The ride
At a few minutes until 7pm, Rob called to make sure I was coming. I finished putting my shoes on and headed out into the rain. There were four people waiting: Dan, Rob & Kevin on fixed gears, and Erok on his geared bike. We huddled under an awning and decided if we wanted to ride down steep hills in the rain or go play some Wii. We were all leaning towards Wii before Kevin decided he wanted to climb. As he said “The hills are so steep, the rain will run right off!”
We soft pedaled to Brosville and started. Kevin immediately went off the front while the rest of us struggled along. Brosville–as always–was terrible. Kevin was at the top when I showed up and we were followed by Dan, Rob & Erok. We rested for a bit then rode up Arlington to 18th. Dan and I descended cautiously and met up with everyone else at the bottom. Next up was Greenfield.
Kevin and I rode in the front and diverted from the trail because of a train. We later realized that no one else was behind us and doubled back. We didn’t see anyone else en route to Greenfield, so I called Rob. Turns out he and Dan thought we had left them and were heading back through Panther Hollow. They decided that the rain was enough suck for them, and bowed out.
Kevin and I started the climb and hung together for the first 2/3rds before Kevin downshifted (his internal gearing, not the fixed gear bike) and took off. Though to my defense I could still see him when he hit the top.
Kevin’s winning streak continued as he made it up Coleman (the bonus hill) while I made it 20 feet from the top and then took Negley.
On the way to Edgewood, we stopped in the theater and talked to Ted. Ted was characteristically pumped about the event and sad he couldn’t make it. We talked and then rode out to Whipple. After the short steep climb up Whipple, we turned right and headed down into the U-shaped Commercial. I hung 10 feet off the back of Kevin’s wheel before he took off and dropped me. I saw him again at the top.
It was getting dark so instead of riding Homer and Herron, Kevin decided to ride down Beechwood to his apartment in Point Breeze. We shook hands and he was off.
Left alone, I decided granola sounded better than two more climbs, so I rode to Giant Eagle and then home. I ate a few great bowls of museli before heading to meet up with Casey & her friends from Chicago.
Standings
Brosville
- Kevin (3 points)
- Dave (2 points)
- Dan (1 point)
- Rob
Greenfield
- Kevin (3 points)
- Dave (2 points)
Coleman (bonus)
- Kevin: made it to the top (2 points)
- Dave: stopped like a quitter (0 points)
Negley
- Kevin (3 points)
- Dave (2 points)
Commercial
- Kevin (3 points)
- Dave (2 points)
Totals:
- Kevin (14 points)
- Dave (8 points)
- Dan (1 point)