And Just Like That, Sunday Funday Is BACK!

The forecast was beautiful; 50° (10°C)at the start with a slight, but building wind from the west that would be inconsequential until it was to pick up as a tailwind.

At a quarter till, I didn’t think we’d have much of a group. At five till, we had friends from all over rolling in. We had eleven by the time the last of us rolled up. It was Sunday Funday!

Jess and I were on the tandem and everyone else had single bikes. Big group or not, on the tandem, we expect to take all of the headwind up front. That’s just how we roll. Not yesterday, though. Mike took the first two miles. Then Big Joe came to the front to take a few more. Then Diane, then Dale… I don’t think we took a mile at the front with the headwind. In fact, thinking about it, I don’t think we took a mile in the whole first half of the ride. That’s never happened.

We were scheduled for 28-ish miles, but added on another three during our stop at the town gas station… and three more miles into the headwind. And that’s when we took our first good turn into a gentle breeze, with the sun shining brilliantly and our arm warmers tucked in my back pocket. It was a perfect May morning… in April.

Right on cue, the wind picked up, just as we turned north to head home. Then a quick right turn and it was tailwind for something like ten miles. It was amazing and fun. The group was tight as we rolled down the road like it was just yesterday we were all riding together, not November.

My wife and I were in tune as well. We rocked all the way home at speeds up to 25-mph. I never felt taxed, throughout the entire ride, and that’s rare indeed.

We pulled into the driveway with the main group, 31-ish-miles and an 18.9-mph average. It was a perfect Sunday Funday, with one exception. One of the young guys who showed up on an S-Works hardtail mountain bike (!), ditched it and went down in the gravel after trying to hop back onto the road and got his front wheel caught on the lip of the asphalt. Fortunately, as kids do, he bounced back up before anyone else knew what happened. That dude did a 30-mile ride on a mountain bike, at almost 19-mph. Crazy.

Anyway, it was an awesome start to the season and we were all happy to be a part of it.