Monday was (in addition to being International Talk Like a Pirate Day, Arr…) the occasion for our annual Fall Equinox Celebration Night Ride. (Point of scientific fact: The actual Autumnal Equinox occurs today at 06:04.)
Conditions were near ideal. The weather was sweet, cool enough to be pleasant, and warm enough not to require additional life-support technology.
We had a largish group of good riders assembled. I don’t take role at these things, so I honestly don’t know who all was there. I saw Ryan, Van, Chris, Candy, Amy, Amanda, Dan, Jim, Teresa, Scott, and Jody. If I missed you, and you were there, please let me know about it.
We got started right on time, with the ceremonial lighting of the tail lights. We pushed off into rapidly gathering dusk, and moved Southwardish, down the Peachtree Parkway. It was pleasing to see good traffic discipline and excellent stopsign and intersection procedures in a group so large. (Maybe that was why we didn’t experience any horn honking as we rode out of town?)
By the time the group got to the GA-85 crossing, it was pretty close to full dark, and most had their headlights on.
Another outstanding group performance occurred as we reached GA-92. On this route, it’s necessary to turn right onto this road, and then after a short distance, make a left off of it. This can be tricky, as traffic comes up fast, and the sightlines are not long here. We pulled it off excellently, slowing after the combination to allow the traffic-lagged riders to catch back up.
For several miles after leaving GA-92 the roads are quite rough, bad pavement, holes, bumps, etc. That may have figured in the night’s major incident.
We moved at a moderate speed, and in good order, through a series of turns onto progressively more rural roads. And yes I missed one turn, forcing the group to do an on-street 180 turn to get back to it. (Honest, I don’t do this deliberately! It’s not a ploy to test rider alterness and handling ability.)
And then it happened! “Steve! Somebody has a problem!” I hate hearing that. It’s not that I don’t want to know. It’s that there is always a rush of anxiety. Did someone fall? How bad is it? All that rushes through my head.
As fortune would have it, this one wasn’t a major problem, but it was bad enough. A broken spoke. On the rear. (Of course.) And almost at the exact midpoint of the loop. (That Murphy is a witty guy, isn’t he?) With the sudden release of tension, the wheel had gone badly out of true, enough to be rubbing the bike’s frame. Hard! The bike was all but unrideable.
I must commend the group. Everyone got well off the road while we dealt with things. Folks stood around in such a way as to direct their lights on the disabled bike and the work I needed to do. I was handed tools as needed. Really really cool!
Then we had to make some decisions. The rider was willing to call for a pickup, but the problem is, how do we direct the rescuer to a place where it’s possible to find the rider? And worse, I do not want to leave anyone alone, out in the middle of the night.
I knew that the roads ahead were smoother, and that we would reach GA-92 within about two miles. That would give us a much better location fix. That made the decision for us. We would go that far, and then call for help.
By the time we reached GA-92, Teresa was calling her husband. Tracy was gracious enough to agree to meet us, and pick up our rider and his ailing bike, but it meant we would go “off route” to a good meeting location.
The meet worked out perfectly, but it left the rest of us a good way off of the intended route. I wanted to get us back home in a timely fashion, so I made some quick decisions about the rest of the night’s travel, and we pushed off again.
Let’s review the bidding. We were doing fine, but… Then we had a mechanical, a field-expedient repair, some discussion, and a detour. We’re in good order, but off-route. My best estimate is that we’ve added about a two mile detour. If we go back to the point of departure from route, we’ll be about four or five miles long. Add to that the time lost in just standing, and it could get quite late.
I made the decision. We took a cross-route, intercepted our planned course, and continued. We’d still be a bit long, but I had another short cut in mind. So, instead of taking Morgan Mill Rd to Padgett, we went straight up the GA-85conn. That cut something like a mile off of our trip.
Did you know that they are doing paving on the GA-74 project… At night? Neither did we. They are. That only caused a minor bit of confusion. It helped greatly that traffic was light.
The trip back into Peachtree City was uneventful. We arrived only ten minutes later than plan, and just one mile less than the original plan. Not bad, all things considered.
So, as a group, we slipped through the night, causing little disturbance to our motoring brethren. We had a problem, and as a group, we resolved it. We adjusted for the conditions, and made it home in fine shape and high spirits. All in all, a very successful night, I’d say.
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