sourland spectacular

 

TEW, and her team, Scott and Joann, departing to do the 27-mile ride.

The Excellent Wife (TEW) points out that I love big gatherings of bikes and cyclists, and because of that, I don't know why I don't do more of these big charity rides. She and her team did a 27-mile route; I did a 40-plus mile route with a few Free Wheelers; other Free Wheelers did the 60-plus mile metric century (not for me, thanks; I'm theoretically leading another ride tomorrow). 

My pace was nothing to brag about (see the ride page, and keep in mind that RideWithGPS is generous when assigning average speed), but I love seeing all the folks, and all the bikes, and riding with people I don't normally and might never see again. 

We saw a number of club members.

And a huge number of other riders.

And BIKES! Oh, my stars and garters, so many bikes. So many kinds of bikes. 

(That's our bikes, on the back of the Ramblin' Wrench Prius, when we went to park.)

There's no reason I can't do a ride like this on my own, and, I frequently do with the club, but it's just not the same as a supported ride. They provide stops:

And food:

And you could even get a beer.

A few of us made a team to do the ride.

My thanks to the volunteers. 

I try to make a point of thanking the volunteers, and I wish it were a more common practice among the cyclists on these supported rides. Admittedly, we've usually paid for the privilege, but we're out there riding and generally having fun. These folks are donating their time (for a cause they believe in, usually, but they're almost certainly not getting paid) to support us, and they're almost always doing it with cheer on their face, and encouragement in their voices. I'm grateful for their presence, and I think we all should be, and should let them know about it.

Rant off, I guess.

I wasn't gonna do this one, and TEW talked me into it. I'm glad she did.