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Turmoil & I Want to Buy Lumber from Mark C

6/8/2011

7 Comments

 
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What an evening, so much so that it almost had Da Boss in tears either from discovering Mitch, our ride leader, was a no-show or because he ran a marathon this weekend that had 2200' of climbing and he is still emotional over his 3rd place finish.  Geez, 26 miles and 2200' of climbing.  Now that sounds like fun.

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Steve O with new vehicle and he welcomes people to lean their bikes against it, so I did.

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The great one, Grand Poobah with Ryan R on the right bent over vomiting from pre-ride nerves anticipating the beat down he would apply to the lowly B group.  There is no glory in spanking the B group Ryan.

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Tri Andrew on the right, who has come up with a ride for Saturday called "The Widowmaker".  More on that later.

Rain moved through the area earlier in the day but upon arriving at the parking lot the pavement was dry the sky was a little overcast and the temp only 70.  There would be no reason for anyone not to show because conditions were perfect.  Around 5:30, the clouds lifted entirely and the temp rose a little but still nice and we lathered on the sunscreen.  People began descending on me wanting to know where our ride leader, Mitch was.  I kept assuring everyone he would show that he is normally a little late but very reliable.  Up until 5:45 I clung to this story but the natives were getting restless and even I began to doubt the Engineer's arrival.  Finally, Ryan called Mitch and announced Mitch had looked at radar and decided there would not be a ride.  How one could come to that conclusion, while also being sober, is best left unanswered.   I asked Mark C, he who rides these roads every day but Sunday, to come up with a simple, 40 miles route, in the absence of having maps.  Mark announced the route to the group and so we shoved off, I going with the B group of Ryan R, Mark R, Jeremy, Rear Wheel Faller Offer Dude, Mark V, Amanda, Aggravating Dude Who Takes One Pull While in Freakin Aero Bars! and a couple other guys.  The A group had Da Boss, Mark C, Steve O, Walker Dude, Jeff S, Dude with Jean Shorts, Tri Andrew, Tri friend of Craig & Andrew, Grand Poobah, Randy Brown and 2-3 others.  Again, kind of a light turnout for a Canal ride.  

We hit the slope on Waterloo and Ryan, fresh off his Mountains of Misery experience, rode to the front and dropped everyone but me.  I suggested he ease up a little and so we regrouped, arriving in Lithopolis as one.  Out Elder then Winchester we rode where a guy riding a tri bike took a turn at the front and promptly dropped into the aero tuck and motored away from Mark R.  Being a new guy, I figured he would not know where to turn so let him go and sure enough, he eventually sat up,  saw no one went with him and he returned to the peloton never to be seen at the front again.  I was a mile into a pull and preparing to do so certainly for another 4-5 miles when Ryan came alongside and said, "Are you aware you have two seams going up your rear, one stitched and one au natural?"  I was stunned and embarrassed by this and promptly dropped to the back from where I would never again to be seen at the front.  Unfortunately, Ryan kept bringing attention to my clothing condition and appeared to be obsessed by it.  Note to Ryan: I threw the shorts in the trash can once I arrived home.  

Ryan was enjoying putting a beat down on the B group and we eventually lost a few people by the time we turned left at the school and headed for the hill on Ashville Fairfield Road.  I figured Ryan would put in a good dig on the hill so I clung to his wheel out of the turn and sure enough, he picked up the pace and we dropped everyone by the time we reached the top but did regroup as there were no maps for people to follow.  We worked our way over to Fosnaugh School Road and then Ridge and made a left on Cedar Hill.  We reached the foot of the long hill on CH and I happened to be at the front and about 1/3 of the way up, Ryan sprinted around me and behind him but getting gapped a little was Jeremy, who said, "I'm not supposed to close that am I?" I managed to catch and draft Ryan all the way to the top where he ran out of gas.  From there we all broke up with Ryan waiting for a new guy who would surely be lost and I waiting for him while soft peddling into Canal with 34 miles  and 1400' of climbing and a very pedestrian 18.1 avg.   I guess Mark C is to be congratulated for only missing the 40 mile mark

Meanwhile, the A group got cut up by the cross winds going out Winchester but were given the chance to regroup when Andrew's shoe came apart and was saved when Mark gave him a rubber band to wrap around it.  The group got cut up again on the hill on Fairfield Road and then more culling took place on the climb on Fosnaugh School so it was down to Mark C, Steve and Walker dude.  They then passed Poobah and Andrew on Cedar Hill, having short-cutted and then Steve left the route to get in extra miles.  Mark and Walker arrived in Canal together with a 21.5 avg.

