In case it isn't already clear, let it be stated for the record Brad the Impaler is awesome. That was a super sweet day. Well-conceived course, and also well-marked. And the post-race dogs and bonfire put it over the top. Way over. Good times.
Warm-up stretching
The President's bike was in its usual state of disrepair. But we got it going.
The Impaler got the mood just right with a pre-race anecdote about Marian theology.
I'm not sure how many took to the start. Maybe 14 or so. But it didn't take long until some early flats reduced that number to 8. And 8 quickly became 6 when Juan Eppstein and John Paul couldn't hold the wind-assisted pace.
It wouldn't be a classic without a few church ride-bys.Just when we realized that the KK was the lone RRR rider surrounded by a swarm of darkness, he launched an attack. It happened to coincide with the course's one small hill, which was actually more like a false flat. Cousin Adam managed to keep pace, but KK was the first to reach the top of the 50 ft peak, picking up some coveted King of the False Flats points. There was a bit of panic behind as the Cricket and I tried to scramble back. We made it, eventually. As did Jonny G. But Big Luke was gone. KK continued to pull for a while, which was fine by us. When he swung off, Cousin Adam hit the gas hard. All of us were caught off-gaurd, though some more than others. The FGBC managed to hang on. But KK got caught in an ill-timed moment of inattentiveness. Just like that, he was gone. Which allowed the rest of us magically to find some additional energy. The pace was kept high thanks to a very amateurish effort at forming a pace line. But it worked. When we turned back into the wind on Hwy 44, it was game over for the RRR classics stud.
The four of us stayed together until the final kilometres with Cousin Adam serving capably as navigator. This was good for the rest of us, as we would surely have ended up lost. With 2 km to go, Adam took off again. I managed to hang on, but the Cricket and Jonny G did not. From there it was more alley cat than road race. A close call at an intersection on Raleigh almost allowed the Cricket back. But the driver of the blue minivan waved us through, even though he had no stop sign. And then Adam was the casualty of an unfortunate turn of events at a congested four-way stop. He tried hard to make it back, but came up just short. The Cricket and Jonny G were third and fourth. And KK rolled in about 5 minutes later. Impressive. I think we were the only ones to complete the entire course. But a number of others rode most of it, succumbing either to flat tires or navigational errors. It is not clear what Vic and Penner succumbed to. But they nevertheless put in a solid effort.
Special recognition is due to John Paul, who was under-geared at 34x16 and perhaps over-tired with his big fat 29er setup. But he hung in there until the heat got turned up in a bid to prevent Juan Eppstein from hitching back up.
Special thanks are also due to Mike and Lorne. They showed up on course in a red minivan a couple of times handing out cokes and ringing cowbells. Nice.
Among other things, the conversation around the bonfire spent some time trying to sort out the rules for the 2010 FGBC - RRR FGD Challenge. It would not be accurate to say we are there yet, but perhaps a little closer. It will be awesome. Especially the simultaneous FGBC/RRR vs Everyone Else Challenge.
