A break from last weekend's heat: temperatures in the 70s and low 80s, partly cloudy (dark gray clouds that made you think of rain) alternating with bright sun, with what felt like a strong cross wind at times.
We had a large turnout today, 21 including Holly Carr, Larry Peed, Jay Lewis, Ruddy Elly on his first Thursday ride, Jane Hudnall, Barry Winkleman, Jim McDermott, Alan Kurzweil, Mike Bivens, Regina and Mike Saizan, Ken Meredith, Joan Oppel, Dave VanAmayden, Tom Short, Norm Lisy, John Early, Sonia Young, Sam Perry, Richard Harrington and leader Steve Palincsar.
The route, Truman Manor the Easy Way, was chosen partly to be surprising (it hasn't been led in 2012 and it's flat, 797 feet of climbing, according to ridewithgps, not what anyone was expecting) and partly to avoid overlap with this coming weekend's Rural Legacy ride. The surprising part was definitely a success. It proved to be a fast ride as well: Sam Perry set a personal best with an average well over 16 mph, and the slowest rider (me) finished with a 15.4 mph average.
Another surprise: nobody's shift cable broke today, although Sonia's shifting was exhibiting all the signs of an impending failure. That, however, wasn't her only problem: having successfully changed a back tire the night before, she forgot to close the quick releases on both brake and hub, leading to some odd noises as the back wheel flopped around. Dave VanAmayden's sharp eyes spotted the problem at the rest stop.
