RIDE REPORT AND WRAP UP

To begin with let me say two things. One, I’m delighted. Two, Oops.

I’m delighted with how the day turned out. It was a truly grand ride.

The oops takes a bit more explaining. I didn’t anticipate a significant detail. In our part of the world, the little town of Gay, GA absolutely explodes on the first weekend of May and October. It’s the “Cotton Pickin’ Fair”! This event draws folks from miles around. And our route was one of the two most travelled directions to Gay. That meant we had to contend with a lot of traffic during the early part of our ride. But the Fair factored in later in the day too. Our lunch stop is south of Gay, but also a popular destination, and right on the other most travelled approach to the Fair. This meant that the Bulloch House was positively overwhelmed. So we had to endure a considerable wait before we were seated.

Let me offer my profound apologies to the other riders. I missed the significance of the date when I scheduled this ride. All turned out well, and it won’t happen again. In extenuation I would like to plead youth and inexperience coupled with long and faithful service. That’s my story and I’m sticken to it.

We convened (most of us) a little before dawn, and made our pre-ride preparations. Present (in no particular order) were Kelvin Arcelay, John Cloud, Deb Kalish, Cindy Whitley, Lisa Price, H. L. Jackson, Chris Muntzel, Ed Clark, Scott Rutkowski, and your humble servant.

We got under way in the dawn gloom, slightly chilly, but clear overhead, little wisps of fog here and there. South down the Peachtree Parkway. We almost had the Parkway to ourselves at this early hour. A brisk climb up Rockaway Rd, to Senoia helped warm everyone up. For a wonder, no one needed to take a “nature break” in Senoia, so we proceeded on south to GA-85.

Usually the six mile stretch of 85 is almost deserted at this hour of a Saturday. That wasn’t the case on this day. We were absolutely flogged by the traffic speeding toward Gay. It was a real relief to turn off of 85 and head west into the rollers of GA-362. More, the Sun was well up and it began to seem like it just might warm up a bit.

We made good time to the break point in Greenville, and after a brief break, left in good order.

I should mention that I’ve been doing these rides for several years. In that time, no two of them have been even close to each other in character. This edition was marked by a group that started out determined and focused, and pretty much remained that way throughout the day. At the same time, the group seemed to be chafing at the restrained and disciplined pace. This gang wanted to turn the ponies loose!

Ed was a more than welcome addition to the group. He’s done this stuff before, and our riding styles compliment each other well. Coming out of the town of Pine Mountain, I asked Ed to bring up the rear as I led the climb up the flank of the mountain. I would then mark the turn onto GA-190 for the group, let Ed pass me, and I spent the rest of the trip across the top of the mountain riding “chaser” at the back. This works well. It’s almost impossible to hold the climbers in on this part of the ride. For that matter, it’s also impossible to keep the descenders throttled back on the screaming straight line descent into Warm Springs. This works well. There are good rally points at the end of each of these sections.

Lunch, as I’ve mentioned before, was delayed. I can’t blame the staff at the Bulloch House. They were working as fast as they could, and still managing to deliver excellent service and wonderful food. They were just simply overwhelmed by the numbers. It was Fair day in Gay. (I won’t make that mistake again!)

I should mention, Cindy Whitley and John Cloud both set new distance records for themselves. Neither had done more than a 65 mile ride before Saturday. Both did an excellent job of staying with the group, and contributing to the whole ride.

The trip north from Warm Springs was uneventful, and pleasant. The afternoon was warm, but not oppressively so. The general tone of the group was cheerful. We held the pace down for the first hour after lunch, for digestion’s sake, and then picked it up a good bit.

I should mention that there was one outbreak of sprinting insanity. This was on the last leg of the trip, coming down Huckaby Rd. There is an almost irresistible sprint line to the end of this road, and we did get an old-fashioned “stop sign sprint.” Alright, most folks had the good sense to simply sit and wait for sanity to return, but three of us just had to go play. And yes, I admit it. I was one of the group. (Honest, I didn't start it.) Doesn’t happen often, but it was a fun day.

As is the tradition for these rides, we formed up in a column of twos and took the lane coming back into town on the Peachtree Parkway. It’s our way of parading home in triumph, at the end of a long and successful ride.

We had a bit of socializing and a good solid snack at the end of the trip, and then all went our separate ways.

I’d like to thank each and every one of you who came out and rode on this perfect fall day. Congratulations to each of you. Everyone of you met some kind of challenge along the way. Each of you dealt with your personal challenges with gallantry and courage.

Bravo!

Numbers: Time on Bike = 8:40. Stopped time = 2:54. Total time = 11:34. Moving average speed = 14.3.

In parting, I’d like to point out that a Randonneurs USA sanctioned 200K brevet must be completed in 13:30. So each and every one of you could have accomplished that feat, and could in the future, if you so choose. It’s also an axiom among randonneurs, if you can do a 200K, then you can do a 300K. If you can do a 300K, then you can complete a 400K. If you can complete a 400K, then a 600K is within your reach. What comes after that? A grand randonee of 1000K or the grandest of all, Paris-Brest-Paris 1200K. Think about it.

Until we meet again, let me wish you all, Bon chance et bon route!