7 Comments
Mitch
6/8/2011 01:31:36 am

Looked at radar when I got home about 4:30.
Looked bad.
Should have checked it again.
I f-c-ed-up.
No excuses.
My apologies to the collective.

Reply
Ryan
6/8/2011 04:18:53 am

First off, way to go, Mitch. So much for getting Ride Leader of the Year for 2011!

Secondly, it seems a majority of the threads in Mark's shorts pulled a "Houdini" on him.

And finally, I'd like to comment on the "ran out of gas" remark regarding the hill on Cedar Hill Road. After circling back on Ridge to ensure Casey made the turn onto Cedar Hill, we had the group in sight, about a 1/2 mile up the road. After crossing 188, I noticed Houdini was taking a rare pull and decided it would be fun to catch and pass him before reaching the hill. I was able to catch the group and had a few minutes to take a breather before heading to the front to put Houdini to shame as I gave him "the look" while effortlessly out-pacing him up the hill. Once I was around Mark, I continued to ramp up the speed just for fun and noticed a shadow was staying tight to my rear wheel... I couldn't determine if the shadow belonged to Wilson or aerobars guy, so when I was 95% up the hill and the shadow was still there, I realized I wasn't going to be able to drop my pursuer unless I went for an all out sprint, and that would just be ridiculous considering there wasn't a nearby town sign to be found, so I let up to offer my congratulations to the one following so closely. Unfortunately, the pursuer was the infamous Houdini and he assumed I ran out of gas. Aerobars guy zoomed around us and yelled some unintelligible rant about slowing down on the downhill... I couldn't tell if he was being humorous or serious. Mark then begin insulting some of the newer riders about their choice of clothing, which I thought was very rude and uncalled for and decided to distance myself from the arrogant and insensitive blogger. I let the group go on as I waited at the stop sign and enjoyed a nice ride in with Casey.

Reply
Mark
6/8/2011 04:37:12 am

Ryan,

I noticed you giving my rear end "the look" all ride so I did not think anything special when you continued with "the look" on Cedar Hill. Had you sprinted toward the top my shadow would have still been there as I have seen you sprint before and you ain't exactly Mario Cipollini.

Mark

Reply
Caboose
6/8/2011 07:36:07 am

I won't say I told you so. But next time, at least bring maps, or tell us where we're going...Don't say "we'll stick together" because it is a lie. Everyone knows Liars suck! I ended up falling off the back after Ryan came off the front. No one waited..except Rick Holt. He and I rode 28 miles by ourselves. If this keeps up I may go to New Albany on Tuesday nights...just sayin!

Reply
Mark
6/8/2011 11:48:33 am

Noooooo don't go to NA on Tuesday. There you will find A riders showing up for the designated B/C group and doing the same thing Ryan did to you at Canal. I tried to talk him into riding a B pace but he is so head strong and not easily controlled. He's a wild, untamed philly.

Reply
Ryan
6/8/2011 09:59:52 pm

Amanda,
Sorry about that, I didn't realize we left some behind. I thought the group was intact when we made the turn off Winchester. We regrouped at 674 and again at Fosnaugh/Ridge/Cedar Hill. I am really sorry that we left you behind.

Reply
Caboose
6/9/2011 02:39:47 am

Mark and Ryan, it's ok. I understand that Ryan is a horse and cannot be broken. LOL. As I said I rode with Rick Holt, just wanted to get more miles in since it was so nice out. And my legs were cooked from the 600K. Sounds like you only got about 5 more in anyway. Don't worry I'll be back!!

Reply



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    Mark is a long-time cyclist, hiker, golfer and plays some table tennis...ok, it's ping pong.

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