erin go bragh? slugs go up? jim go boom

St Patrick's Day! and I forgot to load the green bandanna on the bike for today's ride with the Hill Slugs. It was a ride of some incident, the least of which, I'm sure, was that I forgot to turn the GPS back on for about six miles after the rest stop - we weren't really cuttin' across all those back yards and farmer's fields after about mile 25.

Seven starters: six of whom I more-or-less knew, and one complete newbie, whose name I got and then promptly forgot. He stopped without warning me across a path I thought I could take, and I fell down behind him early in the ride; sitting on my hard office chair as I write this, I still have a bit of a reminder. This accident is similar to one that stopped my riding with the club the first time (I made a veiled reference to it in my sweep post), except I wasn't hurt bad enough, even to have to leave the ride. Still, my pride was hurt, and I didn't think the other guy was properly penitent, so I'm afraid I was less-than-welcoming; he rode off the front late in the ride, and now I wish I could have a word with him... although perhaps I'm only being egotistical thinking that his reason for leaving was that incident (except I know I would have been most uncomfortable for that reason... oh, it's time to shut up about that).

We did Pine Hill Road early on, a two-stage hill like Federal Twist, although shorter; the second section is harder than the first. After that, Laura OLPH, our leader, seemed to be looking for extra hills and miles; she referred to this (in a private email to me) as a "penitent ride", and made a Lenten reference during the pre-ride orientation. There was some... shall we say, discussion?... about the difficulty of this ride, and about how Laura is stronger than she thinks she is, and consequently, her rides are more demanding than she thinks.

Along the way, we met a delegation from the Morris Area Freewheelers, among whom was a woman in a recumbent bike (I likes me some recumbents!), and a kid who couldn't have been thirteen, who was just smokin' those cranks! I kept up with him for a bit and let him go. I'd like to think I could have kept up with him, but he's half my weight and a quarter my age.

About 49 miles. The day started raw and foggy, but warmed up quite a bit when the sun came out;I think all of us shed a layer; some shed more, and your correspondent should have shed another but had no good way to carry it. Crocuses, daffodils, and pink dogwoods (we think) were in bloom along the way. It turned out to be a pretty day, and despite my complaints, it was a pretty and fun ride (with some rippin' downhills - I have a goal to improve my downhill riding, and an unofficial goal of breaking 40 mph; got to 38.8 today, not a personal best, but not bad).

After I got home, I took the commuter bike on a six-mile round trip to the bank. I'm an idiot.