Granville Climbing Challenge, Part I, The Parking Lot Scene

Kind of cold at the start as grim faced cyclists arrive early to sign in.  Hmmmm, unknown cyclist in the background with a banana and later I discovered a banana peel hanging from my car's passenger side door.  Could this guy have been the perpetrator?

Quickly, the hoards arrive and surprisingly, the doughnuts are a bit of a hit.  I intended to pick up fresh baked doughnuts at a bakery but at the end, stopped at a gas station and just bought a cheap bag of sugar coated, which seemed to be ok.  Note the tiger in the foreground, laying there wondering into which person's hands it would end.  Who is the tall guy in the background?  He rode with us quite a bit and is yet another good guy to have in the group because A-he pulls a lot and B-he doesn't seem to mind pulling a lot.

Dean signs in with Kayla Starr and Steve O checking out the map.  Kayla has picked up some of the Kendaitis virus as it took her a long time to ready herself and missed the official start, but later caught on.

An emotional moment as Kenda Janet yet again won the GCC Beauty Queen Pageant but pauses to console the runer-up to the runner-up to the runner-up, Flyin Tuna.  The day was not a total loss for FT as she later demonstrated she can dominate a certain award much like Lebron James dominates the NBA's MVP award.  Kenda Janeet was also giddy over the new cassette that has been added to her bike, a 28 tooth one.  That coupled with the compact crank and she is good for another year or two before the inevitable triple gets added to the bike.

Dirty Dan, so generous that he brought Steve O an extra jacket.  Steve's old jacket finally failed and the cheapskate refuses to buy a new one until he is forced to, this winter.  In the meantime, there are plenty of us who will provide spot garmet  lending as needed.  Dustin in the middle, unaware of the drama in which he will participate later in the day.  Mitch O signs in too and maybe took more then his fair share of doughnuts but aside from me, I don't think anyone else was counting.

Wow! and How About That! Woody Patrick, the winner of the inaugural GCC shows up and Larry P, who came in second that year showed up too.  But many wondered where were my New Albany friends?  They abandoned me after I rejected paying appearance fees to get them to show.  Still, there was plenty of quality, Tym and Lisa Tyler, Rob Rhodes......wait a minute.....I have received an anonymous email asking me to check the sign-in sheets to see if Rob actually signed in for the event......opps, more to come on that in the next report.

We were a few minutes late getting started as we waited for Dustin to add a pair of knee warmers and to see if Kayla could get prepared but the grumbling from the gang at the exit of the parking lot and the grumbling from those back at the cars forced me to call for the official start. Forty-three signed in and with those who I saw were there but did not sign in, around 50 of us hit the street.  Next up, the official ride report, awards ceremonies and an image of John and Adele Gorrila's baby.