Modified Bagel Ride

This morning I rode with the Severna Park Peloton 5:45 group. It was nice to ride with those guys again. It was especially nice to see Clint, Chip and Clif (the 3 C's, also known as Italian Ice) fresh off of their epic fleche last weekend. (if you haven't already done so, take the time to read Chip's ride report here.)

I was late getting out the door this morning, figuring that since my departure time was 15 minutes later than on a normal ride day, I could do a couple extra things. That was not the case. I was in such a rush to get on the road, I forgot to turn my Garmin on. I turned it on just as I turned onto College Parkway (I know that spot is 2 miles from the house, so I can just add 2 miles to my mileage total for today's ride.) I was moving right along, but was not too worried about making it to the rusty bridge by 5:45, because the group would pass me on the trail headed into Annapolis anyway. As I got to the light to cross route 2, I ran into Mike. My first thought was that I was not as late as I thought, but Mike assured me that he was late as well. He did the calculations and said that if we went a certain speed we would make it to the bridge at 5:45. I didn't hear the speed, I just put my head down and pedaled. I glanced back down the trail and in the distance I saw another bicycle light closing the gap very quickly. Mike and I both assumed that based on where the rider was coming from and the speed at which he/she was riding... it had to be Dangerous Dan. It was great to ride with him this morning as well. He will be doing a 400k ride tomorrow with the PA Rand group. Good Luck Dan.

Our pedaling paid off and the three of us were actually the first ones to the bridge. We were soon joined by Bryan, Clint, AJ and Earl. We departed the bridge en route to Annapolis and picked up Chip and Clif along the way. A hearty group of 9 riders on their bikes before 6:00 a.m. How cool is that?

Earl had a flat tire just as we crossed Robinson Rd so the group stopped and either waited or assisted in getting that changed. (The Severna Park Peloton no drop policy is awesome). That tire issue set us back a bit in regards to time and it appeared that 3 other people would not be making the trip into Annapolis for breakfast, so I opted to turn around with them at the head of the trail and ride home to get ready for work.

This mornings ride was a great way to start a great day and what is suppose to be a beautiful weekend. Emily is here this weekend and she is suppose to bring up here bike gear. If she does, I will try to convince her to ride the Wounded Warrior Project ride with me as it goes through the streets of Annapolis. It should be fun as well as an honor to meet some of the wounded soldiers who voluntarily put themselves in harms way so that I am free to get up at 4:15 to ride my bicycle.