There's nothing wrong with my bike.

Ann asked me if there was a problem with my bike, when we were just about 2 miles from the end of today's ride. She said she noticed I had slowed down. I was doing 17 mph when she passed me. On a Club LITE ride. No ma'am. Any speed deficiencies are purely due to the lack of horsepower in the engine. The bike is great. I'm glad others care enough to make sure mine is running though.

There was quite a crowd at the Pintala Church this morning. The regular club was supposed to reel of 50 ish miles at 18 - 20. Someone who was with them will have to do the report. By the time the Lite group made it back, the regulars had already put their bikes back on the cars. We were happy celebrate Jack's return to club rides following his medical roller coaster ride. Likewise, John (now retired!) was a welcome sight. Tom, Jim, Wendell and new rider Jackie filled out or cadre. She will be in the regular group but wanted to get her feet wet with a more relaxed and conversational outing. Here are a couple of pics of Jackie, the group, and Ann and Tom pulling the team across the countryside.
As you can probably tell, we're not quite ready for the Tour de France just yet. With all our medical issues, it's questionable how many of us would pass the drug tests as well.

The temperature when we started was around 75, and the winds were calm. It was another beautiful morning for a bike ride. The plan was to take the 30 mile route to the Ramer store. Jackie could get to meet Cedric, and experience the excitement of winding your way through the butcher department to look for the bathroom. John pointed out that not too may years ago, they had a wooden building out back which you used instead. In fact, the Fitzpatrick store still does! We'll have to show her that one next time.

The ride is typical of southern Montgomery county, with lots of rollers, but no really steep or big climbs. After my thorough workout yesterday, it was fine with me. Jackie is new to Alabama and couldn't get the theme from "Deliverance" off her mind. We tried to assure her that she would not fall prey to deep woods weirdos on this bike ride. As long as she stayed out of a canoe, anyway.

I have meant to take a picture of a building on Butler Mill Rd for some time now. It looks like it could be a gift shop, or a plant store, but I never see it open. It's called "Longview" and here are are 2 pictures of it, close up and a "Long" view. It's in a lovely nook of the woods.

We ended up with 35 miles and I averaged 14. I am sure Ann was WAY faster Þ~~~

Have a great weekend everyone. There's a bike ride in France on TV at 3 that I may watch.

Tailwinds!