Roaming Rally Explorers Edition 2019
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”
General Observations and Musings
- 800 miles off pavement over 3 days in remote southern Quebec looks a lot shorter and more manageable on paper
- Bob continues to put the crazy in “Crazy Bob.” I. Now. Understand.
- I should not have taken a 570 lb R1200 GSA on a ride like this….doable but not recommended.
- The number of times Big Betty had to be lifted from her periodic naps: I counted 6 but Erik and Bob assure me it was over a dozen. They are certainly much closer to the truth. I’ll be buying Bob and Erik beer for the rest of their lives.
- Erik should not navigate
- Bob will navigate for life.
- The mosquito is the Canadian national bird and the black fly is his wingman.
- The GSA starts the day at 570 lbs. After 11 hrs. in the saddle it easily weighs 3,000 lbs
- That Erik could own loose gravel and sand on a road bike with a 17” front wheel is astounding
- That Bob could achieve the speed he did on loose shifty, drifty gravel is mind boggling
- If the inuits have 50 words to describe snow, the Quebecqois MUST had 600 words to describe the varieties of gravel they use to surface their roads.
- This was an experience of a lifetime. I feel privileged to have completed it and to have experienced it in the company (and with the help) of Erik and Bob; outstanding human beings and riders they are.
800 miles over 3 days in remote southern Quebec
Casualties
- Photography. For me to take very few pics means I was strung out, exhausted and very near my limit.
- 5 hand blisters from lifting and gravel wrestling Big Betty
- One license plate (Bob)
- one dented front rim (Bob)
- Copious amounts of pride (me)
- Pet’s Fitzpatrick’s Africa Twin foot peg (cast alloy , bad design…note to self…). Donating one of my highway pegs to his cause felt good. Nice to give back and save his weekend. Amazing he then rode 2.5 days on that terrain with a makeshift, staggered / offset footage that didn’t allow him to use his rear brake…at least not easily.
- My phone screen. Destroyed in tank bag from vibration and poor protection.
The Approach
Ottawa was about a 10 hour drive. A tad slower than normal due to trailing bikes. Half hour wait at the border the usual snooty scrutineering. Having a record of a Canadian work permit on file made entry a tad easier. Ironically, coming home was even snootier…
8 of the 10 hours was in the driving rain. Good times. We made it to the Best Western on the west side of Ottawa after sitting in over a half hour of rush hour traffic. By that point I was convinced the caribou got spooked crossing the highway, got their antlers tangled and they had to call in the Mounties to get them sorted.
The soggy approach
We went straight to the bar. I thought beer never tasted so good. Little did I know…
Day One
Friday morning started lovely ‘cept for the fact that 8 hours of high speed immersion therapy the day before had apparently rendered my dash nearly inoperable. I seemed to be staring down the barrel of spending 3 days in the wilderness not knowing what gear I was in or (more critically) whether my traction control and ABS were turned off.
Luckily vibration and airflow dried it out by about 11 AM and I was back in business. Note to self: Saran wrap that sucker next time. I also couldn’t get the GPS to auto center and follow the GPS track…I didn’t figure that out until I got home. Noob error. It’s not intuitive, but like so many things its easy once you know how to do it.
The ride out of Ottawa was a lovely parkway along the river. By mid to late morning we were rolling through nice firm dirt road tracks and then back onto gorgeous rolling paved farm road country. Stunning. Then more dirt to end a 135 mile morning at our lunch and gas stop. That’s when Betty decided to take her first nap. Erik and Bob weren’t there for that one though so, technically, it didn’t happen. Donated a highway peg here to Pete Fitzpatrick who was in danger of hobbling back to Ottawa on pavement with one foot peg. Turns out he’s a retired commercial diver from Northern Ireland. I knew there was a reason I liked him.
Highway Peg to the rescue…she was much loved
Yours truly coaxing Betty from her slumber…again
Erick and Crazy Bob trading bikes enjoying the spectacular scenery
After another 116 miles of dirt of assorted flavors (I don’t remember much of this section…I was pretty knackered by this stretch) we arrived and the hunting lodge Fer a Cheval which translates as horse shoe…but I preferred the more literal translation to iron horse. Seemed more appropriate.
Fer a Cheval
Upon arrival we were greeted by swarms of the Canadian national bird and his wingmen. In true Canadian hunting lodge fashion, trophies were on full display.
Our new furry friends
Arrival was accompanied, of course by another Betty Nap combined with a partial donut on parking lot gravel of stones nearly the size of my fist. With 10 lbs of pride gone and a team lift assist behind us it was time for beer, shower and dinner….in that order…I think.
