I Drop Little Diesel & Rain Again

Wow, guess what?  Another problematic forecast for an evening ride.  That's right, no brilliant sunshine, no partly cloudy, no mostly cloudy....just cloudy with green blobs rolling in from the west at about the start time, 6:00pm. However, what was brilliant was the Style Queen wearing an outfit with pink accents to match his Colnago pink accented bike.  Few men could pull this look off and some would argue one of those who can not is Dennis but I admire his courage.

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The one, the only, Farmer Mike.  Someone said he was a "Kenda whore" overdressing in Kenda gear to appease the Kendiates.  I cautioned against using such language, especially against someone who owns half the farming acreage in Licking County. 

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SuperDave with a very cool custom cut cardboard trunk piece to protect the plush carpet from grease marks.  You have to admire the creative thinking of SupeDave.  Too bad we see him mostly only on Thursday. If you were lucky enough to know him back in the day, he was awesome  on the bike and still is to a certain extent.

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What the turnout lacked in quantity it made up for it in quality.  Marty, Green Machine, Mick, Tim Tyler, Rich Lewis, Shannon the Tri Dude but also, a guy named "Marco" who was described as the 3rd best sprinter in the nation (I have no idea in what division or age group but I was impressed) and Ryan Risch (a school teacher who spent a season racing in Europe a few years ago and still the real deal), Jon Sada and others.  Also there was Jeff S, Dennis, Amanda and a few others.  In total around 28 of which 12-14 were very strong "A" cyclists.   The A group was called out and I stayed planted to the asphalt.  Frankly, as I looked to the west and saw rain streaks descending from the clouds, I began to have doubts.  Then the "B" group was called and I coasted out just as it began to rain.....I hesitated....and I thought, "Screw it" and turned around, as did SupeDave.  I tossed the bike into the car and drove out to hook up with the B group and let them know I had abandoned.  However, as I drove it rained rather hard and the B group had turned around and abandoned too, or so it appeared (help me out someone to confirm this).  I drove on following Waltons Parkway to Beech, crossing Jug and approached....Little Diesel who had dropped from the main pack of A's.  I pulled alongside and shouted, "Want me to motorpace you back on?" and Jeff yelled, "For heaven's sake yes!"  So I pulled in front of Jeff and then gassed it. leaving him behind. Ha, Ha, Ha!!!!  Finally dropped you sucka!  

I caught up with the main body with Sada and someone else a little ways back and even Rich L appeared to be off the back but they were approaching the turn on Miller so maybe he was allowing for the slowdown. I drove out to #310 and waited and could not believe how quickly the main group arrived but the images I took were of poor quality so I can't post here.  Well, that's all I can relay from my perspective.  Maybe someone can jump in and comment.  

HEY, for Saturday, its the Tom's Trillion Tour out of Nelsonville.  See a couple of posts back for directions and info.  We are departing the parking lot at 9:00am. That means if you are riding with us on what should be a glorious day of sunshine (finally) you have to arrive prior to that and be on your bike at 9:00 ready to roll out.  I hate spending so much time on a bike but I need the 100 miles and will persevere through it.

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