Or is it that at least one of the guys who were burnin' it up on Ira's ride yesterday, might have been paying for it today?
The Central Bucks Bike Club Covered Bridges Ride is the end of the season for many riders, and. when the weather holds, it's probably the most beautiful ride of the year in this area. Today was just a perfect day for it: a bit cold (especially at the start), but clear, with visibility forever, and the leaves turning (you'll see in some of the pictures below). The long route (which is the one we did) went over six covered bridges (through one we had to walk the bikes, because the surface is a trap for those narrow tires). It's a similar route from one year to the next, which makes sense: after all, the bridges don't move, and if you're going to see 'em, you have to go where they are!
It's a hilly ride (well, welcome to Bucks County). I've uploaded the route to RideWithGPS because I think they have a more reliable reporting of the elevation than the Garmin site does. It shows well over a mile of climb on the ride... and that brings me to the Sag Wagon story.
The group I hooked up with was convened by Gary and Donna Wotton, of the fairly fast B ride from Etra on summer Sundays. Donna rides a bike with Di2 electronic shifting. It's great when it works well: the shifts are instantaneous; shifts can be completed under load (no need to "soft-pedal"); the front derailleur automatically trims to match the chain angle to the gear on the cassette. It needs electricity, though, and when the battery runs out, it's unpredictable.
After about twenty miles of riding, Donna found she couldn't shift at all. She was in a fairly low gear, and we went over another hill or two... and then she found that the bike began shifting by itself, unpredictably. The verdict was that her Di2 battery had no charge. She decided to call for a SAG pickup (she would be picked up by the ride organizers - it's a common service on these special rides). She insisted we go on, and I insisted we would not leave until she at least made the call and we knew she had made the connection (that sweep-y stuff dies hard, you now).
On we went. We had started with eleven; two (whom I didn't know well) went on ahead, and we never saw them again. Two others, Tom & Andrew (I think they're Morris Area Freewheelers; Andrew was riding a recumbent) went on ahead, and we saw them at rest stops, but not on the road much. That left John & Jane D, Dave H, Gary S, and Gary W and me.
I do have to gloat about this: while two of the guys who were on Ira's ride yesterday (and who had been cranking all the way home) kept up a good pace today, one of the guys who was really pushing yesterday didn't even appear today at all. (Nyaah, nyaah!)
So by the end, we were five or six (which made it a little like one of Laura OLPH's Hill Slug rides, with all those people leaving us [edit: Laura points out, rightly, that she doesn't drop riders. She doesn't: riders LEAVE her rides, usually for other responsibilities]). We got to the end, and found Donna.It turned out she had a story to tell; she had only gotten to the ride end shortly before we had. Through a series of missed communications, it ahd taken the SAG folks over an hour to pick her up (apparently they thought they had sent someone when they hadn't). Then she was in the SAG truck for an hour while they looked for another rider who had been reported in distress, whom they could not find at all. When they were finally approaching the ride end, she heard over the truck radio that she was to report to headquarters.
Although she went to headquarters with some trepidation, it turned out they only wanted to apologize for the comedy of errors that had led to her long waits. Donna appears to have taken it well; it appears that Gary is also blessed with an excellent wife!
Pictures below (lots of 'em!):
Below is Ed H, who rode with us until the 50-mile route split off.
John & Jane D:
Gary W, below. That must be at the top of one of the hills; it was only then I felt really warm.
First rest stop:
John & Jane D with I-forget-who between 'em:
Last rest stop. I didn't get pictures to show it, but I loved the variety of bikes and outfits. This guy reminds me of that.
Back at the start:
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