Food was outstanding. A FB post I found said the chef was trained in Paris and reminded us to “never trust a skinny chef. Check on both counts. Welcome to Paris West.
Day 2
Let the Games Begin.
This was going to be a 250 mil day. 100 miles longer than Day 1. All off road. We left before breakfast and the lodge owner was nice enough to give us bag lunches instead of breakfast. The rally organizers gave us 2 options in our GPS for the first leg: an easier, loose-gravel-road-more-of-the-same-shit-from-the-day-before, or… a harder route with loose rock strewn clmbs and endless sand. Of course we opted for the harder route.
Looks easy…untill you do it a dozen times over 250 miles
We start out back tracking on some loose gravel for several miles before turning on to an ATV track that, more or less followed miles of power lines. Lots of sand but it never felt that intimidating. Second gear at low rpm on the GSA is like a tractor…organic traction control. Feels really good. That combined with airing down to 27 lbs (per Jimmy Lewis’ instruction) kept traction consistent and predictable.
Crazy Bob prepares for the assist…again…
Until we stopped. Or had to turn around due to navigational error. This was a shit show…for me. Turning Betty around on narrow, sandy trails is just way above my pay grade. Down she went. And Again, and…
The crux of this section was a rocky up hill where I dropped her again. Got some additional help from guys from Nova Scotia (both on 650s….hmmmmm….) hauled Betty back from the brink and we were on our way. They key was DON’T stop, and if you had to, stop at the TOP of the hills when in sand.
A brief photo opp. I think Crazy Bob is off in the distance impatiently waiting for us.
The sand gave way to absolutely stunning ATV trails in the woods and along a river for miles. Bob found a moose and had to back off to not overly stress her. This would be about the only reason Bob would ever slow down.
Quebec has no shortage of water…or hydro power
While there were more ATV trails after a lunch / gas stop, including a water crossing that, for reasons still unknown to all, inspired Erik to ride through the MIDDLE of it. I really wish Bob had captured video of this (I was, as usual, pulling up the / my rear…) but I am told Erik’s bike went into the hole OVER his handlebars. Amazing he didn’t drown the bike. Momentum was his friend.
The rest of the afternoon was a blur. What I do remember was endlessly slogging down loose, shifty gravel roads at 30 – 40 mph. That felt safe. Erik and Bob? Well….they were faster. Every 10 or 20 miles they would stop and wait for me.
Erik looking WAY more chipper than me.
Meanwhile, I think every Quebecqois is issued a pickup truck, ATV and trailable boat at birth and they, apparently, all drive them down these gravel roads at the same time at 60+ mph. This creates white out dust where you can’t see 5 ft in front of you. Good times.
This is where I began to have an epiphanous and almost existential realization about these roads. You develop a relationship with them. They are all different and their moods change unexpectedly, but you learn to trust them. Pick and hold your line. Trust the surface. Trust the turn radius. and trust your machine too. It’s like achieving results through others. Individually, the road, bike or rider can’t move forward. Together though…remarkable things are accomplished.
Then again, I may have just been delirious by that point.
Yours truly keeping the handlebars ABOVE the water line.
Somewhere on one of these roads was a BIG hole. I hit it at a humane speed and the GSA’s mass and suspension travel ate it rather nicely. How Erik survived in on 17” cast wheels and what is essentially a road bike with 5” of travel is just mind boggling. Mad skills. Bob, was going…er…just a tad faster and even with a 21” front wheel ended up denting it. This may also have been where Bob parted ways with his license plate.
An orderly line up after 11 hrs and 250 miles in the dirt. Remarkable.
After 11 hours in our saddles we rolled into another hunting lodge. The driveway was 15 miles long. Later Erik and Bob said they could have done another 100 mi. I am not worthy. If the driveway had been another 100 meters long I wouldn’t have made it….would had done a Ewan McGreggor dismount (thanks Bob) and let Betty nap right there.
Beer NEVER tasted so good. Way better than Thursday night’s…
Day 3
A beautiful sunrise to start Day 3
By our third day everything started to settle down. The morning started with about 2 hours of nice and predictable (for a change) gravel to about an hour run of pavement down rt. 117 to Mont Laurier for lunch. The afternoon consisted of backtracking on much of Day 1’s route, which, by this point felt like a cake walk. A little coaching from Bob (another former mountain bike racer) and Erik also helped my technique, comfort and overall speed. In short, I had to relearn my mountain bike racing skills…intuitive on a bicycle but intimidating on a 570 lb. beast. Digging these skills back out of the closet was huge.
