Thursday Ride Report--Wrong Turns Aplenty

The dog days of summer are upon us.  Above, Shannon, Peter & Gus engage in the sign-in process while Dirty Dan circles.  Probably looking for an opportunity to swoop in and elbow me in the ribs or worse.  Actually, Dan is doing rather well in the Rivet group, last night hanging in there for 20 miles.

In most parking lots, the above could be a drug deal but in this parking lot, it's Kristy handing out home-made goodies.  Eleanor on the right is healing from her fall of a couple of months.  The guy on the bike was in our group with music to keep us entertained.  Sounded like Salsa to me but not sure.  43 miles of it is a bit much, just my opinion.

As usual, the lone shady spot was a popular place.  Hey, there is Grand Poobah making his first appearance of the season. Bent over to make sure his sophisticated radar, that tracks approaching cars, is working.  Todd hung in with the A group.

New guy Eric on the left and Axel on the right.  Axel and Gail are headed to France next week to ride the mountains on a tandem.  Steve Hewitt handling the sign in process as Rick was in the shop, taking care of last minute Pelotonia bikes.

I made the usual silly warnings about group speeds and sent off the Rivet group as the HH fellas look on.

Now that is odd, another guy riding a BH bike.  Might be a first timer and rode with the A group.

The A group headed out and with it, some how the B group mixed in too.  Above, Mike M avoids photo bombing.  I guess we had around 30 combined but things slimmed over time.  The pace was rather moderate on this flat route with lots of turns and stops.  Only a couple of us knew the route and there were several times when those in the lead missed a turn or turned where the should not.  We finished with a 20.7 average while the lead Rivet group was at 24.  Then....

...returning to the parking lot, Kristy flung open the trunk of her car and in place of the healthy fig bars of earlier there were chocolate chip cookies!  It's not the end of the season yet but she has my vote for MVP.  Oh, there is Jared in the red jersey.  Get this.  He misses the start and then soft pedals the route counter clockwise before slotting in with us, which is good but well rested, he kills it on Jersey Mill and sent Poobah out the back (in the interest of full disclosure and honesty, I too got popped toward the top).  Then in the parking lot, he ridicules us oldsters! Have some respect for your elders youngster!  The long knives are out for that guy......
HEY--see the Saturday ride option below.