"Laughter is a uniting force, it
brings people together, and it makes
hardship easier."
Montaigne
Not to malign Backpack Bob, but it was a shitty ride start.....literally. It was not the location of the ride start nor the people gathered there nor the parking available. It was literally the smell of excrement that clung and permeated the air from the nearby septic tank being pumped. But even that did not stop the smiles and laughter and nervous chatter as people gathered to ride and explore new roads on a course that Bob took the time to put together.
I love new courses and am always happy to see a new route as a tour stage. I know that there are those that love the repetition of certain courses, and I myself have some of that in me, but I also truly enjoy rolling down roads I am not familiar with or that I am familiar with but have been put together in a different way that what I am used to. One of the things I love about riding is not knowing what awaits right around the next turn, and this is amplified by a new course that holds no expectations. So I have looked forward to this ride despite Bob talking about all the hills. Experience has taught me that hills often bring the best scenery, and this course will not disappoint with its 28 Wahoo climbs. Bob always does a great job at course design so I know I won't be disappointed.
It is a nice turnout and the weather is predicted to be nice. Bob Grable, Tom Askew, David Frey, Harley Wise, Amelia Dauer, Fritz Kopatz, Zeke Ledford, Larry Preble, Jerry Talley, Mike Kamenish, Dave King, Bob Evancho, Joe Bolan, Vince Livingston, Alan McCoy, Sharon Jetter, Keith Baldwin, Jon Wineland, John Dippold, Terrell Brown, John Killebrew, and I am there. I am rather surprised to see Vince again as someone told me his event, the TransVirginia, https://www.transvirginia.org/about/, is coming up next week, but I assume this is a last training ride. I feel certain he will do well.
While in the parking lot, however, my GPS is not working. It has given me problems since I bought it and they are replacing it, but I did not want to send it back until after this ride as usually it works. I have my old one, but I know the battery will not last for a century, hence the new one. But today was one of the days when it doesn't, at least at first. As we head out, after the pack as Bob has stayed with me until I finally admit defeat, I remind him to tell me of turns. I have been spoiled by the additional layer of safety conferred by a GPS unit and don't want an accident caused by one person turning and the other not turning as I witnessed happening and was even involved in on occasion in the past.
It's rather odd, how things change and how quickly they change. When I first started riding nobody had a GPS unit. In fact, most did not have cell phones. I really don't remember anyone having one. Larry "Gizmo" was the first person I knew to have a GPS. I believe it was a DeLorme. Now most people have one though there are a few that navigate by their phone and one that uses a watch (sorry I can't remember who you are). Jon Wineland still navigated via cue sheet when I first me him and before he was seduced by Garmin. I learn later, after the ride, that Joe Bolan still navigates without GPS from a cue sheet. His wife, Janet, calls this his Amish GPS and makes me grin.
Bob and I are way behind the others and the front group is getting ready to leave by the time we hit the first store stop. I appreciate Bob's patience with me in the parking lot and with my slower pace. I know I need to ride conservatively since I am planning on riding another century tomorrow. Amelia falls back with us at the store stop and the three of us will ride the rest of the day together.
I fall in love with the greenness of the scenery which is a nice mix of farm land, forest, and houses. The recent rain, while wearying and playing hell on training, along with the cool nights and warmer days, has caused everything to appear lush and bucolic. Spring is always that way, but sometimes more than others. As I ride, I think that spring is almost behind us. Summer, as usual, sneaks up quickly. We pass tons of wildflowers. The only negative is the unplowed, unplanted fields we pass. The rainfall has impeded the farmers and while I see the occasional field that shows signs of being planted, most seem to remain barren.
Not too far before we reach Salem for lunch, we come across Jerry, Sharon, and Fritz. I am relieved to learn it is only a flat and is not a fall. Jerry is fixing his third flat of the day. Sharon and Fritz have stopped with him. Bob and I stop. Amelia rides on saying she will meet us in Salem. Jerry says he finally found the piece of glass hidden in his BRAND NEW tire that was causing the flats, gets the tire inflated with a hand pump, only to have the stem pop out. Fritz says he has an extra tube if the tire should flat again.