Crazy Bob looked more and more like The Stig with each passing day
One route variation was a little 10 min ferry across the Ottawa river…a welcome mid ride moment of reflection. The final miles were highway back into the city. Measured and careful, all I wanted to do at this point was to stick the landing.
….aaannnndd a ferry crossing for good measure.
Postscript
Being back in civilization was a bit odd. Ottawa is an interesting and diverse city. Erik ensured we sampled what the evenings in Ottawa had to offer. Definitely felt like creepy old men!
Bob’s contribution to Quebec’s landfill efforts via his license plate donation created a US immigration hurdle on the way back. Not sure now long it took but the uniformed gentlemen impounded his truck, trailer and Erik’s bike for some time until they could get it sorted. I rolled by them at the border but the men in blue wouldn’t let me in the lot…
In the end I think we are all very glad we did this but we all likely have different reasons. Personally, I need to periodically test myself and push myself physically and emotionally near my limit. Mission accomplished.
Would we do it again? Me: Probably only on a smaller bike or accompanied by a team of sumo wrestlers. Erik and Bob: likely next weekend…
Crazy Bob knows how to celebrate a great trip…and how to look good doing it.
HPG Velo Friday social
If C group leaves at O Dark Thirty and travels an average of 15.2 and B group leaves at 540 traveling at 15.8 and A group leaves at 545 traveling at 21.2 but smoked a bone first they raided from their kid’s stash:
1. Who passes who first?
2. Who half wheels who first?
3. Who wrecks first?
4. Who wins the Claybrook sprint in the dark?
5. How many Lemmon Poppy Seed muffins does A group consume at Peet’s post ride?
Inquiring minds demand answers.
On Jan 3, 2019, at 8:55 PM, Tim Donahue <tpd001> wrote:
I heard the A, B, and C groups all left at the same time last time. Total organizational breakdown. Who’s in charge of this ride, anyway? Next you’ll be taking detours through some mythical apple orchard or something. The horror.
On 1/3/2019 8:29 PM, ecohen106 wrote:
Oh dang- I don’t wanna miss this 😦
Don’t go. Come to my class instead. New music and new kit.
Awe….all alone…..
6 Gap Recap- Just like Tom Snow
Excellent update Eric, I feel like I was there. The salt stains must have been epic!
I have a 6 Gap of my own I’m working on; this being summer there is a 6 bottle gap of rose in our wine fridge. Filling it wil likely require careful deliberation and many calories spent.
Another great Dan Goldman 6-Gap ride in the books, except I didn’t make it to the last page…We escaped the rain, but it was replaced with hot and humid weather. For those that know me, that’s not a good combo as I sweat a lot and dehydrate easily. Lincoln gap- hated every second of it. App gap, not so bad. Roxbury starting to find my legs and motored up pretty well. Rochester gap-not so bad. Brandon Gap, uh oh, but still feeling “OK.” Start of Middlebury, not so much. by the middle of Middlebury it was clear I was in trouble… I was cramping in every muscle, including my hands.
In the attached photo you can see me on the left at top of Middlebury hanging over my bars. Libby knew I was a goner. I made it another 13 miles or so and called it quits at the Warren country store and texted Libby who came and got me about 3 miles from the finish back at Dan’s. Libby basically took care of me the rest of the day and night- thank you, Libby.
On more exciting news. As the youngest DG 6-gap rider, Mia [we don’t even need to use her last name since she already has rockstar status like Beyonce, Sia, Iggy, Willie, and Prince] completed here first 6-gap ride without any troubles and finished way before me and very strong. She’s one tough athlete. Dad Matthias and brother Fred did the 4-gapper w/o issue. Mia and I spent most of the day together until she dropped me on Middlebury. [I detect a trend of getting dropped toward the end of long rides by faster women…] After 4 gaps I was secretly hoping Mia would want to bag it and need an escort home. No such luck. That is one cool family.
Others that rode were Jake I, Paul W, Libby, Alicia, Audrey, Alicia, Karen Packman, Kent D, and lots of 545 folks. The aforementioned all looked like they just came out of a hot tub rested and looking fresh. Not sure how they did that. I looked and felt like death.
On the funny side, while I was cramping up Middlebury and doing everything I could to stay moving forward, so was Alan McEwen, who ended up hitch-hiking up Middlebury and passing me to the top. Another rider, Adam, forgot to pause Strave and now has the KOM for Middlebury going 55mph UPHILL! I was heads down and never saw a thing. Reminds me of Tom Snow on our first (and maybe second 6-gap ride together- or was it two hitch-hikes in one ride?).
