At this point we got to the end of our travel South. There had been a lot of other riders out on the roads due to the Pumpkin Pedal Ride, but it lookedlike the riders that were on the road past our turn were ours. We sat for a while as I dug out my phone to call up to aham.
"Did I miss the turn??!"
"Yup."
"**%#$**^&*@! - Crappy directions!"
It gave us a much needed break as we waited for aham and veldev to join back up. From there it was a short jaunt West until the road finally turned North for the final leg. As soon as we turned you got hot because the wind wasn't blowing over you anymore. That's always my first sign that the hammer of Thor is about to come down.
We got tight and really started to open it up. I asked about .5 miles in if we still had everyone (I was second or third wheel at the time), and got back a "no, we lost a few." CyLowe was with them so I felt OK to stay with the group. We found some sections with sweeping turns and just opened it up. Even aham had to pull off the front after cashing out.
We got into Burlington and looked for the stop I had planned. On the weekends Burlington is a major crossroads for a lot of motorcyclists, and yesterday being so beautiful the place was just packed. I joked that we should head into the local "biker" bar, because we were bikers, but everyone knew that wasn't going to happen.
We found some shade and waited for everyone else to filter in. We weren't waiting long. All of us got some liquids and food and lamented over the wind. The last 10-15 miles were finally upon us!
The groups held together for most of the lest leg, but by the time we made it through Hampshire again it was every man for themselves. I limped back to the forest preserve in about 3rd spot. My wife, son and in-laws were there waiting to meet the group. I want to especially thank Sarge for volunteering to be available for SAG. I'll have to take him out for dinner to help thank him.
My final stats as follows - keep in mind that for everyone it was a different ride. Different turns, different speeds, and different amounts of waiting. It made it unique for everyone.
Distance: 102.08 - my computer is off, it should have been around 104
Riding Time: 6:09
Max Speed: 35.1
Avg Spd: 16.5
Total Time: At home on Heart Monitor, but somthing like 7:58 - a lot of stopping and chatting.
I thought htis route was 1200 feet of climbing, but it seemed like a lot more. With the motion based data coming back it is looking like it was more like 3400 feet of climbing. The world may never know for sure...
Voldemort celbrating his first century with a "recovery drink"
Aham after tearing up over 100 miles of pavement...
Drag handing out Cliff Bars. No takers, dekalb's cookies were just too good! Thanks dekalb, Drag, and Nothingman for bringing food to share!..
All - in - All I think it was a great ride. I appreciate all of the compliments about the route. After putting in this much time my only fear was that no one would show. To the contrary we had a good turn out and I think a lot of new people have realized that there are a great bunch of BF members in the are to ride with.
We'll have to start planning a get together sometime in the winter. Doesn't have to be riding, but something like a pot luck, or hike or something....
It's getting time for me to pick up my son from daycare so I'll have to post some final thoughts and the formal KOM, QOM awards later tonight. Turns out Shider is thinking he wasn't in front on the last climb...
Let's hear some thoughts. Who had the best bike? What was the best kit? Who was unstoppable? Why weren't there any WI riders??
