So the most important thing you have to know about today's Team Social Security rides, is that it's Ernie Lee's 80-somethingth birthday. Immediately after signing up, I got a text from number unknown (that later turned out to be Al P) saying that I should come half-an-hour early because there was gonna be a gathering before the ride for Ernie.
Here he is getting surprised at the start (note the surreptitious tupperware full of goodies under Al P's arm in the foreground):
(I love that one of Lynne, above. It's not her most attractive picture, but that welcoming offer is Lynne right down to the bone.)
Ernie was apparently surprised and delighted, which is kind of the point, right?
A few more pics before the start:
Above, it's a shame Pat is so inhibited, right?
It felt like the parking lot just emptied when Christine took the C riders out... but Al wound up leading 17 of us. He called for a left turn out of the lot; I immediately turned right, and didn't realize my mistake until I got to the cross street, and had to sprint to catch up to the tail of the group.
It's a good thing I'm good-lookin'...
The group separated a bit. I got to riding with Ron S. I stopped for a picture...
...and got to talking about the double-layer of tape he keeps on his bars for comfort (I kinda like the look)...
... and then we had to hustle a bit to catch up.
We stopped in Columbus.
I got a picture of Pat's most excellent socks:
(If you follow this link, you can see a number of my posts that mostly have to do with other stuff, but also have pictures of bike socks that I think are neat.)
On the way back, I got going with the fast folks, and kept up with 'em for a few miles, until I graciously thanked 'em for letting me make believe I could hang with them, and fell back to put my lungs back in. Dave M subtly fell back and said he was relaxing a bit, because he didn't want to ruin the rest of his day, but I suspect he said that because he's much to cool to have to say that he was keeping an eye on me. I'm grateful for his attention.
One more of Ernie:
Ernie, you're not just an inspiration (although you are that), you're also an easy person to speak to and a good guy to know. I'm glad I do know you.
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