Originally Posted by big john

50 ish miles with the club today. 13 of us started at 35 degrees or so. Got a new vest from Garneau and I'm very happy with it, especially since I found it on sale for $36, which is better than the $120 I was prepared to pay for a Gore Bike Wear vest.

I was pleased to not be last on the climbs but one of the backmarkers was my friend coming back from surgery. He also bailed on the climbing loop in the middle and went home early. Another was a new guy who broke a spoke during that climb and somehow got it tangled in the cassette, or something. I didn't see it but the other guy he was riding with said they couldn't make it rideable when he showed up after 15 minutes and told us the guy had made the call of shame.

After that we were hauling along a 4 lane highway when one of the women kicked a big rock and somehow broke off part of her cleat. Another guy and I were off the front at the time so I don't know if nobody pointed out the rock but she didn't fall and was able to ride carefully but could lift her foot right off the pedal because the cleat wouldn't engage the pedal. Didn't stop her from dropping me like a bad habit on the next climb.

There is a guy who likes to blow up rides and today he got us strung out on the early climbs but eventually everyone stopped chasing him. With like 15 miles to go he started hammering and one of the women warned him that he didn't know the route but he kept going and missed a turn and we didn't see him again. Things were more calm after that.