It was still broad daylight when we all gathered at “The
Fred” to begin our Annual Summer
Solstice Celebration Night Ride. That
might have something to do with several folks not being completely prepared for
the ride.
You see, the longer days sort of sneak up on us. The segment of our community who ride
year round have graaaadually put away
the winter clothes, and have had to charge lights less, worry about carrying
lights less. Frankly, it’s been a
while since most of us have actually managed to ride in the dark.
Even though folks read my discussion and description of
these rides, they read from a more relaxed position. (In some cases, so relaxed as to be indistinguishable from
sleep.) Instead of thinking, “Right. Night Ride.
Full darkness discipline applies.
Check!” The thought is more
like, “Uh huh, Solstice ride. It will get dark. Better find the lights… Hmm.”
Considering that, several people had to scramble around and
borrow to come up with a complete set of equipment. More, a few of the group went completely without reflective
ankle bands. Gang, this isn’t
trivial. Those anklebands make a
cyclist much more visible at
night. I invite any and all of you
to perform a little experiment.
(This can be done in a neighborhood.) Sit in a car, about 100 yards from an intersection. Turn the headlights on. Then have a friend ride through the
intersection, crossing your line of sight. Have them use lights, but no ankle bands. Then have them return, while wearing
ankle bands. The results will
be… Shall we say, illuminating?
Okay. Enough
admonishment.
We had a fairly large group. There were, by count, 12 of us. We moved out on time, and in good order. There was a surprising amount of
traffic in Peachtree City as we started.
This is a bit odd for a Monday evening. I guess we can chalk that up to the coming of Summer. By the time we reached the notorious
Rockaway Road climbs, things had thinned a bit, and once we were out on Stallings
Road, traffic was close to scarce.
(It would pick up again.
More on that later.)
The sun sank gently to our right as we left Senoia behind
us. The evening advanced. Our group rode at a pleasantly brisk
pace. The temperature and humidity
were as close to ideal as we could have asked for, and the mostly clear sky
made for a scenic sunset.
Things were still pleasant, and relaxed when we made our
turn onto GA-54. Down here, in
Sharpsburg, where McIntosh Trail intersects GA-54, the traffic is usually
pretty light. The road is
moderately un-hilly (as opposed to flat), and undulates pleasantly. It’s a good place to make good time. Of course, as we approached the Fischer
Road split, things do get a bit more lively. We had a minor bobble as we negotiated the left hander onto
Fischer Road. There was following
traffic, and the motorists weren’t sure how to behave. We recovered nicely, splitting the
group, letting traffic pass, and rejoining afterwards.
We negotiated the evil intersection at GA34 with aplomb. And then we proceeded up Fischer Road.
I have been leading this ride, on this route for four years
now. I’ll restructure it before we
do it again. There is a stretch of
five miles, between GA-34 and the turn onto Major Road. Four four years, this stretch has been
where the “wheels come off.” I’m
speaking figuratively, of course.
But it seems that we always
have some sort of challenge, or problem along here. I can take a hint.
This year, the
traffic along Fischer was fairly heavy, fast, and intolerant. Add to that, one rider had an equipment
malf, and another rider fell over.
Then the group got split, and it took a while to get everyone rejoined. All the while it was growing dark. We won’t use that bit of routing again.
Eventually we managed
to get off of Fischer Road, and then made the climb(s) up to Tyrone. That meant we were largely out of
traffic, and the adrenaline level dropped slowly back toward a tolerable level. We stopped in Tyrone, just long enough
to put a foot down, catch our breath, change bottles, and do a mental re-group
for the last leg of the ride.
(Apparently no one else noticed that our stop point was right under the original Starship Enterprise!)
The last leg of the trip was mostly uneventful. We rode from Tyrone, crossed GA-74, and
went the length of Dogwood Rd.
From there we used a tiny bit of Tyrone Road, then turned onto Flat
Creek Trail, and out onto GA-54. A
quick jink onto Ebenezer, and then back into PTC.
I’d like to mention, I was largely impressed by the group’s
traffic discipline, and by the teamwork exhibited. The night was characterized by a great combination of good
spirits mixed with good judgement.
When we had to make unexpected stops, we did so, in good order, and got off the road. Even the “jink” that I use to make the left turn off of
GA-54 didn’t seem to phase anyone.
Thank you all, Bob, Judy, Bill, Phil, Deb, Amanda, Jan, Jim, Mike, Scott,
and Chris, and somebody whose name I didn’t get. It was a very good and satisfying ride, and I’d go out with
any one of you again! Bravo!
STILL AHEAD:
Pedal for Pets
Yes! Southside Cycling Club is putting on
their first annual organized ride.
The venue will be in Senoia, GA,
and it will go on 14 July. There will be three distance options,
35 miles, 65 miles, and 100 miles.
I’m particularly excited about this one. I’ve been working hard to develop the
courses, and I must say these are some of the nicest, sweetest roads I’ve been
on.
For more info, and to register, click Here http://www.southsidecycling.com/p4p/index.php
August (date to be
determined)
Trip to the mountains.
We’ll be going up to ride the famous “South Triple Gap Loop.” We’ll be using the “original” route,
with the start and finish points in the center of Dahlonega. 53 miles, over 5,000 feet of gain. Who’s in?
Be sure to check out
tomorrow’s post. It’s the next
in new three year long series on developing as a cyclist.
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