Today only 6 of us showed up for the club ride. It was in the 40s but got into the mid 50s later. On the first 3 mile climb out of the valley I knew it was going to be rough. None of my usual grupetto friends were there and I was so far off the back I was surprised they waited/ On some flatish miles we were caught by the Simi Ride, a local racer training ride. There were dozens of them, maybe 60,, maybe more, and they were taking it easy. A couple friends were in there and they said they were finishing a block of long rides all week. Anyway we got pulled along and I got to chat with old friends and it was fun for several miles until we turned off.
Later while cruising a beat up old road one guy punctured and sealant sprayed out all over his bike. He had a bacon plug but had never used one. Got it plugged eventually and was wrestling his mini pump when a guy pulled up in a truck and offered his floor pump, like genejockey's deal.
We went through some beautiful backroads and one of the ladies didn't want to do the full 80 miles and neither did I so we took a direct route back. She claimed she was tired but she half-wheeled me for 10 miles, at least. It was not supposed to rain today but when we got back to the valley it came down pretty hard and we got wet. Had to ride through deep water several times.