 Cyclists arrive and wait for 6:00pm and the start of the ride. I was waiting for our ride leader to arrive as I had not been notified that we was not coming so had not brought sign-in sheets or maps. Steve H can usually be counted on to have sign-in sheets but he too was absent. So, with a couple of minutes until 6:00pm, I announced this a non COP ride and things commenced as usual.  Scott Billman on the right, celebrating his 60th birthday by riding 60 miles earlier in the day but then, out he came to ride with his Thursday buddies too.  Michael on the left, John K on the right. Weather, while hot and again humid, appeared to be ok. Just a thin storm line to our west that looked like it would miss us.  Franz and Jackie waiting for the B group to shove off. Light turnout tonight. I understand this weather pattern will be swept out this weekend with much more settled weather coming next week. Curiously, the long route was only 38 miles so there was some talk around the parking lot about that.  Oh great, Paul D is back from riding the mountains of Washington and Oregon. That's all the A group needs, the return of a guy with the killer instinct after training in the mountains. Ha, ha, just kidding big fella. New guy on the left, should have gotten his name. He makes Paul look small.  Lot of the heavy hitters were absent but from my perspective, heavy hitter group, aka Riveters, are so large they can afford some MIA. Travis, Kyle Z, Pete C, Tym Tyler, Luke, Ken B and then some mini Riveters like Dirty Dan, who squirted me with a water bottle when no one was looking and a few others. I rounded up ride leaders, sent out the Rivet group, who would finish with a 23+mph avg and then....  ....the A group rolled out, numbering maybe 14, including the Music Man. MM is the Paradise Garage guy who rides without ear buds so we can enjoy his choice of tunes. I love it and hope next week he straps a speaker to his frame. I don't recognize any of the tunes because with the wind and road noise, it's just noise but I like noise. As I always say, the louder the better. Our pace was pretty high, arriving at the 310 crossover at a 24mph avg and then, up ahead the Riveters were milling about. Drawing closer, ahhh it's Pete C fixing a flat. Too bad but the Riveters are not a loyal bunch so many left Pete, probably with his blessing and caught up with us. Their average at that point was 26mph. Reaching York, I could see lightning not too far north of us and a black cloud appeared to be drifting south. Borat said we could either turn left and get through the rain quickly or turn right and ride with it, making it worse. Hmmmm that seemed like a false choice. I thought of an alternative, turning around and so....  ....Rick and I did that, pausing to catch the rainbow. I thought for sure the groups would get hammered and the b group must have thought the same because they went off route to go south and then back. Yet, other than light rain, I hear the Rivet and A group got through it ok. Hey, got info for tomorrow rides coming soon.  Better late than never, tonight's routes: 38 Mile A/B route https://ridewithgps.com/routes/7684601 19 Mile C route https://ridewithgps.com/routes/7684929 I thought I should pass along that good friend of the blog, Marty, also known as Marty, owner of the White Bike, has left the country. He will be missed as he travels around France, not to return until mid September. Other friends of the blog will join him in September for a week of riding over mountain passes. Maybe I'll have some pics to share with you. That would be cool, the White Bike ascending Alpe d'Huez.
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