Roj was on-hand with his new Brooks saddle. A leather saddle designed over a century ago on a 1978 Mongoose with aero-discs and multiple gears. Freakshow, man, that has to be the only one ever.
Rolls out at the same time as the Brewery Ride, but from Los Cabos in Mission Farms. 17 miles with some climbing but nothing brutal. Except the headwinds on the first leg, those were pretty rough this evening, though it kept the heat from being unmanageable.
Me and Roj missed the first light and after riding pretty hard to keep up with a couple of other guys who'd fallen back (but who weren't all that slow), we found to our surprise we'd come up with the main group. These guys were chatting and casually rolling along, where I was huffing and turning colors, but at least I was keeping pace. Sorta, except when it started going uphill again.
Where I really screwed myself was stopping to switch from sunglasses to just regular eyeglasses. I did so at a spot where I thought I'd be able to sprint and catch up, and then I promptly lost sight of the group. I missed a turn, or rather I assumed I'd missed one (it turns out the turn I was supposed to make was still to come), and I ended up on Mission Road coming from 123rd and just catching sight of the peloton as it crested the hill to descend to 119th. I tried, but there wasn't any chance, and then I didn't even catch the light. Dropped my chain as soon as the light turned green and lost more time.
Still, finished with a respectable, for me, 13.5 mph average, 17.4 miles. Really impressive no-drop ride, because it was well-organized enough the riders who really wanted to fly could, the middle-paced riders and those like me who aspire to middle-pace had plenty of company, and there was a contingent that just flat wasn't in a hurry that finished a few minutes behind me with the designated sweepers.
Caroline, the ride leader, handed out turn lists to everyone beforehand so, for instance, when I got separated and was unsure which way to go, if I'd bothered to stop and look at the sheet of paper, it was spelled out for me. She really goes out of her way to make sure people new to riding in groups are as welcome and able to participate as the animals. Able, anyway, so long as 17 miles wouldn't kill them (when I started riding in groups, I'd never have been able to finish this route).
So anyway, the total mileage for August...435.6 miles. Sponsor me for Bike MS? I'll do the hard part, putting in the miles, all you have to do is donate to an entirely worthy cause. And to those of you who have already contributed, THANK YOU. It's been a brutal year to fund-raise.
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