Spring up Spring Valley
Last week was a brutal ride- over 2000 feet of climb mostly occurring during 10 of the 40 miles. Sharing is the cornerstone of our Drafter community, and I wanted to share Moen Valley and Blue Mounds Trail, two lovely hills on the Horribly Hilly Hundreds route with our newbies, Josh and Peter. Somebody did their homework- Josh showed up for the "Book Club Ride" with his satchel! He actually read the blog in advance ("novel" concept- please notice the pun, cause I'm rarely clever and need you to notice the rare times when I am. It's a self esteem thing. Please notice. Thanks for your time), and came prepared with books to exchange in the community library box on Blue Mounds Trail. When I asked Booker J how he heard about the Drafters, he quietly admitted to knowing B2 Bomber. With that, he was instantly promoted to the front of the line to share pulling detail alongside Tick Tock. I did store his satchel in my jeep, but next week, I am going to insist that he ride with his books to slow him down a bit. Don't ride and read.
Peter was apparently interested in catching up on reading, since he chased Booker J up Blue Mounds Trail to the book depository. He's credited with testing every rumble strip on Hwy 78. It's good to shake things up a bit. Welcome to the Draft, Rumble Strip.Whamo and Sandlot thought they could avoid the hills by riding the route in reverse. What goes up must come down, of course, so I wasn't sure of their strategy until we saw them come down Blue Mounds Trail as we were climbing. They got to the book depository first! Poor Booker J didn't missed out on this week's top seller.
Team DeKeyser made their inaugural appearance for the Book Club. D2 Duracell decided this doozy made for an excellent first ride of the season. He should be recovered sometime in August. His bride, Ice Queen, had got her bike out two days before during Girls Weekend up north, and was clearly in peak condition for the Book Club. Ya' gotta love athletes who just do it.
The kits arrived and looked pretty sharp. With that, a few folks have inquired about placing another order. No problem. As soon as I have at least 5 people interested (I have 3 so far), I will open up the Hincapie store. Let me know if you want in. This year we have golf shirts, just for Sully, since she is spending half of her retired life swinging at those white eggs in Arizona. I do have a guns (sleeveless) women's large jersey that I am willing to sell at a discount if anyone is interested. I guess I overestimated my bust a bit.
Ice Queen and D2 Duracell shared a 10% stout over dinner. After a few sips, the dynamic duo came up with some creative math to justify their beer selection. "So, if we split this beer, it's just 5% alcohol, right?" That calculation is exactly right, according to BrickO math rules, which is why you can have two!Since all 18 Drafters lived to complain about the hillacious ride, we will serve up more of the same medicine next week as we venture out to the Spring Valley Loop with a Northern Twist. The Short Pour (which unfortunately hasn't really been tapped this summer) can hang a left on Pine.
Garmin Link to Spring Valley with a TwistPDF of map to download: Spring Valley with Northern Twist Cue SheetDraft responsibly,BrickO