A perfect evening for a Draft. 21 riders including one newbie,
Sparky. Like the Fourth of July fireworks, she lit up the Draft! She might be green, but it won't be long before she is wearing the green jersey, assuming she can figure out where the finish line is. The Spring Valley to Springfield route was complicated, and we had many deviations from the intended route, some intentional and others not. Sparky got lost early in the ride, but made it back to base and was able to do a set of planks, push ups and a yoga session to earn her beer at Longtable with the Drafters.
Knievel described his ride as "free lancing". Our front line included the 6'5" and over trio of
Slow Cow, Billy Bob and Aquaman. It was like riding in a vortex down Schneider Rd. It was a force so strong that it pulled
Loose Screw's Garmin right off his mount!
Bond was reluctant to leave behind such Draft protection to chase down the lead group:
Bomber, Tick Tock, Vintage and Cannibal. He almost had himself talked into chilling with the peloton... and then I noticed the twitching. It started in his fingers and rapidly spread to his quads. That's the last I saw of
Bond. I rode much of the first half on my own, behind the break away and just ahead of the peloton, until what to my wondering eyes did appear,
Thing 1 on her new Cervelo bike gear. We took turns pulling until we caught the lead group. And by taking turns I mean
Thing 1 pulled and I held on to her wheel, until I couldn't. Alone again. And then I had my yellow jersey glorious victory dance on Lodi-Springfield. The lead pack, or at least the ones still in my view, missed the hard right onto Rauls, plummeting down the hill they had to then turn around and climb. Victory was mine, briefly, and the
Beatles song rattled in my brain.Let me take you down'Cause I'm going to Lodi-SpringfieldCold beer is realAnd nothing to get hung aboutLodi-Springfield foreverDrafting is easy with eyes closedGreen Drafter jerseys all you seeIt's getting hard to catch Tick TockBut it all works out.It doesn't matter much to meLet me take you down'Cause I'm going to Lodi-SpringfieldCold beer is realAnd nothing to get hung aboutLodi-Springfield forever
We will head west next week and take the back door to church.
PDF map to download: Back Door To ChurchGarmin Link to Back Door to ChurchDraft responsibly,BrickO