Thanks to Claire and Blake (last names not needed) for joining me under fall-like conditions for the ride to Cobb Island, and lending some legitimacy to my inaugural leader role. Being that we have compatible and complimentary skillsets, it was pretty smooth pedaling. Claire's rear derailleur was entering the early stages of cable-stretch, so it was a little grumpy (but functonal) on the way to Cobb Island. Since we had a couple engineers in the group, we naturally decided to see if we could improve her situation during the rest stop. After a moderate amount of random tweaking, I think we ended up where we started (no charge). At the rest stop, I think the consensus was to dial things back from a low AA pace to a true A pace...that notion lasted for about as long as we circled the Island! On the way back, Claire was dreading the Penns Hill climb...she wasn't disappointed. Blake was feeling some effects from his week on the Allegheny Trail, so plenty of out-of-the saddle arse-stretching. We finished up the ride at 18.3AMS, which matched the goal. The rain was fast-approaching, so we kept post-ride festivities to a minimum and bid farewell. I suspect all those that were cycling home (i.e. everyone) got sprinkled on. Let's call it a successful ride!
