Tuesday Canal Ride Report

The threatening weather kept some away, one of the New Albany Yankees called me from the Canal parking lot where it was raining and decided to head back north and catch an alternative ride.  The parking lot dried quickly, the clouds departed and the temperature went from 68 to 85 in a matter of moments.  All was good to go well before 6:00pm. Above, from left to right, Dirty Dan, Steve O, Ryan, Brian and Franz.  About 35 came out but the "A" group was underwhelming in quality but still, there was Paul Stock and Luke and.....a still recovering Steve O......Pete and Matt Ashmore....... Hmmm, when the New Albany boys don't show up it's pretty thin around here.

There he is, David Smith, the King of the COP, Granville Climbing Challenge, stretching out those rarely used cycling muscles but he said tonight there is a 50/50 chance he will be there this Saturday, if not to defend his crown, at least to participate. 

My favorite pair of brothers, Pete and Matt, with a new phenom in blue, Luke.  Have not ridden with Luke yet but they say he has potential.

A new guy in red with Katherine and Mark V signing in.  "Red" went out with the A group but don't know how well he did. So, we rolled out and I'll keep this short because, while it was a good route to do once in awhile, it was flat with a short and steepish climb in the middle and not much exciting happened, except for Paul Stock's violation of the rules.

Straight east we went and I tried to keep the B group together as much as practical, asking one guy taking a pull to rise from the tuck position in the aero bars, asking a couple of guys to ease up when the shelling of the group got to be too much, asked and was granted a couple of stops for regrouping, etc...  Still, on the return to the west there were only maybe 8 of us from a group that started with around 18-20, Brian, Mike M, Katherine, Kevin H, Ryan Roe, Mark C...and then we passed Paul Stock, Dirty Dan and Steve O fixing a flat.  Later they caught us and we jumped on and rode at a brisk pace toward Canal.

So, there were three A cyclists in our group.  As we approached the Canal sign, Paul Stock exploded from our midst and took the sign sprint, over some of the B regulars.  How desperate must "Tood Lee's Brother" be for a win that he is compelled to jump the hapless B group?  Finished with 47 miles and a 20mph average. 

The end of the ride.  I probably should not tell this but I fell again.  Yep, not from the bike but while walking the hall of Shade's Restaurant.  The linoleum must have just been waxed because as soon as my cycling shoes hit the surface, my feel began fishtailing like a car on an icy street.  Quickly, my weight went to my heels where the small plastic piece contacted the floor and Bam!  Down I went on my back.  Quickly, I scrambled to my feet to see if there were witnesses and yes, a patron emerging from the rest room caught the entire episode.  I told Mark C and the compassionate one suggested I begin wearing a helmet both on and off the bike.  I figure I will have hit the trifecta if next I fall out of bed.