Thursday New Albany Ride Report--Riding a River of Rivets

Behold, the common rivet.  Riding one is an expression of riding at maximum exertion to the point of almost giving up.  It's also a throwback term to when bike seats had rivets and riding forward on the tongue, at least that's what a Google search told me.  All I know is, the Thursday A group is just as often known as riding in the Rivet group because for most of us, we are pushed to and through the threshold of the rivet.  But first.....

....we go to the beginning of yet another fantastic evening for a bike ride.  Making his first appearance of the season was Kenda Paul, who will also be at the Saturday roving ride out of Newark.

Kristy Nation was here too and deep in that truck, that plastic container with the red top, were dozens of oatmeal/chocolate cookies which were to be served post ride.  And I freakin forgot all about them post ride and drove out without one!  Idiot.

Roy Burnham also made a first appearance and when asked, spoke briefly about COP and his resignation from the organization.  Hmmmm, doesn't sound good but the good news is there are enough of us who will organize rides who can step in and provide at least a Saturday alternative throughout the year, if needed.

Geesh, even Larry Pesyna came out for the first time.  Was great to see so many first timers come out.

Of course, a lot of old timers were there too and the ranks swelled with about 70 at the start.  The parking lot seemed to have thinned out a bit from previous Thursdays yet on the ride out of town we passed 2-3 large groups of Pelotonia type cyclists so maybe they'll ride for a bit longer.  On the right, Joe, new guy who spent himself later on 161.

Dirty Dan hydrates for the ride as Ron Budzig listens to.....

...our ride leader Rick make a few comments and announcements prior to sending out 20-22 of us....

....in the Rivet group.  Quite a talented bunch.  Sure, Jon Morgan, Shannon, Dave C, Chris G, etc.. were not there but the talent pool is so deep there is always Pete C, Luke, Jon H, Marty, Ken B, etc... to fill the void and keep the group humming. And boy did it hum.  Jon H put in a dastardly pull prior to Beech that sent the cannon fodder scattered to the wind but the light allowed for regrouping.  There, I begged Jon to not be "One of those guys", ya know, the ones who surge to the front early just to break up the group. Jon said he would be "Gracious" tonight which seemed like an odd reply.  Did that mean he would smile while working me over, yeah probably.

As soon as the light turned, two guys just sped away, kind of catching us by surprise.  I kept my cool cause I have no alternative and slotted behind Joe, who put himself inside out to catch and he did!  We rocketed out 161 with the pulls quick and frequent and soon I was in the #3 position...not good.  While still having some gas in the tank, I calmly moved out of line, sorry, coasted back and managed to catch the tail.  Unfortunately, I immediately saw the two in front of me would for sure not last long and sure enough, just then they both dropped and I was unable to cover the gap.  Gus Cook was caught out too so we grouped up with Crazy George and Joe and soon Dirty Dan caught on and we had a nice group going up Watkins.  Up ahead I could see others had been spewed out the back and at Weslyn Church, we added Jeremy and 2 others.  Dang, no solo efforting tonight for me and I was glad about that.

The group kept the pace high and we entered Granville at 23 and even at the top of that nasty Beechwood climb were over 22 for an average.  There we added Paul Stock, Danny A and Ron Budzig, along with the Sada team who must have been out for a ride and slotted in with us. Eventually we came to the stop sign at Sadie Thomas/310 where Paul took advantage of a small gap in traffic to get across.  Of course I can't help but scream, "Stop sign jumper" as the rest of us watched before I too jumped through a small gap and....

....hooked up with Paul while Danny and others eventually got across and joined in.  I  became apprehensive about the right turn on Miller with the ensuing climb yet managed to hang on with Danny taking the KOM points. We lost a couple of guys there while the rest bunched together for the return, finishing with 43 miles and a 21.6 avg.  Arriving at the parking lot....

....remnants of the front group were still there with their 22.7 avg formed in a small circle.  As a late arriver, I hung in the second tier, listening respectfully to my betters.  Hey a good ride Saturday and more on that soon.

   

Well here we go again, another Thursday route as we march toward season's end, whhhaaaaaaa!  Let's make the best of it and you can see the above route and others here:  http://www.thecyclingclub.org/club-rides/thursday-evening-ride/  Remember, print your own map and/or download the route.