July 20th ride

I did some scoping out of a ride I'm planning in a couple of weeks(and got lost) before heading to church - about 24 miles

I hosted a 55 mile ride for the club today. Twenty-eight cyclist came out to my little corner of the world to ride. I hope they enjoyed the scenery, the peacefulness and the fellowship as they explored this route. Harp Pike is one of my favorite roads. I took a quick glance to my right as we passed the spot where I found "Harper" three weeks ago. I'm so glad I went back for her. We logged 54.7 miles today and I do believe the heat and humidity took its toll on some of the riders. The good news is all who started finished and there seemed to be a lot of smiles so I'm going to assume everyone enjoyed their day. Yet another good day on my bike! I'm really having a good time being a bike bum this summer.

Did the shop ride today. I was planning on the B-ride, but opted for the C-ride instead. As we approached the part of the route where the groups divide, folks were asking ME which route the C-ride was doing. :eek: Looks like they expect me to be ride leader or somthing. So, off I went with the C. Ended up barking instructions for our paceline, too. Gads....some folks just don't know what they're doing if you aren't CONSTANTLY telling them "Right side work. Left side, ease up. Close that gap! C'mon...pull through. Steady pace, right side. Let's go." Sheesh.
So later...we're in Rock Creek Park....climbing out of the park by the ranger station. We're a group of about 8 - not moving terribly fast, and granted, at that point we were taking the whole lane, but it's a closed road and we were not across the double yellow line. Well, two women on Terry's were coming down the hill towards us, on the opposite side of the road, when the lead woman for some reason startled at our group or someone nearby and grabbed a fist full of brakes. Well, the woman behind her rear-ended her and did a horrific over-the-handlebars wipeout and they both crashed right in front of us!!! :eek: The trailing woman took the fall the hardest (as they often do). We all stopped to help her. It took some time for her to compose herself. Poor woman was shaking so badly. I was shaking! She was wearing a singlet and left some major skin on the asphalt. Her left side and hand seemed to be the worse, but nothing appeared broken. I helped her up and to the side of the road but really had nothing to offer other than support and sympathy. When she assured us that she would live, I recommended that she soon get moving or she'd stiffen right up.
We all continued on our way back to the shop, and I just kept seeing her go over the handlebars over and over in my mind.

Hot fast ride. A college student and a triathlete (both women) showed up for the ride, so we really upped our speed. Plus we got lost and added some miles. The average for the ride was 15mph, and when we were rolling, it was between 18 and 20 mph. Great fun, but a bit too hot. 35 miles.