Birthday Ride with Brew Crew

MotionBased Ride Data

I was excited all week not because it was my 45th birthday, but another opportunity to ride with the greatest group of cyclists and friends that I have been fortunate to ride with each week. Things that make this group special like one of many examples Diane and Mike Ruhe stopping to help me with a flat last weekend when I sliced my finger open on glass that was inside the tire and was bleeding so much that it made it difficult to change the tube. They came back to see if I was okay and finished changing the tube for me. Diane even had a first aid available. Gary Quellet gave me some birthday bike goodies that were a timely replacement to carry for fixing a flat if necessary. Thanks Gary!! Nice looking Ultegra SL crank by the way. :-)

This week with a tropical storm moving across the panhandle of Florida creating heavy winds in our area the group was still scheduling a "birthday ride" for me and again some treats were prepared and shared with the group at the end.

We started the ride prepared to use JoAnn's route from the brewery parking area out to Adairsville to Kingston and back, but because of the wind and rain the route was shortened a little and I didn't mind too much. I was unsure of the ride for myself because at the last moment I had to bring my trainer bike that has a 53/39 crank and a 11-23 cassette, which has no effect while I am using it on the trainer, but on the road I knew the hills would be a bit tougher. Diane was on a loaner bike and I am sure that made it difficult for her. If I counted heads correctly there were 12 in our group today that split off from the full NARC group. Within the first 5 miles we endured a light rain that was no more soaking than a hot day in the high 90's with sweat with the exception of getting wet socks. For the first half we seem to be in good position for the winds that buffeted us from the east, but I knew on the last half we might be riding into those winds. At first I broke out with Rick Neilson and then remembered I had a long ride ahead on a bike that I usually don't use on the road. I backed off the pace and went back to the group and stayed in or at the back of the group for the remainder of the ride. In the group we had good fun picking on each other. Good Friendly Fun!!!

We stopped at Barnsely Gardens for the rest stop and I heard the route was going to be shortened using CCC road, which has a small climb. With the 11-23 cassette and getting tired I knew I was going to be the last up the hill, but when we actually got to the climb it wasn't bad at all even though I was virtually last. The remaining miles back we met up with the other NARC group and mixed in with them, but I wanted to take a diversion and see what my power output would be on Busch Drive and Edgar joined me. When we lined up on the road and I was messing with the power meter to set in the interval mode Edgar was already putting on a good pace. The wind was hitting us pretty hard with gusts so I settled down on the drops as I watched Edgar continue to pull away from me. All I could think is, "dang - he keeps getting stronger", but I focused on the power output and speed trying to hold a consistent number. It was bouncing between 170 to 220 watts and the speed was holding steady at 21 mph. I normally can hold at least 24+ mph on this section, but it was either the hard wind, tired legs or both that kept me from getting up to and holding that speed today.

At the end Diane brought out the low fat brownies she made for my birthday, some grapes that Jamie brought and some nuts, but it turns out that it was also close to Gary's, Ray's and someone else's birthday that we could celebrate all those together. Despite rain and wind I really enjoyed the ride and most of all I really enjoyed riding with my friends today. Pretty awesome day in my book.

It will be interesting to see if a Youtube video doesn't show up of the ride and the antics with Gary Quellet working the camera. Despite all the fun we have I still ended up with enough effort to cause a nap and my normal uselessness after the ride.