Touchables, Short Version

Another fine February afternoon for a bike ride. Dana got us going again doing the club Touchables Ride to Martinsville via Low Gap. We had nine riders: Dana, Tammy, Glenn, Klaus, Jen, Doug, John B, Clair, and Allan. Allan and Clair took advantage of the 26 mile short option, while the others (presumably) did the regular club route.

I've been experimenting with recording data in 5 mile increments on my GPS. What this showed today was that while I averaged out a 13.0 moving average from home to home, along the five mile stretch of 45 from Smith Road to Tunnel Road, Clair and I averaged about 17.6 bringing up the rear. We all regrouped in the driveway on Tunnel Road. People who had already been there a while were itchy to get going. I did get a quick drink but that's all. On the next 5 mile segment Tunnel and Shilo down to Anderson Road, Clair and I averaged a little less, around 16.3. John B had allowed as how it's all down hill there. Not really true. But one did need to slow down for sand and the occasional rough spot. 

Clair and I arrived at Anderson Road in good time, but this time there was no regroup as the other 7 riders were already out of sight heading toward Low Gap. We took a leisurely few minutes and then turned west into a pretty strong wind on Anderson. From there we took a standard route back to town. We stopped at the Firehouse as usual. What was unusual was that one of the young firemen came out to chat. He turned out to be a cyclist himself. Clair did a good job chatting him up and trying to recruit him to join the BBC. Eventually I had to tell him that we needed to get going. At Clair's insistence we stayed on Old 37 around the downhill curve, skipping Audubon. On the way back to the park we went by the new Bloomingfoods construction site near Second and Fess. Before long that will be another option for hungry cyclists after a good ride. But for now we just had to head back to the park and thence to home.