June 7, 2009

• Elephant Rock 2009

  Well, I have signed up to do the E-Rock century again.   I did this one 2 years ago and I really didn't have that great of a time.  On these tours I prefer to just enjoy my fitness and talk to folks and enjoy the ride.  2 years ago, it just seemed  like the crew I went with was all about going fast.   For me, if I really want to go fast with folks I do one of the local hammer fest rides, or enter a race.... but I digress.

  We met at 4:30 A.M for the ride down there, and most of us didn't get a ton of sleep before hand. Ouch!

  This year the pace was a bit more mellow to start with, but our group of 4,  Ron, Dave, Ilka and myself broke up on the 1st climb.   Sure I could have gone with them, but I have played that game before and lost big time later in the ride.   Dave and I took it more/less easy on the 1st climb...  Eventually we would regroup with Ron and Ilka a bit later.

  We did have some good group efforts going but for one reason or another,   we would get split up again.  I was OK with all that, cause those were the expectations that I went there with.   I was good to just chill and chat with folks instead of chasing ghosts all of the time.   As luck would have it  I got a chance to meet and ride with Nelson Vails for a bit, after my posse was going faster than I wanted to....

  We also met a woman  Leila(sp?) who rode with us from the  1/2 way point to the end.  She was really nice, and it turned out she had gotten separated from her crew too.    We did run into some others that we knew,  Janet from Evergreen club, and Steve  and his crew from the 450 Club.

  I was able to hold my own more or less but I was no match for  Ron,  Super Dave, and Ilka all of whom probably have more than double the miles I have put in so far.      There were some bright spots where we worked well together and it reminded me of the old dayz...

  Of note,  Jim one of Steve's boyz got hit by a car when we lost control in some sand while trying  to catch up!  He was OK, but his bike was toast!   Also,  Ilka had a minor crash when she collided with another rider.   Minor damage to both bikes, but they were ridable, and everyone was OK!

  The end of the ride was different than last year and it added a couple of miles.   Dave was doing the Lions share of the work on the way back.  Ron had "checked out"  on the last climb, not to be seen again until the finish.

  After the provided meal we got a chance to wander the fair grounds and was able to chat with Dave Weins who was manning the Ergon both.   Doesn't get any better than that!

  A good time was had by all.  ~ 100 miles, with a moving avg at 18.3! which was the slowest in the group.

  Photo's courtesy of Dave Newman.

  • 9:25 pm
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