On Pictures from a Tuesday night ride

I remember being the slowest guy in the pack. And when I say the slowest, I don't mean, one of, or just faster than some other guy, I mean I was the ultimate in pathetic.

Things sure have changed. Okay granted there was a guy, a kid from the store who didn't bring his helmet (should have been sent home if you ask me) who was faster. But I was in good form last night until the part where Lesley called me because she was locked out of the house and I had to hightail home to let her back in.

Actually I have to confess, the first part of the ride was agonizingly slow, more than once we had to throttle back to 22km/h because someone got dropped. I know I was slow, once, but even then I made sure not to get dropped during the warm up - actually even when I was weak, I was still good enough to never get dropped until Lauri or QB just dropped the hammer hard. To my way of thinking if you are struggling to keep up when things are in the warm up phase, than maybe turn around and join a more entry level group, its not like there aren't well documented disclaimers about how intense Tuesday night is.

Oh and the part where someone had absolutely no bike head lights... its a night ride, go splurge and buy a frog light for $10. Yes dear reader I rant, but right now I also shake my head in disgust. It is one thing when you are out later than expected, you weren't paying attention to the time, or you got a mechanical and had to fix it. But when the ride starts at 2030 and is 70km, bet your knickers that the sun will set (according to the Weather Office at 2104) long before you get home. Now if we know the sun sets while still riding it stands to reason it will be dark. If it is dark than maybe we should heed the oft repeated phrase on the BCC website "remember lights for safety." To my way of thinking people who forget lights, or a helmet are simply examples of Darwin waiting to strike!

Anyway as promised here are some pictures that aren't totally embarrassing.

I also read some very upsetting news, Peter Oyler is DNF in the RAAM. He covered 1614.5 miles in 4 days 22 hours 5 minutes, and withdrew at or after time station 27. I cannot even begin to imagine the disappointment but as I have said at my own failures, failure is just another practice run before the inevitable success.