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Saturday, November 05, 2011

Ride Together, Right Now



Thorns 
Nick 
Travis
Sharon
 
Shane 
David Bridenbaugh – Mr. Bridenbaugh 
Steve Cope - Captn Carbon 
Todd - B3 
Lee Duncan - Sonic Boom 


It was a bright beautiful morning and we had about 14 riders ready to go. 

Everything was going smooth until...here came old flattop, he came grooving up slowly, he had joo-joo eyeball, he's one unholy roller, he once had hair down to his knees,--he's got to be a joker, he just do what he please--- it was Cope. 

Oh great, now we had some riff raff in the house.  Despite the distraction, the group moved forward with a plan to execute the typical flight path-- across the Carpenter Firestation, down Del Web AARP Blvd, 751, Lystra Petrol and Holland Chapel to home.  We also agreed to a Moratorium on hills. 

As we pulled out of the parking lot, Bridenbaugh said hey: "You may say that I'm a dreamer, But I'm not the only one.. I hope the Stems will join us ..And the world will be as one"...  What?? said Todd! 

And with these prophetic words, the group decided to ride together, and were kind and polite.  The steady pace continued through the first stage of the cycling event.  Nothing too crazy and the behavior exhibited experience and maturity--but more so a symptom of eating excessive amounts of Halloween Candy. 

As the group road out towards 751, the hills started to form, and one young rider, Shane was looking a little cold...He had toe-jam football...He had monkey finger ..He uttered "I know you, you know me" 
"One thing I can tell you is you got to be free"..and with that he pushed about 500 watts through his cycling machine and the blood splattered.  "Ouch, that hurt" everyone yelled.. 

Geez ..and who was ready to blast off next...none other than the Father / Son team of Nick and Travis.  As they started to wake from their cycling slumber.. Nick had Walrus Gumboot and Travis had tights down below his knees, and as they road past on their bikes you could feel their disease...Sonic Boom shouted, .."lets stay together, right now"...or until the light. 

After the light, Sharon and Todd were willing to keep Sonic Boom company as they finished the King of The Mountain stage and rolled into Lystra Petrol.  That was hard work, and it was now time to feast on Hostess Trans fats. 

With everyone feeling a little tired from battling the cold temperatures,  one member of the Thorns yelled out "how many miles to go?"   

Cope...suffering from early onset hypothermia..yelled back, "One and one, and one is three" "Got to be good-looking 'cause it's so hard to see".  Todd once again responded with What?? 

OK, let's all get back then.  And with that the group played nice on the return trip back..with the exception of a decisive County Line Sprint where Cope and Bridenbaugh dominated. 

Overall a great great day of riding among friends at a 16 to 17 mph ave for 40 miles. 

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Yowie Cycling Encounter

Those in attendance on Saturday.
NO ONE

Those in attendance on Sunday

Kevin Smit – GOG
Theresa Smit – Mother Theresa
Vick
Craig X
Bart
Lee Duncan - Sonic Boom
Jae Brainard – “GO GO GO Girl”

On Sunday morning we had 7.5 riders ready to go according to census data.

As we assembled into the parking lot, a few cyclists noticed a large shadowy figure off to the back and snapped a few photos as it scampered into the woods. Was it a Sasquatch (see picture)?





As it turned out, it was GOG entering the tree lined area of Brueggers Bagels to take a natural break. Phew!!

The small group rejoiced because the only thing more rare than seeing Big Foot is a GOG and Mother Theresa sighting. We were delighted and quickly tried to capture the two and bring them into captivity.

After a short team huddle, GOG called out the play -- "we are going to take a complicated escape out of Cary with lots of turns and weirdness." Luckily our new friend Bart understood the directions and demonstrated his competence by calling out streets along the intended path. This dude knew what he was doing.

The crew hit the road, following the directions as instructed until our faithful Roses Leader "GO GO Go Girl" ejected assorted cycling items out of her jacket. The group slowed down and let her collect the belongings which turned out to be mace and I think a taser, brass knuckles and a bear trap. Mother Theresa and GOG yelled "OK were good, release the Kraken"...and with that the 4 man Thorn team was born.


Team Thorn included Craig X, Vick, Bart and Sonic Boom... and we immediately started to chase the invisible rabbit. Up and around we went until we found our way to Green Level West and out to Lewter Shop. We had some awesome pulls and most everyone was rested from the rainy Saturday the day before. Craig X and Vick were all set to do the Halloween Habitat Century, but as mentioned were shut down by the rain. It was noticeable that they were taking their frustration out on Bart and Sonic Boom as they pushed the pedals in Anger. At one point, Sonic Boom fought back trying to serve the 2 Angry men some cycling justice on Holland Chapel, but the do-gooders were too much and could not be playfully dropped. Now that the group was totally gassed out at about 15 miles into the ride, we cruised to Lystra gas station on auto pilot.

At Lystra gardens and resorts we hopped off our bikes for some delicious treats to consider our next move. Originally Craig X and others had to be back in the parking lot by 10:30AM, but some how through cell phone negotiations they were free to about 1PM or longer. With the extended curfew, it was decided that we would do Lystra, Big Woods and Wilsonville to home.

Upon our decision the 4 man group headed towards Lystra riding at a cautionary pace and in good formation. Everyone made it up Lystra in good shape until Bart had to head back for baby duty. We said good bye to our spatially gifted General, and the trio continued forward entering Jack Bennet and up Big Woods. Vick took the lead up Big Woods and pulled the group the entire way -- wow. After that we summoned Craig X to help us because we didn't have enough power for interstellar travel. Craig X took a commanding position and pulled the scrappy Thorns up and towards the Wilsonville gas station where we took one final rest break. Sensing weakness in critical thinking skills from our belabored efforts, Sonic Boom tried to trade snacks with Craig X, but Craig was too smart and knew a bad trade when he saw one.

Now limping, Team Thorn willed themselves across Fearrington pass and back one last time over Holland Chapel and to home.

The short recovery ride turned into a 52 mile 18 to 19 average speed event with everyone happy to see our cycling friends and ready for our next adventure.

The ROSES enjoyed thier 33.4 mile ride out to the lake and back.  They traveled at an average speed of 14.6 mph.  The sun and calm air made for a very enjoyable ride.