Highly recommended if you have not done a 6-gap ride before. Each year gets harder and slower. I used to do this in 39×25, then x 27, yesterday 28, and it’s just never enough…
2018 Ray Ride!
Well another edition is in the books, and Ray would be proud! Well done you all!
Jean, great to see you, Julie we missed you!
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HPG Velo Paceline lawsuit
HPGers –
This is an official reminder to those who are on the HPG-VELO group distribution list that use of this list is a privilege, not a right, granted by the one of the founders – Steve Cutter. As his twin brother separated at birth by ten years, I feel both obligated to and responsible for maintaining HPG-VELO content integrity as his proxy. As such, I take issue with Mr. Donahue’s latest posting, which is in the forbidden category “DEPRESSING AS SHIT.” HPG-VELO topic categories include the following:
- CONFUSION ON THE START TIME
- CONFUSION ABOUT THE START PLACE
- ATTEMPTS TO BORROW, BUY, SELL OR TRADE BICYCLE COMPONENTS, FRAMES, OR CLOTHING
- EXPOSITIONS ON WHY ASSOS CLOTHING IS SO SUPERIOR
- STRAVA LINKS FOR PRETEND RIDES ON ZWIFT
- UPLIFTING REPORTS ON THE WEATHER AND PARTICIPANTS AFTER THE RIDE (e.g., No rain today & good turnout)
- LAME EXCUSES ON WHY A CERTAIN HPGer CANNOT MAKE A PLANNED RIDE (e.g.,Baby naming, in Rochester, getting ready for a sidewalk sale, etc.)
- IMPORTANT LIFE ANNOUNCEMENTS (e.g., chickens are laying eggs, someone has not picked up his/her HPG kit, Giuseppe is in Hawaii again, etc.)
- BIRTHDAYS, NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES and CURLING EVENTS (both amateur and professional)
- and finally DEPRESSING AS SHIT
Categories 1 through 9 are acceptable categories. Category 10 is not. An HPGer, if he/she were to email on the topic DEPRESSING AS SHIT, is given a first warning. I hereby, under the authority granted to me by Steve Cutter issue such a warning to Mr. Donahue. Were Mr. Donahue to submit another DEPRESSING AS SHIT email, this would be grounds for a formal review of his ongoing rights to be included on the HPG-VELO distribution list. Such a review could result in his expulsion, which is not to say that Mr. Donahue is not a valued and long time member; but his esteemed position does not give him the right to submit topics within the DEPRESSING AS SHIT category.
John
On Fri, Mar 30, 2018 at 12:45 PM, Tim Donahue <tpd001> wrote:
HPG Velo Quabin Ride Recap
Complements of Eric:
I’ll do a quick recap here and others can add to it. I can never finish reading the long ones so I’ll assume same here. Yesterday was Jon McNeill’s B2B option and it didn’t disappoint. Compatible riders, great weather, and a really nice route. Prior to the ride Jon sent out an email detailing some basic rules of the road and something about riding easy when it’s hard and easy when it’s not. At least that was my plan for the first 125 miles. The route was clockwise out to the Quabbin, north to watchusett at mile 130, climb and head home. I didn’t realize we were doing watchusett until the night before when I texted G to confirm. >
> My son Ari and Eric Poch’s daughter, Geneva, did a nice job sagging the ride. No one ever neded anything but food and water. No mechanicals and no biological bonks to necessitate any additional support. Not a single flat or anything. >
> There was a god sized group for the first leg until the first stop at 42.5 miles. Tom, Thomas, Lewis, Audrey, Mikey, Andy K, G, Rob- about 20 ish ppl total. all turned back home except 8 of us. We took it easy through he next stop at about mile 78. Easy day so far. How great is it to Kessler back on the bike and riding so well. Love him. The 8 on the full ride were Jon, mike Moran, Lebo, Rob, me, G, Eric Poch, Alan. >
> The course was great and scenic. Through the quabbin, up to the fire tower ( complete with imminent wedding)’ and plenty of quiet country roads. Giuseppe was riding like a little puppy dog and at one point said to me “I’m going to do whatever you do.” Ie ride conservatively. That lasted for about 3 mins. He felt good until the watchusett climb at mile 130. I could see his smile slowly disappearing. Just like mine did 30 miles earlier. Rob- he just kept going like it was just another Sunday ride. >
> I started to feel a little sick and got a wicked headache between 100-115 and wondered if I could make the climb. I took on some water, electrolytes and switched to cafienated gel. Rob all the while showed no signs of being tired, ever. At the mile115 rest stop, I wasn’t circling to leave and G knew something was wrong… >
