Ms. Wrong-Way

[Catrin]

Well, that might explain why we never saw you. What time did you end up starting?

Nice, well supported ride. They change the route nearly every year, which I didn't know until today. I was not, however, a big fan of the crowds. I saw a lot of stupid behavior today. Apparently, it's perfectly acceptable for riders to take up the entire width of the road or fly past without an on your left. We also played yo yo for the last 15 miles with a group of seemingly experienced guys who had no idea how to share the road. They would pass us, then slow to a crawl. So, we'd pass them, and the whole thing would start over again. They blew through one of the busiest intersection on the route like idiots. Grrrrr.

I changed from the 64-mile route to the 50 in hopes of seeing the two of you (and to go a little easy on my right quad - my hamstring was a little cranky when I first started). I did this at my SECOND stop - so I had already made whatever mistake I made. I arrived a little after 7:00 and got started a little before 8. There was a lot of madness there before the first SAG. Yeah, I saw some inconsistent behavior that had me a little nervous, but at least there were no accidents that I heard of.

Did you happen to see the "Garden of Armageddon?" We all just cracked up laughing - then there were the huge statues? that someone had set up in their yard. I wanted pictures of both but there were too many riders around for me to feel comfortable stopping.

What time did the two of you get started? I was pretty pleased with my riding time for the first 30 miles, then it seemed like I was fated to have a head-wind no matter which direction I turned.