by Don Frank » Thu Jun 16, 2011 8:53 am
Wednesday night ride report-June 14
The 6 p.m. roll-out was filled with sunshine and good cheer. We were 8 strong, and was assume that some of the weaker riders were doing the Montague crit. I will not try to name everyone for fear of missing one. One came from South Carolina for the local Django weekend. He was very strong. When he flattened in Sunderland we waited for him to make sure that we had a very strong competition for the town line on the way back. In fact, we had some of our club’s strongest sprinters riding this evening.
We felt a few raindrops on the way to the book mill, and laughed it off because they had predicted a 10 per cent chance of rain and we decided that is what that was. It also cooled us down before we climbed the hill and raced for the town line, a goal that was burning in each of us. We climbed over the hill, and I can’t remember who got up last, but we were all saving our legs for the town line.
The ride sped up as we passed 116, as it often does. We moved faster and faster, with some of us barely able to hang on. As the town line came into sight, this correspondent tore away from the pack, leaving the rest of the group breathless as this correspondent crossed the town line first.
As this correspondent passed the line, lightning flashed, followed by a roar of thunder. As this correspondent let the group catch up to him, the sky opened up into a torrential downpour. The road filled with water as Ron – God of Thunder pushed the pace to beat the rain. Many in the group were already suffering from the town line sprint, but the pace remained quick in anticipation of an unlucky lightning hit. How unfortunate it would
have been to have survived a town line sprint such as we did, and then be denied the pleasure of telling our peers because we were struck by lightning.
We all arrived back to Hamp about 1/2 hour after the town line sprint, safe and warm.
