Thursday Ride Report and drama

Early arrivals Garth Prosser and Chris G discuss with Rick what happened last week during the A group ride.  It's all good.

New bikes abound.  Here, Pete Ashmore shows his new Giant. and....

....unknown cyclist with his new bike that matches his car.  Check out the wheels.

Bad Boy Nick returned to the Thursday ride.  Nick was part of a group who rode from FL to...dang....where did he say?  Somewhere in the Midwest but anyway, over a thousand miles.

Rick parked so the van cast a long shadow over the parking lot.  Good move.

Patrick W on the left....let's see...why did I take this image.....looking.....looking....oh yeah.  May be the shortest cycling shorts I have seen in a long time.

Did you ever wonder what happens in the parking lot after your group departed?  No, neither did I but Rick called out the A group and I watched and waited.....

.....then Rick stated there would be 2 B groups, a super B and a normal B, so naturally all but 5 went with the Super B group.  At the start, around 70 cyclists, I forgot to count the A group but in the B group, maybe 40+.

Then the normal B's departed, all 5 of us.  So funny.  I was kind of tired and looking forward to a more relaxed recovery type ride.  We chugged out 161 and I noticed we were gaining on the Super B's.  At 310, we caught half the group, the others having gotten through at the light change and not waiting, which was good considering the size of the group.  Turning right on Wadkins and left on Weslyn Church, I noticed the front Super B group had made the quick right back on to Wadkins rather than waiting and turning right on York so we all regrouped.  This is where things get interesting.  After the ride, Rick Miller summed things up nicely, "There are a lot of smart people in the group.  There are a lot of successful people and people who have made good decisions all their lives but too many of these people put on a bike helmet and become idiots."  He is correct of course.  Just tonight, Rick or I saw 1. cyclists drafting a car (all the driver had to do is tap the brakes and there is a tragedy). 2. Cyclists riding 4 abreast. 3. Cyclists shooting through a stop sign trying to catch back with the group. 4. Cyclists as usual, riding left of the center line without regard to cars coming from the rear. 5. Cyclist taking a hard pull but rather than pull off the line when spent, just sit up causing those behind to take evasive action. 6. Cyclist telling Rick that Rick is taking all the fun out of the Thursday ride.  Also, you knuckleheads who never ride in the A group but comment about how dangerous is the A group, are unsurprisingly, clueless.  The A group is far safer than that Super B group and it's not close.

Anyway, while it was a good route, it also required long pauses as we navigated across, #16 (twice), #37 (twice), the left off Blacks cut us into 3 groups but again, it was a good route.  To the credit of a few, rather than exploit the breaks, those that got across waited and we made it around, 50 miles and a 20.4 average, skewed south by the pauses while waiting to regroup. 

Another good route from Rick for tonight's New Albany ride.  Legs are a little tired from yesterday's Hocking Hills ride of 87 miles so not sure what I will do, but during the ride, met none other than former professional wrestler, Dr. Death.  OK, I had not heard of him before but a very nice guy who shared some of his experiences when he wrestled back in the 60's  For more information on tonight's route, go here:http://www.thecyclingclub.org/route-resources/c-o-p-thursday-night-cycling-club-ride/