>
> Approaching the long climb from the south to watchusett I could see G and 4 others way ahead. There was no way I was going to let them drop me on the climb. The gel had kicked in and I caught and passed the group and only steve Lebo could stay with me. He and I finished with steve about 20m ahead of me. I had my second wind that lasted the rest of the day. Everyone did well on the climb and the decent. At the last stop on 117 near 495, my favorite section to pull long and hard, Jon asked we ride at a pace to keep everyone together. Darn. 19 to go. >
> Amazingly by the end, everyone was strong and felt good. No one was toast or feeling spent. Since we all rode smartly and had well timed stops, the ride didn’t kill us. I’m sure everyone had there own little issues they were dealing with, but everyone worked hard to get through them and finish really stong. I don’t know about the others, but 12 hours later, I’m still 6lbs down from my starting weight… >
> Total for me from Weston Ctr 175.6 and 11,100 ft of climbing. I’m glad G convinced me to put on my 27. >
>
2014 “Pulled Pork” Dover Team Time Trial
The HPG fielded 2 teams this year and, in classic HPG for as of this writing both teams were disqualified for only sending 5 riders each off the line… Aside from that however a grand time was had by all. Douglas and his bride out did themselves with a phenomenal after party. Looking forward to next year already.
| Overall results | |||
| Team | Time | Place | Delta |
| Goldman | 0:30:01 | 1 | 0:00:00 |
| McNeil | 0:30:15 | 2 | 0:00:14 |
| Snow | 0:30:52 | 3 | 0:00:51 |
| Chrystal | 0:31:46 | 4 | 0:01:45 |
| HPG2 | 0:31:58 | 5 | 0:01:57 |
| HPG1 | 0:32:10 | 6 | 0:02:09 |
| MEMC 1 | 0:32:15 | 7 | 0:02:14 |
| Blue Ginger | 0:32:28 | 8 | 0:02:27 |
| MEMC 2 | 0:33:21 | 9 | 0:03:20 |
| MEMC 3 | 0:34:28 | 10 | 0:04:27 |
The Sun Always Shines in Wellesley…
…but pedal ones way out of town on a saturday morning in late spring and all bets are off. Today’s debut ride for the spanking new HPG kits planned for Hollis turned into an aborted Carlisle mission when the rubber side went up. All got home safe and sound though and lived to fight another day….oh and the sun was still shining in Wellesley sans pluie
2008 B2B – Eric Cohen
Waiting for those ride reports. From what I could see, we had a strong showing with riders looking strong up to the point I left at mile 63 atop the hill in Ridge, NH.
The day got off to a confused start when some of us decided to ride with Sean who realized that he was the Captain of the 17mph group, and not the 18. So before we left with Sean, we made a frantic search for Steve Cutter and Rich Benner. Couldn¹t find either, but we left anyways. Nice, huh?
Steve figured it out and chased us down. I never did see Rich again. Giuseppewas itching to ride hard, and most of us resisted. So we got dropped around mile 59. I could see Giuseppe¹s red outfit off in the distance when I turned around. I had a great ride, making it home by 1:45p in plenty of time for my daughters recitals. I¹m glad I was home for them. 125miles even.
I realized how amazing beneficial it is to drink plain water at the end and pour some of it on the back of your head and neck. It cooled me right down and let me cruise in the last 20 miles feeling like new (well, not totally new). Why haven¹t I ever done this before. It was amazing. My low point was mile 90-105. Starting to overheat.
2008 B2B – John Whisnant
Ten things to do in preparation the 2009 B2B:
1. Make sure to bring E-Caps for Steve
2. Remember that suffering is an important part of life itself
3. Develop a mantra for long endless climbs
4. Buy Ray a new saddle
5. Have Harpoon change the end-of-ride T shirt to say “I am the Finisher”
instead of just “Finisher”
6. Have Harpoon open the Boston brewery on Saturday so we can have a beer of two before driving home
7. Eliminate the second water stop to make the route more challenging
8. Require the bike moving company to rack the bikes in numeric order
9. Find out what Giuseppe is taking as supplements
10. Spend from now until the 2009 B2B reminding Eric that he turned back before the really hard part of the route kicked in John
2008 B2B – Damon Bates
Statistical Summary
Energy Expenditure 6,326 kcal
Number of Heart Beats 82,075 beats
Distance 145 miles
TTL Ascent 6,480 ft
Course profile chart below in shaded area. Rather revealing.
