Club B & W

After very little riding this past week in the high 90s temps, a ride this morning sounded like a great idea. No one seemed to commit to going, so I was prepared to go solo the 40 odd miles to Ramer and back if need be. A new green wool Ibex jersey (a great score on Ebay) came in the mail this week and it matches the Saluki, so that was the bike to ride.

For starters, it was not in the 90s this morning. It was in the 50s!!!! Here is the picture to prove it taken just as I got to Pintlala.


Plenty of speed wagons showed up in the parking lot and they took off promising one another to stay at 18 -19 this week, not 21 - 23 like Bilee and Patty had them up to a week or so prior. It was good to see Dan and Vanessa all well and bright eyed. She came back from high altitude training with some offbeat bug high up in her innards and making her very sick. Then Dan caught it as well. Dan said "You know it's serious when Homeland Security calls to find out where you've been in a foreign country because you have such an unusual bacteria." I am sure we have no hidden bio-terrorists in our club.

Finally, Wendell arrived and I knew that he and I could ride together. He wanted to ride for about 25 miles and get back home to work in the yard. I was happy to have the company, and knew I could continue on myself, if more miles were needed. This is Alex's weekend to mow, but the more I thought of it, the more I decided I wanted the lawn to look GOOD, and I agreed with Wendell's plan. Besides, mowing in cool weather is far better than what I agonized through last week.

We rode the top part of the club metric in reverse, putting the US331 store stop at about the 18 mile point, which worked out just fine. The weather was fantastic. Light breeze, brilliant Sun, cool temps. The wool worked great as it always does. Coming back on Butler Mill, Wendell threw a chain off some how and got it really tangled up. Here he is trying to keep the chain in place and un tangle it by rotating the bike. I kid you not.



I let him play with it for a minute or two. I asked him who built the bike. It is a Cannondale R200 (Cadd 2) frame with Campy Record triple crankset, Chorus brakes, Athena hubs, Mavic open pro wheels, and a Dedacciai Deda Murex Stem. I know it didn't come from the factory that way (those are all high end race components from the late 80s to mid 90s). It's a great looking bike (featuring a rubber "Babar" elephant head squeeze horn on the handlebars) The shifter cables are crisscrossed under the down tube and the only one around here who builds like that (that I have seen) is Phil at Cycle Escape. Sure enough, Wendell got the frame from a fellow who moved on to CO, and Phil built it up for him with some nice old parts.

I spent some more time giving Wendell a hard go about un chaining, and then coasting forever to find some shade, instead of pulling off into the 1st driveway. Then I came and took a closer look.


Finally I asked if I could help. We turned the bike back over, and I fished a rubber glove out of the saddle bag so I could grab the chain and stay clean. We slipped the chain back in place and were off in a trice. All jokes about "exams" aside, a rubber glove makes a sleeve for your spare tube and then protects your hand from grease during chain removal/replacement. You can pull one on right over your cycling glove, so it is very convenient. Turn it inside out when you put it back in the saddle bag to keep things clean. Toss it when you get home.

The turn onto CR 24 came way too soon, I was not ready for the ride to end. It was fun to chat and not feel pushed. We averaged 14.4 mph (13 - 15 was the advertised range) which is fine for a fat tires, front and rear bags touring rig.

I look out on a new mowed lawn, and am glad that it's all done.

Tailwinds!