Gyro Nation. Last night's ride exceeded expectations with 19 riders showing up to test their legs, and experience a great group effort under sunny skies and warm temperatures. I consider these to be propitious conditions for a fine night of cycling, sans the windy conditions!
The theme before the ride was to offer comments on the 'rules of the ride' that were so eloquently listed in my email, and the abstruse nature of my writing style. For some reason it sounded like they were being facetious, but it was all in good fun. There was a real nice energy in the air... Well, it was quite a ride. The pace was quick once we hit Coley, and it never let up. The first break occurred on Patterson with a group of about 6-8 riders creating a decent gap, and, another 8 riders organized into a chase group. By the time that we hit Redwood the chase group picked up riders who lost contact with this lead group, and eventually there were only 3 on the lead group: Brian, Shawn, and, Logan. We did organize and tried very hard to reel in that very strong lead group, but, even though we did close the gap to a few hundred feet on Burton (I recall Bert calling out: "their sitting up"), it was not to be. Once we turned onto Cheek they opened up the gap once again, and there was no reeling in riders that strong, and motivated. By the time we hit Olive Branch there was the lead group of Brian, Shawn, and Logan, and, a second group of 3 or 4 riders with Keil that formed the first chase, and, the group that I was suffering in with Smith and Claude, Tom, Bert, and Ivan. (I am unable to account for the remaining riders, but it is my hope that they re-grouped and worked together.) According to Logan the lead group averaged 22.4; I did not speak with anyone in the first chase group, but there is a good chance that they were at very close to 22.0, and, according to Bert the 2nd chase group was at 21.7 for the 31 miles. Having strong riders like Shawn and Brian certainly raises the bar for everyone, and accounts for a Gyro ride going over 22. (Last year we did not hit a 21 average until mid-season!) Although it would be great to have these 2 very fine riders with us all of the time, it is not likely as I am sure they will return to the fast boys at Kicks. Let's keep our fingers crossed, though. I hope that everyone enjoyed the ride. Please email me off line if you have any comments, complaints regarding your experiences. Rick -- You received this message because you subscribed to the Gyro email group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send an email to [email protected]
