PTBO RIDES.

Friday Morning. Thursday Night Report. 06/15/12

A-Gruppo

Okay, it’s no secret, I love Dirty Thursday. I like everything about it. The jitters of everybody in the parking lot before the ride, the jostling for position as we hit the gravel, pinning it through a gravel section that should really be ridden with greater respect and caution, the absolute concentration (or that might be fear) in peoples faces as they try to figure out just what the hell is going on.

Yes last night was Dirty Thursday and like all others it will go into the record books as another epic journey of hard fought battles and vicious attacks. But for all of you that missed it here is the rapid break down.

Delorean lead the Young American astray, but I do believe Brian was probably cross eyed and delirious. Tim and the Archbishop got the pace jacked up early on Center Line of Dummer. Actually Tim and Bishop kept the pace jacked all the way across. The Young American probably would have ridden away from all of us if he knew the course and wasn’t afraid of getting lost in the woods. There were many flats, much more then on any other Dirty Thursday. Mike Tripp was the first casualty on Center Dummer, many more were to follow.

Attacks and breakaways were quickly reeled in by Mr. Ott, but we kept on trying. By the end of Cedar Cross the pack had been whittled through attrition, flat tires and common sense, to solid group of about 12 riders. What the hell was Rhys still doing in there? Solid ride. Tim and the Archbishop broke away again along Center line and across Hwy 28. I bridged and caught them just before River road, thought we were clear and it would be the three of us to the finish line, I was wrong. With a pack of 8-10 riders storming along River road towards the final sprint, Noel jumped, Tim responded, Murison hopped on the train. I Liked my chances and thought I was going to get it at the line but no! Stevie Marett holds off the sprint by half a wheel, when did he learn to sprint like that? Nicely done.

Observations and intersting points
+ Did anybody else see the wildlife last night, two bunnies, one deer and a grouse.
+ Tim cramped, I saw it with my own eyes
+ I think the Young American was being nice to us
+ There was a long list of flat tire victims at the end of the ride
+ Young Brayden was leading out the train on River road
+ I made it past the Oke-Payne Line corner upright
+ The Arch Bishop is back

B-GROUP BY JON MORENO

Dirty Thursdays. What can I say? You are either a fan or you are not. From the turn out last night, I would say that more and more B group riders are discovering, sometimes painfully, that Dirty Thursdays are unique, challenging and sometimes frustrating but, always satisfying in the end. Flats are part of the equation. More people get flats on Dirty Thursdays than any other night. We did not have a shortage of flats last night and we even had a spill in the mix although that did not have anything to do with the gravel.

Last nights ride started at the Silver Bean at a very respectable 6:15pm. At the start we had at least 18-20 people by my quick scan. It looked like we were going to have one of the biggest B group Dirty Thursday rides ever. In the end, some of the group were not going to ride the Dirty and were set up for the tempo ride. We all rolled out together regardless. We split at the first section of gravel on Centre Line. This is where the fun begins.

The first thing to notice is the extra effort required to push the pedals on the loose, sandy gravel road. The pace slows down, riders jockey for position and the first 500m or so are not very organized while riders adapt to the change under their wheels. Last night was not exception. What is needed, what was provided, was a gentle, well..not so gentle push into a gravel road riding pace. Step up Richard Daley. Richard set a good hard pace after a few hundred metres on the gravel road and was often seen at the front pushing the pace through out the ride. Again.

Interesting to see the effects of gravel on different riders. Some riders, myself included, feel quite at home on the gravel. The slips of the front and rear wheel on some of the deeper, freshly graveled sections are to be expected. The trepidation of entering a corner at speed. Feeling the bike slide sideways a bit. This is normal. Telling yourself not to hit the brakes hard and to try and keep weight off the front wheel are all part of what it means to ride on the loose stuff. Overall…Don’t Panic. Keep it light my friend. Keep it light.

Deep and heavy 12-14 riders started on the gravel. Approaching the first big turn, Richard steamed into it. I could have sworn that he was going too fast but, Richard kept it together. Looking behind, I see that no rider has fallen. Whew! Glad that went well. Powering through some of the freshly laid gravel was a bit like riding through peanut butter, or at least what I think it would be like riding through peanut butter. Just less tasty I guess. Pedaling through that stuff, I have to admit that I just grit my teeth and keep the legs moving and hope that the road will get firmer a bit further on. Luckily, the new loose stuff did not go on for too long. Another turn and we lost a few riders… those near the back, trying to conserve or just being at the wrong place at the wrong time were forced to put out a supreme effort to catch back on to the first 6-7 riders. Like any group ride going through a corner, it’s better to be near the front than at the back. Especially on a gravel road. Some made it, some did not.

