Two dozen Drafters were excited to be reunited with Belle and Bomber. Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band led the serenade.
They’re totally committed
To major independence
But they are Drafters through and through
They give them quite a battle
All that they can handle
They’ll bruise some, they’ll hurt some too
But oh, we love to watch them draft
Oh, we do respect em’, but
We love to watch em’ draft
Ooh, oh, yeah, oh
Some other familiar faces made their way back to the Draft. So, so, so good to have Midas and Footer in the lineup. Midas may have to repeat bootcamp. Rolling in seconds before wheels up with wheels that needed pumping up…. good thing she has that Midas touch! Sweeps rolled in 3 minutes after departure time. Firing out of the hole with such gusto, she blew a derailleur. Best 3 minute power ever. Well done, Sweeps.
Aside from Sweeps’ 3 minute best max power, no records were set. Fresh pea gravel on sections of Spring Valley Road kept the tempo. Dr. Dewey, proving the UW doesn’t give away PhDs, showed up on a gravel bike. It didn’t hurt the pace to have Keez limping along after her VO2 repeats at Nationals on Sunday.
Mentally exhausted from navigating through the the pea storm, Shaq and Barkley took a big break and even bigger short cut home. Skipper gave some sage advice as he passed by the big riders, “try to relax your shoulders and hold speed”. It might be aero to have your acromion processes above your earlobe, but it sure isn’t comfortable! Shaq had her massage therapist on speed dial.
Gravel wasn’t the only big surprise. LuLu and Columbus showed up with some Swedish Cinnamon Rolls!
An unhappy surprise… we wave goodbye to Cannibal as he and his beautiful family move to TN this week. Road trip for garden drinks is being planned.
WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS:
There has been a Gopher and Badger sighting in Oregon. Their natural habitat is only 2 blocks from the Drafter corral, but these beautiful creatures are rarely seen.
Knievel got dirty and failed to crash at the Belgian Waffle Ride in Montana, taking top 10 in his age category!
The CanAm team was fueled by cow pies at the Trek 100. Congrats to SneakO on his longest ride in 15 years!
Nemo’s son advanced to a Cat2 racer. That’s good. He decided to race Cat3/4 at Tour of America’s Dairyland. That didn’t turn out so good. Heal quickly. Just keep riding. Just keep riding.
Keez made her pro National Championships debut, but missed the Crit due to storms that delayed her flight by 24h.
Keez got her money’s worth at the road race on Sunday. Ice ice baby, to go, to go.
A shout out to all of those who put it on the line. It is hard to line up at the start of any event. It doesn’t matter if it is a pro national championship or riding your first 100K at the Trek 100. Hard stuff is good stuff. Congrats to all of those Drafters who challenge themselves.
Riding and racing is full of excitement, but also danger. Plenty of our fellow Drafters have been struck by vehicles- Vilks, Pit Stop, Keez, Sandlot come to mind in recent years. Tree of Rown, an honorary Drafter, was hit in a round-a-bout this week, clipped by a truck driver who felt the need to cut her off.
None of these Drafters did anything wrong. In every case, it was the fault of the inattentive (or worse yet, attentive) driver. The best we can do is draft responsibly. I appreciate all of you following the rules of the road, riding no more than two-wide, skinnying up on busy stretches, having front and rear blinking LED lights, radar, and wearing bright green drafter jerseys (ok, any bright color will suffice). Thank you. Let’s keep up the good behavior.
No green drafter jersey? If there is enough interest, the Hincapie store can be reopened. There is a men’s medium Axis (club cut) jersey available, ordered by mistake. Text or email BrickO if you are interested. Please don’t be shy about asking to try on a size and style (Velocity=race fit, Axis= club fit) before ordering as custom orders cannot be returned.
The theme song for next week comes from Credence Clearwater Revival. This is one of the longer routes of the season. As such, a SHOT will also be added to the drink menu.
SHOT 31.4 miles 5PM DEPARTURE.
SHORT POUR 33.6 miles 5PM DEPARTURE.
RidewithGPS Link: Shy of Lodi Canning Co Short Pour
FULL STRENGTH 38 miles 4:45 if you need a head start, otherwise 5PM.
RidewithGPS Link: Drafters | Lodi Canning Co
Draft responsibly,
BrickO
brickosdrafters 