New Albany Ride--5/14 Group Killer DROPPED AGAIN!

After the day started with rain, it all cleared out and we had a beautiful late afternoon for cycling in New Albany.  Retro Geroge was there and reacted to the fall and faint of Tuesday with a big smile and a shrug of the shoulders. I told him Jamie had begun to pucker up for mouth-to-mouth, just as George came to. Also there were Greg Hall, Rob Rhodes, Satan Mick, Terry, John Morgan, Todd Lee, a Walker jersey guy, Colnago Ron, Jeff S, and others.  Noticeably absent was Dennis. It appeared that turnout for the B and C group was a little light.

We headed out old 161 with a sw wind pushing us.  After 11 miles we rolled into Alexandria with a 25.9 avg.  Pretty much everyone had hung on and continued to do so along Racoon Valley road although Terry and John had stopped in Alexandria to fix a flat.  On the slope up to Louden, Rob jumped from the pack (as he would do many times thereafter) and Jamie jumped onto his wheel.  We turned onto Louden and looking back there was no Jamie, apparently he had been dropped yet again.  Later he made my eyes roll with the claim he had missed the turn and continued on into Granville (and I thought George was the king of excuses).  In any event, there did not appear to be much of an appetite for a pause to wait for Group Killer, despite my best efforts to rally support for the plan, so on we went, now facing a fairly strong head wind.  The pace dropped dramatically and no one had much of an appetite for long pulls.  We went all the way out to Sportsman Club, turning left and tackling those hills before turning south on Northridge and then west on Concorde.  Here, Rob made many attacks along the way into Johnstown, with someone jumping to fill the gap and others grabbing wheels to follow. 

The size of the group continued to dwindle while George and Mick did yomen's work keeping some of us in the game.  Out of Johnstown we took the normal route of Green Chapel and Clover Valley before heading west on Jug.  Rob continued to jump from the group and attack and the gaps continued to get filled, prompting some to wonder why Rob would not maybe once in awhile take a pull but perhaps he was practicing his race manuever.  We rolled into the parking lot with a 22.3mph average and 40 miles