A bit late on the report, but I was fairly busy this weekend.
I had some trouble with the front tire going flat earlier this week after leaving the bike in my car at work till I rode it at lunch on Wednesday. I pumped it up Wednesday and thought no more about it. I noticed when I put the bike on the car to head over to the start point, that the tire was flat again! Oh well, I'll just pump it up again was my thought....
Arrived over at Archer's Lodge aroun 7:50am and Neal & Ray were already there. Kevin was on his way. I got my bike off the car and proceeded to pump the tire. I finished and then heard the "pffftt" of air leaking out. OK, then. Proceeded to change the tire with Neal's help, as my fingers were getting cold and I couldn't get the last little bit back on the rim. In the meantime, Kevin arrived. Once the tire was fixed, off we went...
Nothing really exciting about the ride...we stopped at 21 miles at Shoeheel, but my buddy Cletus wasn't there. I guess it was too early for him. Headed on out after a few minutes. Things went pretty well along the route. It got a bit hilly after turning at Antioch Church Rd but nothing that was all that bad. I lagged behind on the hills this day because I didn't prepare properly the night before and my legs were still a bit sore from my gym workout earlier that week.
We crossed Buckhorn Reservoir and I had to stop for a few pictures. This was one of my projects that I worked on a couple of years ago. Got a few pictures, and will either post or link them in a bit. Headed up Buckhorn Road (guess that's the name of it?) and yes, this is short and steep, but nothing that a compact double and 12-27 can't handle. I think the first town we came to was Bailey after the reservoir. We stopped at a store for some water and food, then headed out for the last third of the route. This was when it turned bad for us.
The last leg of the route was into the wind the whole time. It was pretty hard riding too. Kevin is a real workhorse! He pulls and pulls and pulls. He's a very strong rider. So, into the wind, down Hwy 231 to the infamous Flower Hill. Yea, it's hard. No, it's not harder than anything I've done up in the mountains. And, again, nothing that a compact double & 12-27 can't handle. The good thing about this hill is that it's short.
We made one last stop at the Flower Hill store then headed on for the last 12-15 miles back to Archer's Lodge. This, I think was the hardest part, going back on Antioch. Not that Antioch is all that hard, but it is hard when you have to pedal downhill to just keep from slowing down!! Note of interest here...I got gapped just a bit on Antioch and this mail lady in her Chevy Blazer with flashers on, passed me and got behind the guys. I'm following her, not too closely thank goodness, because she starts to slow and then the next thing I know, she slams on her brakes and I just about run into the back end of the Blazer! We shout at each other and she claims she had her turn signal on to make a right turn. Duh! The damn turn signals don't work when you have your flashers on lady!!!! Grrrrr.
That was about all the excitement we had for the ride. We rode down Buffalo for a short distance to make sure Ray had 100k ridden so he could tell his kids that he had done it.
It was a really beautiful day and the ride would have been perfect had it not been for the wind. I hope the actual Frostbite date is as pretty and doesn't have the wind to contend with. I hope I'm ready for it - ready to keep up with Andy & Jay!
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