Captain, Oh Captain
Sometimes the lure of a distinctive fashion accessory is just too to much (for me) to ignore. Like a shiny object, the prospect of having “CAPTAIN” emblazoned on the back of my jersey rather than a mere plebeian “Harpoon” was simply too much to ignore. So I rose to the bait. So began the task of dragging the 17rs for the 1st 10 miles. Thanks to Tom Day for sharing that load.
Hurry up and ….Crash
Despite the apparent narcissism and fashion OCD, I do view the Captian role as a responsibility rather than an opportunity having witnessed an excess of stupidity over the years. So I was not surprised when, at the rather responsible sub 20 pace we set, we were overtaken by the group behind us hell bent on on destruction. Why some folk feel compelled to blast through the 1st 10 mi of 145 mi ride, in city traffic, is beyond me. so, sure enough they all wrecked in the middle of an intersection in Arlington as we casually rolled by. Caught in the fray unfortunately, was Ed Sassler, who many of you may know from Wheelworks. Fortunately, when I caught him at the 2nd water stop he seemed no worse for the wear.
Suffering is…
800+ ft of climbing over 4.2 miles …..at 90 mi. (See profile below) Somehow I never got this memo….only one about an “improved” route around Keene A 3.75% grade doesn’t sound like much out of context but this was excruciating. For perspective that’s almost twice as steep as the 1.9% grade of 1st climb after the 1st water stop. I haven’t seen people walk up climbs in a long time but there were at least a half dozen on this climb. This was stupid hard. Put it in the 34 x 27 and hang on for dear life. My average speed was 7.4 mph on this schlog…..would be curious how others fared….but I know I wont get a straight answer from the usual and customary suspects… 🙂
Sometimes Quicker Really is Better
To add insult to injury, don’t forget to throw not one, but 2 flat tires into the mix at about 115 miles. the Cycleloft guys deserve major kudos here for changing the second one in under 30 seconds. Very impressive ….and convenient. And thanks to Charlie and Ian for stopping and waiting…..it would have been an agonizing final 36 mi. solo. BTW Ian’s not the Slug he claims to be, particularly on what must be the oldest bike being ridden yesterday….some 25+ years old
Don’t Leave Home Without ’em
Endurolites that is. Think I went through 2 fistfuls. I think the real ticket is, as Eric suggests, mixing the powdered version into your liquid of choice or , my preference, a 4-6 scoop / bottle slurry of Perpetum then having capsules as on hand as a rip cord
The Agony and Ecstasy of Thin , Cheap Lycra
Having spent a lot of time at, and w/ a good view of, the back (not by choice) I’ve found that Pearlizumi shorts are particularly prone to this phenomenon. In a ride like B2B this can be problematic about 80-90% of the time and intriguing the other 15%….or, perhaps the other way around. So consider yourself….warned and informed, depending on your perspective.
Yet Another Marketing Oversight
I was disappointed, stunned and appalled that no where on the the finishing T shirt were the TTL mileage and vertical memorialized to demonstrate to all non riding civilians, including our spouses, that we are far tougher than our incessant whining would seem to indicate. Jesse Cox and Adam Bailey will have at least one email waiting for them come Monday morning
The Broom Wagon
The fun part of sliding ones way to the back of the bunch over 145 miles is that it’s like a reunion. I got to see more people on this DL than I have all year. Oddly, as everyone rides past me I’m left w/ so many questions:
1. Why doesn’t Tucker’s metabolism slow down like the rest of us? and is his BMI really a negative number as rumored?
2. As John W also suggest, what is Giuseppe on anyway, and how can I get some?
3. What happened to Tom, Tom and Tom? they were here a min. ago?
4. Why didn’t Eric ride the whole thing? I really wanted to see him suffer for once.
5. How does Rock Lederman manage to so consistently accessorize himself every year
6. How did I manage to catch Ed Sassler at the 2nd water stop?? (perhaps I don’t suck as badly as I thought?…no, I do…)
7. Why didn’t I find Stan’s wheel sooner? (its glorious back there)
8. How did I manage to lose Stan’s wheel so quickly ….?
9. Where did Giuseppe come from, what is he on and how do I get some? Legally. Molto Bene. (sp?)
10. How can I be like Ray when I grow up?
….and the list goes on…
Here concludes another self indulgent edition edition of The View From The Back
damonbates
HPG Bike Blog 