TOSRV

Well, had planned not to ride tosrv but Dennis persuaded me to join with he and George to do 50 down and yes, 50 back. Forecast was for 25-35 afternoon winds from the SW with gusts above 40 so I thought the return would be fun, if not the outbound fifty.  At the start, George said he was headed over to hook up with someone named "Big Chainring" and I figured we would not see him again and I was almost right.  Dennis said we should start with a large group that was forming that included Tim Tyler, Lisa, Todd Lee, Mitch Tallon, Woody, Larry P, and many others.  Off we went and after getting through all the intersections the pace heated up.  We passed a large group of riders in light blue jerseys with "Cousins" printed on them and a few of them joined in.  However, soon people started drifting off, Woody, Larry, Mitch, etc..  It appeared to me that good buddy Dennis too dropped off but he is so sensitive to my email barbs I don't want to actually say he dropped.  He may very well have been with our whittled down group of 8 and maybe after my pulls as I drifted back, sweat in the eye prevented me from noting he was still there??? 

We passed hundreds of people and at one point our group passed a large group that included an attractive woman.  Someone in our party reached over and squeezed her rear!  For our female audience I want you all to know I immediately rode beside this oaf and admonished him in the sternest language possible for his crass behavior.  On we rode with the wind growing in intensity from the sw and our pace line, at the rear, drifting farther left of center. After 29 miles we reached the first rest stop in Circleville with a 21.6mph avg but since I had not paid the ride fee, I sat on a stone column marking the entrance waiting for Dennis.  I waited and waited and finally gave up and headed south. Saw Frans, Mark V, Brad the dentist, ponytailed Scott, etc.. and kept going south.  Finally, I reached an intersection where I thought I might stop and spot Dennis and so I waited and waited.  Thousands of cyclists passed but no Dennis (later someone claimed they saw "No-pay Dennis" in the food line in Circleville so that could explain things).  I decided to ride north, thinking maybe No-pay had a mechanical problem.  Rode for miles and then, there he was, riding with a group of octogenarians on recumbents.  I decided I had enough of the headwind and kept going.  Came across George in Circleville and he was still looking for this Big Chainring guy.  We talked for a bit but it was eerie, there were still a few cyclists, mostly fattys, going by and George is yammering about this and that with a heart beat update included.  It reminded me of refugees fleeing an oncoming army and the weak are at the end and here is George, oblivious to the panic around him talking about nothing.

Anyway, I headed north and enjoyed the tailwind but noted it began to swing more and more from the west, rather than the sw.  I know many of you have your own experiences that we all would enjoy so please reply to all with your descriptions, except for Dennis, nothing you can say can cover for what I witnessed..