Saturday, July 12, 2008

Rainy 80 . . . errr I mean 90 miles of the SouthEast

It started raining as soon as I got to the coffee shop, and it stopped as we got back. So who wants to ride 80 miles in the rain. I guess me and one other person Dave. It's wasn't too bad, more of mist, but just enough that it made riding behind each other a problem. Now I know why the randonneur guy use fenders. We all ride from time to time in the rain, but having to put up with it for 5 hours is something else.

When we got the the gas station in Lonejack to fill up we met about 5 riders. They said they were going to Strasburg, but they ment they were heading toward Strasburg. We we all left together and headed south for a while, then they headed back west for a while . . . Hmmmmm . . . We're in Stringtown. Arrrrgh now we added 10 miles to our ride.

So we made it to Strasburg to discover a new store. Strasburg is a town of 136 people, so these thend to stand out. In fact it's the 3rd business in Strasburg besides the post office and "the bar".

We met the guy who runs the place. Beside from being real nice and running the only convenience store he's the city's Road Crew, and Mayor. We also met the police Chief, He's a good guy also.

I like stopping in the small towns to find "Ma and Pa" stores to support. We got Snacks, Gatorade and and some great conversation, then they gave us some shirts.

Not much to take pictures of. We got down the Big Hill doing 48Mph . . . and that was into a head wind. The wind was coming out of the North instead of the South like it does most of the time.

The most intersting thing on the ride were these Shaved Lamas. . . . Have you shaved your Lama?


Do they bite?


They look nice enough


got eye shields?


Side View


. . . and the "Get the camera out of my face, with the ears pinned back" look. . . . ahhh lets not find out if they bite. I have a feeling they will be playing for keeps.


Then we were approached by the one with the camouflage face.

I think it was a pretty good route. Maybe next year it will be better weather. I'd like to get a group togther for the downhill. I think last year io made it to 53Mph by myself. I'd like to get a group together and break 60Mph.

1 comment:

dmar836 said...

Sorry to slack. Here are my Garmin stats:
Time 5:09
88.16 mi
Max 48mph
Avg 17.1 mph
Ft climbed 3743
HR 136/180 (180 likely on one of the climbs)
Condition: Soggy
You failed to mention my flat tire 1/8mi from the finish!
The knee hasn't exploded yet but that dampness didn't help my sore throat.
Dave