Rumour had it that Matt Stetson got a flat somewhere on the course. MacArther had a flat last night while on the front. Jamie had a flat last night but, luckily, due to the new and fancy, specially designed 700×27 tires he was using, he hardly noticed until he slowed down. Any other rider may have noticed sooner but, Jamie was on fire last night and he was punching for a good ride. Maybe it was his new Embrocation. Jamie now has a very good selection of leg products. I think he may start going door to door flogging this stuff soon or at least open up his own store. Move over Avon.

Last night there were a number of expected heavy hitters that set the pace. I mentioned Richard Daley, Jamie Elcombe. Both were pushing the pace. I saw Craig Murray take off the front for a while and force people to work a bit harder behind him. While MacArther was with us, he pushed the pace and later admitted he was hoping for a good night as he was feeling strong but, then…the flat. We also had Kathy Eggenberger working hard for the group. Always great to see Kathy out. She is such a power house and is always somebody to watch out for. Not only does she have power, but, she also has a good working knowledge of what it takes to do well in a group ride. More on that later.

The ride through Warsaw was mostly uneventful although the pace did pick up briefly while on the asphalt. Thank you very much. A quick right turn at the misnamed 4 corners of Warsaw led us briefly up the hill heading out of Warsaw until we tucked onto Payne Rd or as I like to call it, “Pain Rd.” Sounds the same but, it ain’t. Bone rattling, bottle bouncing, wheel swallowing pot holes for a short stint until the big left onto Centre Rd. The home stretch but, we did see some action in that last stretch didn’t we. Most obvious was the one man break brought to you by none other than Jamie. He was off the front for a good km or so until Richard bridged. I took the opportunity to ride a bit harder and try and catch up to what I thought would be a good power team. I was sure we could take it to the finish if we could work together. To me it looked like Richard caught up to Jamie and then rode beside him for a bit and then went off the front. I was slowly catching up to the two of them and then noticed that they did not seem to be working together. The potential break seemed to fade away into oblivion as I caught up to them. I was trying to send a telepathic, or telapathetic, message to both of them to slow down a bit so I could catch on and then we could work together. By the time I caught up it was clear the this was not an organized break and the rest of the pack caught up to us sooner than we all expected. No rest for the wicked so Craig Murray ramped up the pace forcing Richard, Jamie and myself to dig deep to stay on.

The last left turn onto Nassau Mills Rd. was wonderful and terrible at the same time. I knew that the end of the ride was near, bringing with it all the spoils of actually finishing and the friendly banter afterwards but, before that was to happen a bit of suffering was in order. The speed picked up. We had almost all the riders taking a good, fast pull at the front as we approached Trent. A km out, I was in a good position. As we approached the finish, slowly but, surely, riders started to peel off the front after their effort. A good pull by Richard got us a little closer. He put in a good effort slightly off the front and I could see he was trying for a solo win, trying to avoid the bunch sprint. A good effort but, the pack was hot on his tail. Next it was Jamie’s turn at the front and as we were getting closer, I thought to myself as I was on Jamie’s wheel that I finally have myself in a fairly good spot to make a go for the sprint. Another 100m or so saw Jamie give me a little wave telling me that my free ride was over and that the rest was up to me. Okay, time to suffer. I dug deep and gave a little sprint to force the pace. Looking behind me briefly I saw that the bunch had caught up. Another little sprint to push the pace. With only 200 m to go, I wasn’t going to give up easily. Another little sprint to make whomever is behind be work for it. A short 75 m from the finish line saw Kathy blast by me with Craig Murray coming just a second behind her. Kathy held on for the win with Craig a closing second. There were riders behind them but, my head was buried and my eyes were out of their sockets so whomever finished after those two..kudos.

Observations.

+ Tanya is ok.
+ I don’t know how to turn on a Contour camera.
+ Jamie’s tires are somewhat carnival like.
+ Damian was riding on cross tires. You the man!
+ Phil Hallahan is getting stronger.
+ Craig Murray is getting stronger and loves the Dirty.
+ Patrick Daley’s legs spin really quickly. Churn that butter!