After high winds forced a postponement last week, today the weather cooperated spectacularly. The Post’s Capital Weather Gang said “Sunshine dominates the day. The main downside will be an increasingly gusty breeze. But with highs mainly reaching the mid-60s to around 70, it shouldn’t be much problem. Winds are out of the northwest around 15 mph and gusting to 30 mph during the afternoon.” We definitely got the sunshine, and it did hit 70, but those gusty winds didn’t materialize. What we had instead was a cool, cloudy morning that turned into a lovely day at noon, with only the gentlest of breezes.
47 riders were checked in: 4 in the A group, 16 in the B group, 17 in the CC group, 3 in the C group and 6 IHRT Trail Riders.
We never did find an A ride leader. Co-leading the B group were Catherine Ade and Diane Harris, who’d stepped in to replace Sherwood; Walt Roscello lead the CC group, while Jessica Hirschhorn led the C group and Ron Altemus led the Trail Riders.
Riders (and Leaders*)
A Group
Alex Batkhan
Barb Haley
Liam Healy
Larry Malone
B Group
Catherine Ade*
John Arrington
Linda Bankerd
Chantal Briere
Sherwood Byers
Luis Dall’Orso
Diane Harris*
Peter Klosky
Rob Marston
Karen Marston
Eric Nielsen
Ken Notis
Mario Salazar
Tom Short
Bob Thompson
C Group
Linda Blackman
Robin Garnett
Jessica Hirschhorn*
Leslie Tierstein
CC Group
Harold Datz
GloJean Gladden
Ellen Goodwin
Jenny Haddon
Harry Kidd
Lois Lightfoot
Norm Lisy
David Mahl
Clare Neal
Cynthia Nuzzi
Joan Oppel
Steve Palincsar
Walt Roscello*
Patricia Sanders
Esther Steward
Patricia Walthers
Rita Zeidner
IHRT Trail Riders
Susan Altemus
Ron Altemus*
Fran Jezisek
Leesha Saunders
Randy Schoch
Gene Villiva
Mishaps & Mechanicals (as far as I know, the only one)
I was riding with the B group when I flatted on Ripley Rd. B Ride leader CatherineAde and Harry Kidd stopped with me.
My back tire was covered with mud and I wasn’t sure the little piece of glass I did find was actually the cause of the flat, but after all the excitement of my cassette falling off the hub onto the road along with some spacers and end caps (surprise, I didn’t know it could do that) and being sure that further examination of the tire wasn’t going to do anything but waste time, I replaced the tube and hoped for the best.
I almost made it to the turn on Blossom Point when my back tire went flat again. And that was that.
Harry rode back to Indian Head to get his car, while Catherine stayed with me. I was very glad of the company. While we waited by the side of Port Tobacco Road, we had interesting conversations with a couple of riders out training on their own, one a fitness trainer who lived just down the road from where we’d stopped, and the other a member of the Marine Band from Oregon.
When I got home, sitting out in the brilliant sunshine with a tire that had finally dried off, I still couldn’t see what had caused the flat. It had to be a sharp embedded in the tread because both tubes had identical punctures in the identical location. I even knew approximately where it had to be in the tire, because I always line up the valve stem with the label on the tire. But I just couldn’t find it.
I finally had to turn the tire inside out and fold it across the width of the tire. Slowly moving down the tire, eventually I spotted the point of a glass shard sticking up. Folding the tire in half also loosened the glass in the tire, and it easily came out of the tread.
