For the 3rd year, local and out of town cyclists gathered at The Waters (an upscale, 1900s style Main St. USA themed development) in Pike Road. The mayor spoke and let us know that Pike Road is planning to build a 36 mile long mixed use rec trail! Very cool. There were 72 riders, which puts this event at about the same size as the Tour Autauga. It's a fund raiser for Kid One, which transports needy sick children to medical care. The route covers an area that gets regular use on club rides, so nothing new there. The rest stops are sparse when you need them, too close otherwise. (for the 62 mile ride, they are at 12, 43, and 54 miles) They work out better for the shorter distance riders, I think.
I broke out of the gate quicker than I wanted to and had to start out climbing those dang hills just to get out of the subdivision. I hate starting out a ride with a climb on cold leg muscles. But, what can you do? Also, despite the 2" of rain we got the other day, the folks at The Waters maintenance department irrigate heavily, so there were muddy puddles to ride through. Not expecting rain, my FENDERED bike was home in the garage. My now DIRTY unfendered bike needs a bath.
I spoke briefly in the first mile or two to Karen from Greenville. A tall, strong gal, and fast rider, I've seen her on charity rides around the state (MS 150, Tri-States 100, others?) for 3 years now. So today I asked her name. She said she would ride with me, but I just can't hang in there at 20 - 22 for very long. She's a Phys ed teacher. I can't hang with Julie in our club either. Another Phys Ed/ Coach type. Which reminds me, our club has a good number of fast riding gals as well as guys. It's quite impressive to see what some of these riders can do. After the dust settled, like at Rest stop #1, I hooked up with some regular Saturday friends. Bilee, Alice, Jim, Jack, John, and Cathy. We stayed pretty much together for quite a while. We certainly worked together to put Gary (who was working the rest stop) back in his place. He informed us that he was the MANAGER of the rest stop! And get this, he said it with a straight face. LOL! Hey, it was great to see him recovered from the motorcycle mishap and involved in the riding scene again.
We left the rest stop with full water bottles, realizing that there was a 30 mile haul to the next one. After crossing Hwy 82 going South, we had to lasso Bilee and Alice as they neared the Peake Rd. turn off. That way leads to Sikes and Kohn Shoes, and the ladies thought new shoes sounded really good. Alice had a plan to grab a bite after shoe shopping at Red's Schoolhouse Restaurant, and call for SAG afterwards. We kept their noses to the grindstone however, and their temptation passed. The road swings east soon afterward and you leave Montgomery County. When you hit Bullock County, there is an immediate change in the pavement. It is AWFUL. My steel frame and slightly larger tires soak up a lot of the road noise, but Alice was getting bounced around something fierce. She asked if all that jiggling would help her lose some cellulite. (No, I am not making that up, she really said it) I suppose it would work as well as the machines you see at spas. Which is, not at all.
When we got back to the intersection of CR 37 and US 82, 2 guys were coming the other way. They asked us if we knew where the course was. They had missed the 1st turn coming out and gone on a 27 mile ramble around the area, without being on the route once. (In their behalf, it should be noted that the street markings were almost impossible to find in key places) We called them "The Lost Boys." Bilee suggested that they come along with us to find the route and the remaining rest stops. They were young, and of course knew everything there is to know. "How far do we have going backwards on the course to find a rest stop?" "Hmm, about 30 miles." "We have a bottle of water, so we're good." Ahh, to be young and confident again. About that time Jack pulled up to our group and he looked more than a bit too fatigued. We forced him to SAG, against his preference, but you know, when any of us get over tired, we don't make the same quality of decision we might otherwise. No matter how good a rider you are, if you feel ill, get off the bike. It's better to SAG today and ride another day, than have a bad problem and not ride again. He looked better afterwards and I am glad he let us persuade him to SAG. I know I've had hot Summer days when I overheated and had to get OFF my bike right NOW. Sometimes it just happens.
The rest of the ride back was pretty uneventful. The winds picked up in our faces, but what's new about that? We got back and had our free hamburgers from the restaurant there and put our stuff away. All in all, it was a nice ride, and a good work out. Oh, and on my drive out, who should be coming up the road towards the end? You guessed it, The Lost Boys finally made it in.
Pictures above (in reverse order because I am a blog idiot) are:
The club members mentioned above who rode with me.
Me getting tired of going uphill all the time.
The sign post denoting Elders Ferry
My favorite home on Old Pike Rd. I would love to retire to a house like this.
An entrance to a house on Matthews Rd. Beautiful gardening.
And finally, Kids have fun at Kids One.
Tailwinds everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment