The Prevailng Winds Howl at Canal

In the shelter of the parking lot, it was easy to be deceived by the ferocity of the prevailing winds that howled out of the south.  Mark C was this evenings ride leader and came up with a new route of 51 miles with plenty of hills at the start.  Mark set aside wisdom, experience, responsibility for fellow riders, good judgment, sagacity, sapience and prudence to pursue a route that left no margin for error.  Has he made it back yet?  No one knows.  Hey, a new rider in the center, Owen. 

A light turn-out, highlighted by Luke on the right, Euro-Patrick and Brian.  Only 35 shoved off on an epic journey into the vast unknown.

The Canal version of Muscle Dude.  Not quite up to THE Muscle Dude but he is young and has potential.  I think his name is Doug?

In the foreground, Dirty Dan, making weak attempts to explain away his scurrilous behavior, fingering Rob and Dustin for their triumphant march into Granville, well, well ahead of Dan on Saturday.  Dan has a long way to go but the potential is there and we continue to be patient while he matures.  Mark V on the right and Matt Ashmore in the center.

Hey, Randy Brown makes an appearance.  He rolled out with a very small A group.

In fact, that is about the extent of the A group, circling Craig Rice as he tries to get ready, just a few minutes late.  That traffic out of Columbus is such a pain.

Maybe 6 go out with the A, maybe 4 with the C and the balance with the B group, including the golfer, Katherine.  She's headed to the Memorial on Friday to check out the PGA Tour event.  She asked if running naked down the 1st fairway would get her on TV but I told her recent policy changes by the networks discourages showing these acts.

So, we headed out to Slough and hit that hill, made a right on Amanda Northern and hit those hills and then regrouped at a stop sign.  Taking what was left of the B group, we headed south, got over to Rock Mill, then Sand Hill then coasted through Amanda and then further to the south and always into that wind which had to exceed 20mph.  By now we were down to Mark C, Muscle Dude (dropped back from the A group), Matt A, Katherine, Corvair, Kevin H, Brian, Dirty, Jeff S, Mitch O...maybe 1-2 others. Upon reaching the 51/43 mile split, 4 of us took 43 and around 6 took the 51. 

We had a good ride back, arriving at 8:25, at 8:35 the first of the A group, Patrick, Pete A and Steve O arrived.  The minutes ticked by, I left at 8:40 I left the parking lot.  51 miles into hills and strong wind, we probably should have modified the route.  No margin for error in there for a May ride.