Expect Adventure: Summertime, and the Riding is (Sometimes) Easy

I love summertime. Even though I work then just like any other time of year, everything is so beautiful outside, and my body loves not having to work to stay warm! There's a lot of great riding, too. I haven't blogged in a while, so this will be a summery summary of recent rides. (See what I did there?)

Solstice 300K Brevet

OK, so technically this ride was on the last day of spring this year (June 19), but the Solstice 300K brevet is an auspicious way to mark the beginning of summer. We didn't get to have this brevet last year because it was during the period when RUSA events were cancelled due to the pandemic. Therefore, this was my first 300K since my T. Rex Ride on last year's solstice.

The Solstice 300K route is rather unremarkable in that it's on the Silver Comet Trail (Georgia) and Chief Ladiga Trail (Alabama). However, it's nice not to have traffic. Also, the trails were in better shape this year than when I last rode them two years ago. Last time, there was a lot of debris because of a storm the night before. Additionally, Alabama has milled the Chief Ladiga Trail in the places where tree roots have caused the pavement to buckle - a big improvement.

The route starts in Cedartown, goes to the east end in Smyrna, goes back to Cedartown (great timing for a lunch stop at about 100 miles in), goes to the west end in Anniston, and finally goes back to Cedartown. It breaks everything into chunks, which makes for a more mentally manageable 300K.

I was so glad that Graham (Grant) agreed to ride with me. More than half of it was in Tropical Storm Claudette. It was rad.

Red Clay Ramble

The following weekend was the Red Clay Ramble (RCR). As usual, I got nervous beforehand. But it's a great race, and with it being practically in my backyard, there's no way I would pass it up.

Chainbuster Racing hosts the RCR. For a number of years, they staged it at the Cedar Creek Wildlife Check Station. However, that location wasn't available last year or this year, I guess because of COVID and/or permitting issues. Last year the race was at a church, but it wasn't available this year because of Vacation Bible School and a lack of volunteers. So, for a while Chainbuster was scrambling for a staging location this year. A big consideration is a large enough parking area for about 200 cars, which is kind of hard to come by close to the racecourse. Robert had a great idea: the Ben Hill School in Hillsboro. It's close to the course and has a large adjacent field that can accommodate parking. He passed along this suggestion to Chainbuster, and it worked out great!

The start line was a short distance away on Turner Road. We went off in groups every two minutes. I was in the second group, which included all the masters women and master men (40-49).

Photo credit: Mishka Comaro

Soon I was riding by myself.

Photo credit: Dashing Images Photography

Another woman in my masters group was nearby for the first few miles. Eventually, I dropped her, but I still kept looking over my shoulder.

Later, I joined a few guys riding at a similar pace. We eventually caught up to another small group of guys, who might have been doing the short option. Anyway, the combined group was going noticeably slower. I felt like I could go faster, and I didn't want the other woman to catch me. So, I said to the guys, "Let's speed it up a little." I went off the front, knowing that they wouldn't let a woman get away. The ruse worked. Several guys followed, and I was able to keep drafting.

I was feeling strong and started pulling ahead of the guys. Still, I was debating with myself how fast I could go and maintain it for the rest of the race. Should I stay with the guys for the draft effect, or could I time trial it by myself and go faster? About that time, I caught up with my friend Steve. He had gotten dropped but still had a good bit of energy. We started working together, which primarily was a benefit to me.

Several of the guys I had been riding with earlier caught up, and we worked together as a group for the rest of the race.

Being familiar with the course really helped. Toward the end when Hillsboro Lake Road turned from dirt to pavement, I told the guys that that was it for the dirt. It was a straight shot on the paved road to the finish line.

Pedal, pedal, pedal. As we approached the finish line, I hoped that my race plate was doing OK. About a mile into the race, I had lost one of the twist ties holding it in place. The plate was flopping around a bit, and I was afraid the remaining twist tie wouldn't hold. So, I stuffed my number down my jersey. I figured the timing chip would still record as I crossed the finish line, but I hollered out my number just to be sure.

The finish line was in the front yard of Matt and Mary Tumlin, some of my Jasper County neighbors. When they agreed to this, I'm sure they had no idea what they had said yes to. The inflatable finish arch loomed among the lovely, old oaks. It was the coolest finish line I ever saw.

I met my three goals: a safe race, I raced well for myself, and I didn't barf before, during, or after the race. In fact, I won women's masters and also was the first female overall! If I had raced the open class, I would have won money!

The race was only 52 miles long. I wanted to ride 100K for the day to get my final 100K in the 2021 Hudson Valley Randonneurs Virtual Brevet Series. Therefore, I rode the 10 miles home. With my few warmup miles, I definitely got 100K.

It had already been an auspicious day, but the fun wasn't over. That evening I surprised Robert with a trip to see the Macon Bacon as an early birthday present. We arrived a little before the park opened. When we got to go in, we wandered around, checking everything out. It's such an amazingly historical baseball park. I'm so glad the Macon Bacon are using it. They are part of the Coastal Plain League, a summer league for college baseball players in several southeastern states.

They had Terrapin Recreation Ale, which is my favorite beer after a gravel race. Robert and I each got one along with a couple of free bandannas. The bandannas have a cool hops design - Allie and Fleetwood have a new way to be stylin'!

Of course, I had to have my picture taken with Kevin Bacon, the team mascot. I had Robert get a picture of Kevin and me from behind, too. Six degrees of Kevin Bacon.

I was a huge Braves fan in the 80s when they were terrible and a huge baseball fan in general. Although I haven't followed sports much at all as an adult (work, other responsibilities, riding my bike...), I so enjoyed getting back in to the baseball groove: ball counts, stealing bases, etc.

Also, I had never been to a minor league game - I totally loved all the shenanigans between innings. One time two guys came out on the field and sat in folding chairs. Kevin had two short pool noodle looking things. "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins came over the loudspeaker. When it got to the cool drum part, Kevin beat all over the two guys using the pool noodles. It was hilarious.

We even had a rain delay. (That reminded me of Braves games back at Fulton County Stadium.) Everyone moved to the covered seats. A beach ball got tossed around for quite a while. It suddenly came to an end when someone accidentally hit the beach ball into one of the giant fans spinning high above us. The ball popped and then continued to hang onto the end of the fan blade for about a dozen rotations. More hilarity.

BBQ Bass Ride

After the Solstice 300K, followed by the Red Clay Ramble, I was was ready for a more chill ride with friends at the BBQ Bass Ride. A great group of 16 cyclopeeps joined Robert and me for our 24th annual event. Love to ride. Ride to love.

Social stop

Stopped for a mechanical - like cows finding the shady spot

Another mechanical/shady cow stop

Like cyclists everywhere, our group sometimes sprints for the county line or city limit sign. As we rode back into Monticello, Cody sprinted for the sign. Except it wasn't the city limit sign. It was the sign for Jimmy Horton Parkway. I bet Rev. Horton would be proud.

Post-ride BBQ

The legendary Dale Vaughan. I hope I'm a fraction as cool when I'm 76.

Hold onto your helmets! Next year will the be the 25th annual BBQ Bass Ride!

Independence Day (Observed) Ride

July 4th fell on a Sunday this year. Independence Day (observed) was more festive than Independence Day. Several of us gathered at Steve's house on Monday morning for a ride, followed by lunch and relaxing around the pool.