RIDE REPORT FOR 8/1/10

Y'know - I kinda don't wanna post this in a way......here in BlogVille the latest post always gets top billing and I sorta hate to push Did's uber-eloquent prose down the page. (If you wanna go read it again right now it's cool - I'll wait)

However - as we all know, life (and this Team), rolls on so on Sunday we gathered down @ Teresa and Mike Howard's in Wayland to do just exactly that!

In attendance were:

Coach Did and Ultra-Special-Guest Kirsten
Cindy and Steady-Special-Guest Greg
Tom, Mary and Ian
Becky and Chris
Linda and Scott
Tom M
JD
J2 (ask him about his new dance!)
Chris R
Mike H
Queen Linda
Steve (where's my water bottle?)
Walt (aka Mr Goldfish Crackers)
Brand-New-Special-Guest Penny
and...umm.....oh yeah, me.

So - off we went, bound for points south. 'Twas an ambitious bunch w/ 90.047% of the group opting for the longer 52 mile loop while Mike H and Linda C volunteered to cut it short to get the grill ready. (Way to take one for the Team guys!)
Misdirection reared it's ugly head fairly quickly for the lead group. We chose to venture off-route and add on 5-6 miles to avoid some fresh chip-seal (this is where Did chimes in w/ "kill it with fire!!!") and to hit a Shellmart 'cuz LPT was outta peach ring gummy candy stuff to adorn her bike with. Shortly thereafter we "missed" a turn, (okay - it was gravel but still.....we missed it) and found ourselves adrift in the wilderness. Correcting that oops required a furious chase of the leaders by yours truly but 'twas soon all good and onward we went. (By the way - if Did or Cindy try to sell ya a bill of goods by claiming to be in possession of a certain voice mail from me - it's a scam!)

Careful modification of the route allowed us to not only get back to Howards w/ the correct mileage (well - most of us) but also led to a regrouping of the 2 groups for the final 8 miles or so.

Nifty, eh?

Post-ride fellowship was observed breaking out almost immediately over hot dogs, mouthwash-promoting fresh salsa, various salads, many cupcakes ("mini" too!), pies and a B-Day cake for Greg. The less said about our rendition of Happy Birthday the better I fear.

And I'm still not sure if I'm bummed or relieved that Did spared that watermelon!

Seriously - this was just exactly the perfect way to close what has been a challenging and emotional week for many of us and I thank you all for that. Those of you that showed up Sat morning for the memorial - I thank you for that as well. I know for a fact that it meant the world to Stacey @ that time of imeasurable pain.

From the heart I say again - you guys rock.

So - the next Team Ride is on 8/15. It will be hosted by none other than Coach Derek and his team of eves waaaaaaaaaay up north inMontague and is not to be missed! Alas - I might be doing just that, since Berger, DeputyBikeRoomDude J2 and I will be comin' back from the Wisconsin Ride but we'll see.

Watch your inbox for an e-mail in the coming week or so w/ all the details.

So - we are less than 2 weeks from Wisconsin and less than 10 weeks from Death Valley! How are you doing? Fund Raising on track? Letters out? Feeling good on the bike? Got'cher hydration and nutrition working? If so - GREAT! If not - let us know, okay? Coach Derek and I are always right here to help w/ any bike or fitness related issues and the entire Ride Commitee stands poised to help w/ anything else.

Also - this here TeamBlogThingy is for all of us to use - to share rides, jokes, salsa recipes - to ask questions - to share stories or tall tales that might embarrass J2 - to talk to one another about way we're doing this Grand Thing and what it means to us. I'd r-e-a-l-l-y like to see a bit more activity so if you've been holding back............and you have something you'd like to share w/ the rest of the class - speak up! If you need to get set up to post here contact Katie Clark and she'll do her thing on the keyboard and.........voila! Off you go into the Blog-o-Sphere. (Your teen aged kids will be amazed!)

I for one would like to hear what'cha have to say.

Okay - enough for a Monday morn methinks. Keep up the Good Work, keep doin' what'cher doin', keep on keepin' on.

I pretty much love you guys y'know.

And am proud to be a memebr of this team.

See you soon, be safe!

Coach MC