We did that thing.

So yeah, a few of us went for a ride this past Saturday.  It was pretty long, over ten hours to finish the entire kit and caboodle, which is just fine with me.  After trying to hang onto Seth slipstream for a record time in 2018, I needed a recovery year.  This year, Seth went easy on us, keeping his monster pulls along the Airline trail in the low 20mph range.  Thanks Seth, it's always a pleasure to witness smooth, steady power, especially when it is just slow enough that one can keep witnessing it.

 

Our new favorite watering hole on the first pass through Willimantic, THANKS!

 

So yeah (to heck with good paragraph transitions), we had another beautiful day of almost fall temps, toping out with a gang of seven riders.  Admittedly, I've been doing less then the bare minimum of advertising the last couple years since I'm no long quite local, and running a little busy to recon the route before the event, so lucky seven it was.  The small group stayed mostly together, which was fantastic, especially when we found the Mohegan Forest beyond passably overgrown with briars, and I had to devise a quick reroute with only one trip down a dead end!  A little more exploring and I should have a Detour worth detour of the forest for next year.

 

Free ride, with free veggies!  THANK YOU.

 

So yeah (what, you're still actually reading this?), I still really like this ride and have a blast sharing it with new and old friends every year.  We'll do it again the first Saturday in September of 2020, and maybe we'll see you there.  Ride fun.

Let's do this thing!

Hey all six of you, weather is looking good for Saturday, so no need to invoke the Sunday rain date this year.  We'll roll at 8am on Saturday!  I'm looking forward to the ride and seeing any hearty souls that are game for the challenge.

As always, this is a free ride, and while I strongly put NO PRESSURE on anyone, I've mentioned that if you feel like you've done a great ride, you can make a donation to the cycling charity of your choosing.  For this year, I'd like to direct that donation, if you are so inclined.  An old racing buddy of mine, Matt Domnarski, had his wife die in an accident earlier this year.  Matt, being an energetic force of nature, is raising money to renovate the local high school track in her memory, so please, if the feeling moves you, please chip in to that specific worthy cause.  You can read more, with links for where to give HERE.  Thank you.