PTBO RIDES.

Friday Morning Thursday Night Report. 08/17/12

So . . . Last night?

I am at loss for: Words. Dumb inside jokes. Dumb jokes in general. Let’s see how the rest of this “report” goes.

I returned home from the ride last night and sat on my front porch in a state of bewilderment. “What just happened”? “Why did we ride so fast”? Why do I want to vomit and pass out all at the same time”? After I contemplated all of life’s big questions — and managed to rid myself of my cycling “get-up” and slip into some normal-ass street clothes, I decided to take my dog for a walk.

Trust me, this isn’t a diary entry, one where I tell you every minute of of my evening. Rather, it’s an important plot point of the last night’s Thursday Nighter. I walked with my dog a distance of (maybe) 300 metres and realized I could go no further. I love my dog and she loves walking, but she got shafted last night. We turned around.

Moments later I received a text message from The Archbishop:

“I totally feel like shit right now . . . I think I dug a little too deep tonight”

The Archbishop was not alone. Chloë posted this on her Facebook thing:

You must know that both Chloë and The Archbishop are really strong riders.

Considering that last week’s Thursday Nighter featured the lowest rider count of the year, the PCC struck back with a huge turnout. Though . . . a huge turnout also meant nearly all the heavy hitters were in attendance. I didn’t get a good look at B-Group, but it looked large and well, well stacked. (someone should write a B-Group report and send it to me). A-Group looked like some kind of bad joke with all the fast riders pulling out of the parking lot.

The roll out to Bell’s Corners was quite civil . . . even up S-Bend hill. I did notice Jeff Minicola (Mr. TT) holding strong at the front of the pack, which was great to see. Like others in the pack, I was waiting for the pace to get really silly heading into Warsaw. For the most part, that happened.

I honestly cannot recall who was driving the pace, or if anyone was attacking or what the story was. Turning left at Bells Corners, someone flipped the switch and it was business time. The descent into Warsaw brought some relief. What else can we say about Rock Road that hasn’t already been said in these reports? Let’s recap: Rock Road has a hill on it that everyone rides up really fast. This is a perfect place to get dropped. Alternatively: it is a perfect place to put ‘the hurt’ on other riders.

The pace ramped up quickly. With every ounce of journalistic investigation at my disposable (Read: Tim Hadfield told me) I have discovered that it was Casey Humphrey KILLING it off the front! I don’t care if that is true or not, but that is definitely how it happened. You’ll be hearing more about Casey as we continue.

After Rock Road, it seemed to stay fast. I think a few moves went off the front. The Archibishop and Walters. Some other guys and then maybe someone else. You’re going to have to ask Hadfield for specifics. With the pace being where it was all night, it was pretty tough to get away.

Oh, there was a last minute change before the roll out last night . . . on the PCC calendar, A-Group was scheduled to ride 1 lap, but consensus altered it to two laps. Perfect. Hinan attacked before the start of the second lap and he looked like a fucking beast! I do apologize for the colourful language — but even with the swear words added for extra emphasis, you aren’t getting an accurate picture of what Hinan looks like when he is pulling away from everyone!

Lap two: More of the same. Fast. Fast. Fast. Leading into the final stretch, between Cottlesloe and Bells Corners, Casey and Cushing went off the front. They got reeled in, but went out again. Casey continues murder A-Group week after week — fools best recognize!

Things lit up again on Broccoli Hill. I had a hard time responding immediately . . . I just needed to drag myself over that hill and stay in touch. Who went off the front again? Walters, Hadfield, Spencer. Gone. Noel bridged across, I think. We chased. Marret, The Archbishop, Zac, Myself, Mr. Cameron . . . it all became a bit of a redlined blur. Was Scott Wood there? Probably. Who else am I forgetting? Everyone.

Noel came out of the break. Walters slipped back a little on the final riser. Zac was leading the freight train, with The Archbishop on his wheel. I was on the Archbishop’s wheel and didn’t even think to look back. Hadfield and Spencer were still up the road, but in our hearts we believed we could catch them. I came around the Archbishop and gave whatever I had to give, but we came up short. It was a heck of an effort . . . one that we continued to feel for hours after.

So who won? Spencer beat Hadfield to the line . . . but video replay shows that Brandon missed a lap (a dropped water bottle + a mechanical) so I suppose it goes to Hadfield? Wow, good thing none of us are keeping track of this sort of thing!

This morning Noel and I traded an email or two: Here is a transcript:

Me: I don’t even know what to say about last night.

Noel: I know – there were some stand out rides and interesting things – Sean’s downtube shifter Concord bike

Me: You can NEVER have enough chrome on a bicycle! This is not a joke.

Noel: Kris’s attack on lap one

Me: I saw that! Lew is the best.

Noel: Doug’s interval sessions?

Me: Doug looks like a Track Cyclist. I can only use that reference because I watched the Olympics for 15 minutes one day, so I now know what track cyclists look like.

Noel: Brandon Spencer missing a lap?

Me: Brandon could have completed 3 laps and still finished off the front.

Noel: Steady fast tempo all night.

Me: No kidding! I am surprised any attacks went at all. You had a nice one on Douglas.

Noel: The Archbishop not attacking all night.

Me: You’re funny.

Bonus fun fact: I ATE TWO DONUTS WHILE WRITING THIS POST!

See you next week.