No better way to celebrate your 44th birthday! 18 riders, 5 dads, and my good friend Jamie Ramos (Jamie will help us on weekends) enjoyed the scrabble of Heil Valley under cloudy skies. A mixture of mechanical failures tried to dampen the day, but we persevered and returned with smiles on our faces. Our Sunday rides will increase our endurance on the bike. The first race in Nathrop: varsity boys- 26 miles, jv boys/varsity girls-19 miles, frosh-soph boys/jv girls/frosh-soph girls- 13 miles. Increasing miles on the bike and riding times will help us on Sept. 19.
Some lessons learned today:
Organization counts: I need to know who will be riding ahead of time so that I can make smaller groupings of around 6 riders with a ride leader and a goal for the day. 25 riders are a lot to keep track of and efficiency is lost.
The value of gloves: a couple of riders ended up with microscopic hair-like thorns all over their hands after taking an unexpected departure from the bike. Gloves are good!
Checklists are good: a checklist of things to remember to take with you on the day of a ride might mean you won't have to ride with slip-on tennis shoes instead of your bike shoes.
Preparation saves the day: a chain tool in your pack can turn a busted derailleur into an excuse to convert your bike to a single speed (and not have to walk down the mountain).
Some things just can't be helped: a rim failure will most certainly mean you will be walking down the mountain!
Illegal Pete's needs to sponsor us !!!
Life is good.
-Boyer
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