11 September, 2008

It was that close.

I went back and joined a group ride this morning. Not the testosterone laden, road rule ignoring bunch I rode with a few weeks back. But a gentler, more in-tune with natural harmony group....yeah right!! It looked like someone trying to herd cats. The group was all over the road- riding two-abreast (or three or four) and into a couple of lanes of traffic. Good thing it was early this morning and not much traffic- this sort of stuff could really invoke some nasty reactions from motorists.

I had been riding solo lately but had been advised that the old group had split up- sort of a TL vs EL. That would be testosterone vs estrogen.

Anyway I held on to the turn and a bit beyond with people doing many strange things when it came to traffic signals and such- or even when those who had been on the front decided they had had enough and made way for the next pair to move forward- it was like "The Keystone Cops". "What do I do?" "Where should I go?"

Being my first ride with this group, I didn't feel it was my place to start barking but it was a hard thing to hold my tongue.

After the turn, we started to pick up the pace on the return leg to the city. A good mate of ours, Mark (who also abandoned the TLR - that would be Testosterone Laden Ride) made a bit of a jump so being the twitchy sort of a bloke I followed (albeit a bit late).

Well I have to say that chasing down Mark gave me my fastest level ground speed of 54.77 km/hr. Not bad for an old fart- and I never even got to grab the wheel- it was all straight chase speed.

Anyway, Dee and I are off to Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays on Friday. Lots of laughs, rides and wines with some friends and a well earned bit of relaxation.

Cheers, ride safe
BoaB

2 comments:

Bluenoser said...

The all over the roads is one of the reasons why I don't do the fast group or charity ride thing very often.

-B

BoaB said...

Agreed Bluenoser; what was interesting was that this group had broken away from the "Fast Group" because of concerns over pack behaviour. I'm hopeful that given time and some guidance they'll come good.
Cheers
BoaB