Well I'm a bit late, but better late than never.

Despite the wind and cold and a few sprinkling rain showers that everyone else has already talked about, I had a great time. It was tough to decide what to wear before leaving. But I ended up with fleece lined tights, arm warmers and my wind jacket. There were times that I wished I had taken my heavier jacket but I survived. I found it fun to see how everyone chose to dress for the ride....lots of difference body temperatures.

I saw Lifesgreat before the start. And during a long straight away saw the AV jersey fly by me - I knew it was Yellow so I called out. She came back and we chatted a bit. I caught up with her at the end too.

I ended up riding 80 miles. I'm really pleased with that as I had not trained at all for this ride. You can count on very few fingers that number of times I have ridden this year. But there is something about riding with others that increases your energy. The rest stops were stocked with a great variety. Loved loved loved the licorice and grapes and the bite size Luna bars - wish I could buy those somewhere. I adored the giant downhill - it made all the climbing worth while. I did not mind the route change this year - if it helps keep us out of the way of so many cars ang allows us to keep the ride going forward, than I can deal with that. The last 20 miles were absolute killer though.

True to my pre-ride post, I did what I could to encourage the No Wide Ride motto. Sometimes it was more successful than others. I was consistant with announcing my passing and always said thank you to anyone who singled up or moved over to allow me to pass. Hopefully positive reinforcement will help to encourage better riding by all of us.

At one point, I don't quite remember where, I did come upon a pile up just moments after it happened. It was very scary for the riders I am sure. And I hope no one was hurt too badly. However, the group had passed me just a few minutes earlier and were riding 4 to 5 across the road. So when they turned the corner they really were putting themselves in a hazardous situation.

Upon my return to Wellsville I overheard a conversation between some volunteers that the police had indeed been ticketing people for riding wide.