sada hung together but I hear they took a short cut so.....not sure a winner can really be declared.  

Others either did not show or abandoned during the ride.  I checked radar at around 1:00 and it appeared all the rain was east of Lancaster, all the way to Marietta.  With the cool temp, wind and rain, I really felt for you guys and was very glad I decided not to participate. Flyin Tuna completed the ride, to her credit but was so tired, called hubby Rod to come and get her.  I heard others were scrambling to get out but don't think there was enough transportation to get everyone out who wanted out so then they had to endure the Sunday head winds.