July 3: Ride Independently
20 Drafters enjoyed an epic Spring Valley ride to conclude the June edition of the Draft. We had riders in the double fisted, short pour and the newly founded shot divisions.The Bone Menders (Z, Rainbow Maker, IronMD and NBA Cliff) became a quintet with the (late) arrival of John Hit-the- Wollaeger. Having not ridden 40 consecutive miles yet this season, Hit-the-Wolleger meandered to the starting line, where he met up with Dan-yelly. Bonded together by the forces of tardiness, they helped one other take 2 wrong turns on Turkey (yes, two wrong turns- one at each end of Turkey Rd), finishing just after dark. There’s nothing like adding a few extra feet of elevation to the hardest Drafter ride of the season to work up an appetite. Dan-yelly texted me, presumably while stopped to figure out the Turkey faux pas, to place her dinner order at Free House. The thought of sweet potato fries fueled her to the finish.B2 Bomber took the brunt of the wind, pulling with Captain Joe and the Human Metronome for most of the ride. While B2 was parting the air for the rest to Draft, the air in his tire was departing. Bomber is the third to join the Flat Tire Club this season. He still finished with the yellow jersey, despite the fact that none of us stopped to help him change his flat, capitalizing shamelessly on the opportunity to beat the Bomber. Mission failed.At times, the ride felt more like a Wisconsin Wild Life Tour. 3 deer on Otto Kerl Rd joined the Draft for a few yards, before growing tired of the pace. Captain Joe is accustomed to seeing deer but was disappointed not to see a bear.
A small lap yap-yap dog on Spring Valley had Bomber, Captain Joe, Human Metronome and BrickO in a skid. If I am going down due to canine interference, it better be a Doberman, German Shephard or some other dog weighing over 100 pounds. Rural lap yap-yap dogs are a bit oxymoronic.LuciO and the Power Couple, Mega and KiloWatt, created a new division, dubbed the SHOT. This 18 mile adventure wasn’t mapped out, but the crew boldly went where no Drafter has gone before. A few special treats of the evening: Nurse Sully and Counselor Queen Bee were back in Drafter action! And, CM Wille made her famous Monster Cookies to celebrate LuciO’s fellowship. CM apologized for their extra crispiness, which most likely was due to the extra dose of radiant light reflecting off her engagement ring during the baking process.
In honor of Independence Day, we will be riding independently on Monday July 3. There is no official ride. The Free House will be closed as well, so your routine Monday night dinner venue will require an alternate route.Drafter Responsibly,BrickO