One week from tonight is the Summer Solstice Celebration Night Ride. Are you planning to go? Have you checked out your lights, and charged them? What about finding your reflective gear. Likely, it’s been a while since most of you have used this stuff. With one week to go, now is a good time to find it, test it, get it laid out and ready.
Honest, you are going to need the night riding equipment. We’ll be leaving the Frederick Brown Amphitheater parking lot at 8:00 PM (sharp). It will still be daylight then. But…
On Solstice Day, Local Sunset is 8:51 PM and, Civil Twilight ends at 9:20 PM. After that it will be dark. We won’t get much help from the Moon either. It will be a waxing crescent, only 13% illuminated, and it will be low in the western sky. Moonset should occur while we are riding.
One other cautionary note: We’re going! Rain or shine, we ride. This time of year, an evening “pop-up” T-shower can never be ruled out. So plan on it. Bring your rain shell, your helmet cover, and a cap to wear under your helmet. Just in case.
This one isn’t about hammering and setting PRs. Rather, it’s a ride as an excuse to go out at night, enjoy the cool (relatively) night air, share company, and just plain have some fun.
I’m going to suggest (rather strongly) that the group stay together for safety and fun sake. Besides, I won’t have time to generate and print cue sheets.
What in blazes are we doing? We’re going to ride around the outer boundaries of our fair city. That means we’ll be well outside of it most of the time. We’ll be checking to see if things are still there, and we’re riding to welcome in the start of Summer.
What’s the route like? To begin with, it’s in this area. So we’ll have some hills to climb... (Incidentally, uphills aren’t as steep at night.) …and to descend. (Downhills are steeper at night.) We’ll even see some flat roads. We’ll be going in a big circle, and we’ll cover close to 45 miles. We’ll stay (mostly) away from traffic. We’ll go around Peachtree City, in a sort of, clockwise direction. We will return to “The Fred” somewhere between 11:00 PM and midnight. We can expect to see wildlife. We can expect some kind of excitement, and some long quiet stretches.
Should I bring food? Definitely! And water too!
What kind of bike should I ride? I’d recommend a road bike. Fixies and singles are okay if you are brave enough to do 45 miles on one. Sure, you can ride a mountain bike, but I would not recommend it.
Requirements: Helmets. Good head lights, taillights, reflective vest or sash, and reflective ankle bands. We’ll do this one rain or shine!
BTW: This one is posted on the South Side Cycling Club’s website, but as of this writing, no one has signed up to go. Does that mean I’m gonna do this solo?
You said “beyond.” What’s that mean? It means that I’m itching to get out on the road with friends and go places. Keep watching this space. I want to do some touring. This has already been one tough year, and it’s hard to schedule things. I’ve had to scrap (for now) the plans for the Blue Ridge Parkway Tour. We could do a reprise of last year’s Cheaha Challenge and Adventure. I am certain that I am going to include a bit of touring, to and from the Cox Bike MS ride in Pine Mountain. So stay tuned, stay on the bike, and stay safe!
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