Bon été! Good Summer to you!
The Summer Solstice Celebration Night Ride took place last night. We have emerged from our town and “beat the bounds of our home. This ride is our little way of marking the change of the seasons. Spring is over, and Summer begun. Today is the longest day of the year. Here we begin the long slow slide, each day losing a little bit more daylight, until the darkest and longest night on 21 December. (For you Celts, Beltane was 5 May, and Lughnasad will be 7 August.)
We had a good group assembled for the ride. An amazingly big group. In fact, too big a group for me to have “captured” everyone’s names. Lot’s of them! Jan, Jen, and Judy and Bob, and Bob (another one), Dan, and Ed, and Jim, Lisa, Amanda, Teresa, Kelvin, Chris and Chris, Walker, and Scott, Van, and Jeff, and Guy, and others I know I missed the names of. (If I didn’t mention you, I’m sorry, but I wasn’t taking notes or calling role.) Riders had no equipment issues, all in good order, and off we went!
This is an interesting night ride, as it starts in the broad light of day. At the Solstice a 7:30 P.M. start is bright and temps were still quite warm. Old Sol did not leave our sky until 8:51 P.M. The dusk, or Civil Twilight continued until 9:20 PM. Most of us found we wanted to illuminate just about sunset, and this is a good safety practice.
At first we encountered the usual hustle and bustle of Peachtree City evening traffic. This dropped off a bit as we climbed over the infamous Rockaway Road hills, and dropped to almost nothing as Senoia fell behind us.
I’m happy to report that this year Coweta County did not see fit to remove any road surfaces on our route. We had pavement all the way around, and most notably, on Minix road. Last year, this was not the case. It was good to make those particular climbs on pavement instead of lightly oiled sand and gravel.
It’s fun to be out at night. Riding in the dark has a special feeling to it. In one sense, the world closes in around the rider. Nothing exists except the bike, and what is revealed by the headlights. In another sense, the world opens up and is seen quite differently. Glance away from the lights, look to the side for a moment, and the eyes adapt. The woodlines are a wall, but the sky is more visible and the stars shine down. Headlights pick out the glow of staring animal eyes. The world becomes calmer as the automotive traffic (finally) settles down for the night.
Of course we manage to replace a lot of this with laughter. The most unlikely things become funny. There was a lot of laughter among the crowd. (The group was big enough that I was not able to share in all the jokes.
We were blessed with a spectacular sunset, and clear night skies after. This year we did not have the horseflies. However, something large, insectile, winged, and buzzy managed to get scooped into my helmet. It was bad enough that I had to remove the helmet and shake the monster out! (This while riding! Not pleasant!)
We had no major incidents or issues. Yes, a couple of people did manage to drop chains while shifting, but in every case correction was quick, and they were able to rejoin without much hassle.
Turin looks lovely at sunset, and Tyrone is delightful at night. We stopped (briefly) in Tyrone to allow for snacking, clothing adjustment, and water bottle changes.
It stayed remarkably warm throughout the ride. (NOTE: I consumed over 2.5 liters and felt no urgent need to visit a toilet.)
The Official Stats:
Distance: 44.5 miles
Rolling Time: 3:10
Stopped Time: 14:49
Total Time: 3:24:49
Rolling Average Speed: 14.05 mph
Folks, thank you all for joining us. I’d ride the same (or more) with any of you. Can’t hardly wait for the Mid-Summer’s Eve Ride!
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