I loan Jerry my stem wrench (never used but carried) while Bob loans him his new battery powered pump. Meanwhile, Sharon and I and then the others chat a bit about what riders need to carry with them, particularly if they ride much alone. These include not only a pump and a spare tube, but a chain link, tire levers, multi-tool, means of inflation, and tire jack. On my Lynskey I also always carry a spare cable. I smile at the tire jack as I believe I was the first one in our group to carry one. For once I beat Larry at getting a new gadget;-) It actually was recommended to me by a stranger in response to a blog post I had written about my concerns about growing finger weakness and its impact on my being able to change a tire if alone.
As soon as the tire is fixed, we roll out ready to get to lunch. We tell Fritz, Sharon, and Jerry to please go on knowing their pace is much faster than our own. I get a text from Amelia that she is at McDonald's, and so once again I am eating at McDonald's, a place I normally frequent only once a year or so. This is the third time this year I have eaten there. At least it is fast, and that is why we make the decision. I later learn that Subway was overwhelmed and extremely slow and any regrets I have vanish.
While eating, we see a large group head out. When we leave, we assume it is all of them, but later Sharon, Jerry, and Fritz catch and leave us eating their dust. Amelia is not planning on completely the tour, and later Bob and I talk about how if either of us don't attend a ride, the other may be riding alone. Oh, well, at least we are still out here. In the end, at least to me, though I would love to be fast again, it is not about speed. It is about the love of the road and how it unfolds and promises. It is about how my legs and lungs feel after a good challenge and that feeling one gets cresting a tough climb or the humility one learns from climbing off and walking. It is about the people and the love we share for a simple machine that takes us places we might otherwise never go.
Shortly before the third store stop, we reach Bower's Knob. Now everyone has been concerned about the alleged 14.2 percent climb up Star Valley Way (the easiest climb out I might add), but nobody mentioned Bower's Knob. We all make it without walking, but I can't say it is not a challenge and that I did not breathe a sigh of relief when I crested. I have climbed it in the past, but it has been awhile. I do know it is a much harder, though shorter, climb than Star Valley which, despite RWGP and my Wahoo, I doubt ever reaches 14 percent. I later learn that Allan McCoy broke a cable at the bottom of the hill. Jon Wineland was able to tie it off for him. While laying his bike at the side of the road to help, a tick crawls up his leg looking for lunch. Diesel teases him that he can get a helping of Lyme Disease for his efforts. The bike is fixed (though only though tying off and not re-cabling as the cable is internally routed), and they are off to the third store stop and the finish.
Bob, Amelia, and I are the last and only riders at the third store stop. Bob has ice cream and then we head out to climb Star Valley. Up in the Knobs, we pass some spectacular look outs on Sky Line Drive and even stop for a minute to just look and savor. Then we finish it out to find Dave and Jon waiting to accompany Amelia and I to an after ride dinner celebration. David Frey is there as well, but leaves shortly unable to stay for dinner due to family obligations.
Throughout the ride there is laughter and the sharing of the challenges the road brings. Hills, flats, broken cables, broken cleats......these things happen. It is truly the laughter and sharing that makes them easier I think. But whatever the reason, most of us are left wanting more. And we will be back.
When we finish we learn that, unfortunately, Zek Ledford, had to DNF. Nobody knew why, but I later learned that he had a cleat issue and received a ride from a Good Samaritan. I feel badly for him, but there are still plenty of rides that will allow him to get his ten.
Finisher groups are as follows:
Vince Livingston: 3:25 group of 1
Terrell Brown 3:40 group of 1
Joe Bolen 3:45 group of 1
John Kiilbrew 3:50 group of 1
Bob Evancho 3:56 group of 3
Harley Wise 3:56 group of 3
Keith Baldwin 3:56 group of 3
Jerry Talley 4:02 group of 5
Fritz Kopatz 4:02 group of 5
Sharon Jeter 4:02 group of 5
Jon Wineland 4:02 group of 5
John Dippold 4:02 group of 5
Alan McCoy 4:10 group of 1
Larry Preble 4:14 group of 5
Tom Askew 4:14 group of 5
Mike Kamenish 4:14 group of 5
David King 4:14 group of 5
David Fry 4:14 group of 5
Amelia Dauer 4:50 group of 3
Bob Grable 4:50 group of 3
Melissa Hall 4:50 group of 3
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