May 19th and 20th 2007 ride write-ups

May 19th Bike Ride.
Attended by the most consistent riders of the season.
Theresa Smit and Sarah Powell.
These two riders headed out on the regular 24 mile route. They rode smooth and steady the entire way. They elected to climb UpChuck just for the challenge.
At the end of the ride they had completed the route at an average of 13 mph and were able to chat the entire way. A Successful ride.

May 20th Sunday ride.
The BOYS ARE BACK.
This morning ride was attended by the following in order of appearance.
Kevin and Theresa Smit.
John Majikes. His first ride this season with the group, however he had been seen riding weeknights with the group out of Cycling Spoken Here.
Jae Brainard
Steve Cope and Brian Farcas in the Yellow Thing both gentlemen unshaven for days.
They claimed they had been out in the mountains training for a month just to get ready for this ride. The intimidation techniques had begun.
David Bridenbaugh arriving on his bike. This was also his first ride with the group this season, however he also has been out hammering the peddles on some individual rides.
Sara Powell.
And Finally Coach Dotson. Coach is also one who has been doing many training rides on his own or with other groups.

Everyone took time to shake hands and reintroduce him or herself. We had not seen Brian for almost a year. He had not ridden since then. This became very obvious when he pulled his bike off the back of the Thing. Dust flew everywhere. When he spun his tires to see if they were true you could hear the spokes pinging. Brian then did a quick check to see if he could find the loose spoke. As he squeezed each pair it was clear that almost all the spokes needed attention. Brian was wondering what to do to fix this problem. No one had a spoke wrench on them. Kevin suggested that from the looks of how loose the spokes were Brian could tighten them by hand. This is exactly what he did, and it made a difference. We all got a good laugh out of this new bike mechanic technique.
Tires pumped, helmets on, computers reset, feet clipped in the group headed out of the parking lot. Slow and steady as we all headed into the Preston neighborhood. The two groups split on the last hill out of that neighborhood. The Testosterone group jumped across Davis drive as the Smell the Roses group stopped for the light. Kevin and Steve Cope pulled the entire stretch from this point on past Green Hope, on to and along Fire Station Church road, and on towards UpChuck hill. The others in the pack road in the mighty draft created by Kevin. Steve Cope is too small to draft behind so everyone in the back kept shifting and changing positions to gain the advantage of drafting behind the fat man. As you may recall last year Steve Cope described the draft that Kevin produces as if you were sitting in the eye of a hurricane. No wind at all, calm and peaceful.
As UpChuck approached we all looked to see if anyone was going to challenge John who loves to race down the hill in preparation for the climb. The group scattered, each coasting and dodging the various pot holes that have been generated by all the heavy construction equipment. As the hill approached the group discovered that all riders were now clumped together. To everyone’s surprise there was not clear attacker. We all were in the hunt for the summit of UpChuck. Brian looked to his right and almost fell of his bike from surprise and his nervous laughter. He was neck and neck with the fat man and we were working our way through the crowd towards the summit. This was a total shock for Brain and the others. Remember Kevin has been riding with the Smell the Roses group for several weeks. The pack did a good job of reaching the summit without being splintered much at all. Right turn at the top of the hill had coach and Steve Cope in the lead. Kevin and John Majikes were pulling the others along and closing the gap on coach and Cope. With in a ¼ of a mile coach and Steve dropped into the peleton and once again coasted in the eye of the hurricane. As we reached the left turn at Mount Pisgah Church Road the leaders slowed to make the turn. Coach swung into the lead and rounded the turn. He then quickly announced that someone else could take the pull for awhile since he had just taken his turn. The hills on this stretch of road come one after the other and is a great place to test your attacking skills. This began even before the first climb. The pace quickened with David Bridenbaugh, Steve Cope, Brian, and Coach all responding to the surge. Kevin and John road at a steady pace with each hills crest taking it toll on heart and lungs. The lead group stopped at the intersection of 751 and Mount Pisgah long enough to yell clear and zoom into their left hand turn. Kevin and John made a valiant attempt to get back into the pack. They hung on with Kevin staying tucked in the pack and John slowly giving way to the steady climb up 751 to the left turn on Martha Chapel. The pack coasted allowing all members to regroup. The road had been recently paved and was so smooth we could feel the smooth surface in our handlebars. Kevin and Coach took the lead position and began the long pull all the way to lake Jordan. At one point a pack of motorcycles raced pass, with every one challenging those pulling in front to jump behind one of the motorcycles and draft them. Once to the intersection at lake Jordan the group was challenged to make a decision. Do we do our normal 32 mile ride or add extra miles by turning right and heading for Lystra. On right the pack announced. No extra miles today. Kevin again lead the pack along this road towards Horton Pond. We road single file as this can be one of the busier roads. Left turn onto Horton Pond.
Several riders took turns on this stretch pulling in the lead. Kevin and Steve Cope and Coach all taking turns. Right turn onto 751 from Horton Pond, Left turn onto Luther.
Now the dynamics of the ride changes. This is were those riding in the eye of the hurricane began their push toward the end of the ride. We still had 10 to 12 miles to go and now the hard chargers were taking control of the pace. David Bridenbaugh (the locamotive) put his chain into the larger rings and began his heads down attack. Cope, Brian, and Coach all responded by falling in line behind. Kevin and John waved goodbye to the group. The stretch on Luther has one great down hill and then a long steady climb usually into a head wind until the turn at Green Level. The group waited long enough to see that John and Kevin were still on their bikes and ready to make the right turn onto Green Level. Kevin told the group in the lead to make the turn on Wimberly. John and Kevin did a good job of keeping the group insight. As we approached the turn at Wimberly the lead pack zoomed on past. Kevin and John shouted to get their attention as the two of them made the right turn onto Wimberly. The pack pulled and immediate U turn and quickly swallowed up John and Kevin. Down the hill the pack motored hitting 30+ miles per hour. From the bottom of this hill it is a long mile or mile and a half climb to the turn at Jenks. This is were the Testosterone began to fly.
Brian and Cope had been watching closely to see if David was still ready to attack the hills. David began his charge up the hill. Coach was slowly losing ground on him. Steve and Brian urged Coach to attack as they road up side by side to his handlebars. Like shot from a cannon those two exploded up the hill catching coach off guard and reeling in David. This was the last time that John and Kevin saw any of the group ahead.
Kevin and John continued to ride a steady 17 to 19 miles per hour and still no sign of the lead group. We can only imagine that some where in there battle Steve Cope swatted at one or all of the riders, That David Bridenbaugh likely broke a chain from his powerful peddling stroke, and Coach attacked non stop for fear someone’s tire might get ahead of his. Later Coach was questioning how it is that Steve and Brian could accelerate so quick.
As stated earlier.
THE BOYS ARE BACK.

The smell the roses riders stayed true to their mission.
They chatted non stop.
They by passed upchuck hill.
They rode steady completing the 25 miles at a 13.2 mph pace.
Sarah attacked all hills. She also increased her rpms into the low 100’s.
Jae rode as strong as always
Theresa leveraged gravity on the down hills, only to suffer gravity’s pull on the up hills.
Great ride something for everyone.