Well, about 12 BFer's showed up for the ride. I was so impressed that everyone got there on time, too! It was a very congenial group. All guys, except for Sweetnsourbkr's wife. Three people were brand new roadies, and were attempting the ride
- Jimples, SJroadie and AlainP. Incredible!
There were quite a few NorCal jerseys present too, as you'll see in the pictures. Shout out to BlastRadius again for getting them for us. They look good (or we look good in them). According to Blast, there were about 90 jerseys ordered between the 3 different batches, so we should be seeing them on the road regularly!
After some indoctrination from Bigbossman and Bikeshearer, we left promptly at 8:40 to go up the hill. The weather could not have been better! Not too hot, not too cold, good visibility all the way! At first the group stayed pretty close together and had lots of conversation. Eventually, the group began to separate, as it always does. I and Sweetnsourbkr formed the breakaway for a while, until Sweetnsour turned on his Michael Rasmussen imitation and zipped up the hill. At the infamous final 200 yard of 20% grade, I made the mistake of stopping to let some cars pass. Do you know how hard it is to get started and try to clip in at 20% grade
? I simply couldn't do it, so I had to point downhill and get clipped in. Won't make that mistake again!
Most of us regrouped at the top. The Newbies were all in the front of the peloton. They did so great for first timers and newbies, I can't get over it. (I guess the fact that they're all in their 20s helps
) We took pictures and shot the breeze. Nice group of folks. That Ccorlew is quite the jokester and trouble-maker, so be warned
. After some time, we started down the hill. The downhill was exhilarating as always, but it just always seems so unfair that it goes so quickly. ZorroV999 led the charge down the hill - he had a really good day today also.
Overall, it was great fun. Great to meet many of the NorCal gang. Lots of people had cameras, so I know the pictures will be forthcoming. Hope to see you all at the Labor Day ride.
Oh - will someone volunteer and take us up Mt. Tam sometime?!