saturday: saturday's ride started with Mike's Ride™. a surprise starter was helena! who ventured out to see what all the hubub was about and generally test the waters. also starting was Willy (captain and King Mixer), Smilin' Jack Gottlieb, and your humble author. we also picked up (All Go) Mo along the way who provided much needed horsepower at the front. G2 did a great job and had several riders in the front all morning. Jack, Mo, Willy and I were among a front group of probably 8 riders as we approached the long drag up to the spanish river hill. Greg Cousins and The Helmetless Dude™ were both ahead having blown the light at Hillsboro. they got a 20-30 second gap that never quite closed, although we got close. Jack and Mo did excellent work splintering the group near the top of the hill leaving just Willy and I ahead. Willy pulled hard with me glued to his wheel and finally pulled off launching me to my best finish on Mike's just behind the two breakaways... although I might have been nipped by a surprisingly strong older rider atop a vintage chromed steel bike... oh, he'll pay... oh yes.
as per the plan, we waited for everyone to straggle in and met the group who were starting at spanish river (Kevin, René, Clemens, and a not-as-yet-a-member Joe, and continued north to the boynton beach inlet. Helena, I am please to say, did very well and now knows what's up. we hope to see her and more of G2's cyclistes feminine on Mike's Ride in the near future. The rest of the ride - minus Mo's flat - was largely the usual fun ride with moments of speed. everyone took turns doing the work. Clemens came to the front at one point to administer a smack down to an impertinent rider who had gone forward in a big show only to fade in the strongish east wind. our tall dutchman moved quickly to the front, paused for a stare down, his deep voice intoning the rhetorical "hoe gaat het, be-otch?" before steaming ahead with Mo and I on his wheel. on the way home I took an ill-advised flyer that lasted from just south of atlantic in del ray until the fountain. ill-advised because I didn't realize at the time that I was expected to ride the next day's Frank Stark Ride
pre-race... er, ride. standing tall in a sea of Zs
Clemens and I arrived shortly before the start. I stayed clear of the start area having gone commando... well, I suppose it could apply to an absence of underwear, but in this case I mean an absence of a paid entry (I know, the shame). anyhow, I didn't feel entitled to any pre-ride goodies and was fairly convinced that I was going to get busted. once the ride began it stayed rather tame. the number of lights and number of riders kept things pretty well in hand. while this was supposed to be the "A" ride, I saw a good many people who I would not have placed there and there was certainly some nervous energy in the group. the beginning, though, was without incident.
once we hit A1A all hell broke loose... well, sort of. somehow willy and I had made it to the very front and bridged to three riders already hauling ass northward. Greg Cousins was (as usual) among the three. willy and I stayed with the group taking hard pulls at 25-28 miles per all the way past spanish river. somewhere in the blur of speed and pain, we picked up Gus who got into the rotation. even though G2 was now the majority in the break, we decided to back off and regroup with the other G2s who were coming up quickly in the next and much larger group. let me tell you, it's a lot easier sitting in the middle of a large pack at 25 and I enjoyed the total lack of effort. chapeau to the three riders up the road, though. they may have slowed at some point, but that is an enormous amount of strength and they would stay ahead the rest of the day.
Gus questions his sanity before the next surge.
okay, so the paparazzi weren't really there.
we regrouped at the rest stop and gladly took the chance to rest and refuel. the trip home started reasonably enough. the earlier hard efforts and the wind conspired to keep the pace low. somehow, Willy and I slipped off the front and were surprised to be alone until most of the way back to lake avenue . we were finally caught by a group of three others and we tried to get some kind of rhythm, but I was pretty cooked and couldn't hold the pace they were looking to do. I finally surrendered and told willy to go ahead. there were enough people behind that I knew I could ride with someone back to palmetto park. I was caught by a group of about 6 more riders and managed to make it back to willy's group before falling off again. I finally ended up with the Gruppo Potter/Patregnani and was grateful for potter's willingness to pull us all back home. what none of us realized at the time was that somewhere behind, there was a major crash with one poor soul hitting an oncoming car. I heard that they suffered a broken pelvis and other injuries, but I imagine it could have been much worse. other G2s were right in the middle of it, although thankfully none were hurt. Jim managed to avoid actually falling even while hitting the rider in front of him. Clemens was a little ahead and I don't remember hearing where Danny was, but he too was uninjured.
most of G2 after the ride.
G2 participants: Willy, Clemens, Jim, Danny, Bob, Gus, Rorie, and your humble author.
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