RdR2015 full saga: part 1 (of ?)

Ronde De Rosey... I should really write this up eh?

Motivation? maybe i can muster up a bit here while I'm waiting for a half dozen replies that will make the rest of the week either tolerable or insane.

Of course what seemed simple and maybe routine (with the new routine of building a few bikes a couple nights a week and the new spring soccer practice schedule) got messed up and for a bit looked like the Wed night smackdown might be in jeopardy. Which really would be funny because I broke down and bought a chain and an HG-50 9sp cassette to put on the Quantum Pro, to decrease the disadvantage against all those who show up on their latest and greatest bazzilion speed bikes and fancy light frames and stuff. The QP ain't much lighter if any than the plastic black blue but it is also a road bike designed to go not slow and the CXy bike is a CXy bike, it ain't made for speed. Even if i generally make it go almost fast. Maybe have some scheduling shenanigans sorted so maybe I can resurrect my hopes for getting out there on the Jade Chameleon machine. But we'll see.

Sitting down to write has been tough lately. But the talk went very well on Friday. More follow up questions from more different people and a diverse group of the audience than any of the other talks so that was gratifying. The other talks were cool and the car made it there and back despite some wonderful anxiety triggering speed vibrations. Heck sitting down now has been interuption city. Not sure anyone could tell, but I lost the train or the process a few times, picked it up but like with any good improv, kind of missed the original mark from the start. But then that's life no? You set off in a direction and sometimes encounters push you off path, plow you off course. Sometimes you get wrecked, sometimes something dramatic happens and sets you back on course. But then that's life eh?

#RdR2015 Way back i guess when I first started hearing rumbles and hints from Rosey and Velocb about route planning and all that, I kind of felt it would be really good to go this year. So I asked if I could bring a PVD team up. So we set it up, and I got on the captain list for the first time. It was special. Now who to join me? Well why not the guys I ride with all the time, who share the same kit and come from the same 'hood?

Sent an email out to the team listserve, and got some absolute 'IN's and a maybe. The maybe turned into a week before yes and then we spent 30+ emails trying to figure out how we were all going to get up there.  To add to the mix and the urging of Velocb, we stuck in David B's Rasputitas ride partner who happens to be the same guy who graciously loaned me his fat bike to race at Eco-Cross, the one and only internet famous [not-so] old bearded hipster Alex, he even agreeed to fly the PVD team kit colors!

Joining me and Alex on the team roster was Syl L (our crazy french mtbr guy who rides his MTB on smackdowns and road rides and everywhere, and lived a few blocks from Washington Square Tavern for years), David B (they guy who got me to the Deltron 3030 show, a generally all around awesome happy stoked on life guy), Burke (CX star, MTBr, Roadie, world traveler, famous facial hair, and really happy positive enthusiastic and strong cyclist), and our kid, recent Brown grad now working/living up around the Sommerville area Sandy the guy as tall(taller?) than me. I saw Skinnywhitedude's name on the Captain list, but no riders. So I sent him a text. Got no response. Hmm, maybe he's ignoring me too? Sent him email. Oh he changed his number AGAIN and he ain't got a team, and I ran down our team and we became a band of seven.

Lucky number 7

The odds were stacked far against me the weeks leading up to it. So much going on, so much crazy. But we hit it big with that combination.  After all the carpool crazy David wound up driving Alex and Burke, Curtis drove down and Sandy rode to the start. Syl picked me up, his wife along for a day wandering BOS while we were pedaling around, and van loaded we headed north.

And the sun was spectacular. Syl nearly took out a car that changed lanes rapidly as we were admiring the Intense low angle of sun lighting up the buildings with a dark dramatic sky to the west. It was one of those magic light days. Unbelievablely gorgeous.

Already I was relaxing and feeling at ease and optimistic. The day before was insane, worked at the bike shop, came home to make the chocolate peanut butter bars, AND dinner, and try and figure out what I was going to take. I had just barely gotten the bike ready. It has been a mechanical pain lately, I guess stuff actually does wear out? Go figure.

Out of the group of 7 only two of us were w/o some sort of navigational device, and everyone else was able to load the route. There were various levels of mapping going on and one of them took a long time to draw the route. The two w/o? Me and Alex (foreshawdowing if i ever get there).  Pretty good odds tho.

We get there. Plenty of time. Some go grab coffee, I was wearing kit and the orange jumpsuit. Figuring it was time to put some good mojo in there. Yeah. Orange jumpsuit from the time I left the house until I got back (I should have worn it on the ride, i would have had lots more room for pocket beers).

Get sorted out, sunscreened up, I collect start money and waivers. Rosey says wait till just before you start. I hug everyone. So good to see everyone. Little cookie exchange with JLSCX, man it was just good. The energy was awesome, no angst, no stress, everyone was super chill and happy and, just awesome. Curtis was happy and relaxed and just yeah. It was good. Of course I decide that I need to take a shit at 8:10, and get in line in the tavern. And the. line. is. moving. so. slowly. By 8:25 I cut infront of three and get in and mid poop i hear "Is GeWilli in there?"

I rush out, hand the wad of releases and cash to Rosey, we pose for a pre-start photo taken by Velocb and more or less the orange clad crew rolled out from there. The weeks of uncertainty that I had been hiding and supressing, dark cloud of depression looming over, basically dissapeared. We rolled off the two guys w/o navigation in the lead (this is not the foreshawdowing part, just the facts) Alex and I took off first. Okay Alex took off and I rode up with him. Before the first big turn we debated who was going to be navigator. Burke or someone said we should appoint one person, and so we nominated the kid. Except his map drawing computer thing wasn't giving streets or stuff and so it turned into navigate by committee. Before we'd gotten too far another team joined us and so we were nearly a dozen strong when we hit the first section of dirt. Rolling through and around the rocks and roots filtered out who had decent tire set ups and David, who had been maddly pumping up his tubeless rear tire three of four times in the morning before we left announced that he'd burped it.

So we stopped.

4.6 miles into the ride.

And we made him put a tube in.

And lots of teams passed us.

Keeping a list of when or who was passed and where will be tough. Will try to but bottom line it really did feel like we rode with every team out there. Obviously we didn't but we got damn close and every team was full of super super awesome people.

The cool thing about the RdR for me was familiarity. Even though this was my 3rd? time many of the sections I've seen before and lots of them I remember. But then some I don't. They are more of a Deja Vu sort of feel, familiar and it feels right, vs "hey I know where we're going" kind of a thing. A comforting feeling.

The ride was f'n spectacular. Off the bat the group was solid and pretty decently matched. Syl obviously could have SMOKED us on the single track and he did a pretty good job of that a few times but there was no feeling of needing to win, wanting to be first, or any of that.

The overall group feel and dynamic was support, fun, patient and stick together. It was a band of brothers i guess? We were literally a team and holy shit that was an awesome experience. It wasn't struggle free and perfect but I think how everything was handled was super awesome.

Okay so RdR is a single track ride with some road thrown in. SOME ROAD. It really feels more like you spent the whole day on trails and single track. The road sections dissapear from the memory, and you're left with this 5+ hours of riding single track with a group of awesome people with other awesome people joining for bits and spits.

'Our' group would swell and shrink, we'd all get mixed up together, chat, ride together and just really all with a common goal of having fun riding bikes.

Fun.

Bottom line amazing fun. Relaxed and fun.

Did I say fun?

Well now I have to say stay tuned for the next installment, because I'm out of time.

more words soon, hopefully,

heddwch
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