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Saturday sufferfest - the glorious resurrection

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2017 3:41 pm
by Claire
It's spring and it's light at 6am now - and it happens that Saturdays at 6 may once again be suitable for my schedule. Anyone else?

My pitch looks much like this (ultimately unsuccessful) attempt in the interminable winter - with the notable difference of non-dangerous, non-icy roads and daylight.

It's a generally non-stop/steady 100k in a revolving paceline averaging 31km/h+. The more the merrier.

Re: Saturday sufferfest - the glorious resurrection

Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 10:12 am
by Claire
Soooo... If anyone's intending to do the ride this Saturday (the 29th), post a reply here so I know whether to expect anyone. It's slightly less fun to ride 100k solo.

Re: Saturday sufferfest - the glorious resurrection

Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2017 1:17 pm
by WendellC
I am interested in resurrecting the ride, as I have dropped by a number of times and was disappointed by the solitude (although there was one other rider a couple weeks ago).

Just not sure about this Saturday (April 29).

Re: Saturday sufferfest - the glorious resurrection

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 12:55 pm
by mfarnham
I'm interested, assuming we get sufficient numbers. 5 at least.

Martin

Re: Saturday sufferfest - the glorious resurrection

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 2:06 pm
by Claire
mfarnham wrote:I'm interested, assuming we get sufficient numbers. 5 at least.

Martin
Geez, I was willing to settle for "company" but Martin's gotten all demanding. I'm surprised he hasn't instituted a minimum height requirement.

I will admit I kinda agree. I may do an alternate 6am ride if no one else replies here in the affirmative.

What about Brad... Craig... Andrew N... ? We had seven out a few months back in the deep darkness of winter. Humph.

Re: Saturday sufferfest - the glorious resurrection

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 2:32 pm
by Sig Isaac
Looks like a low probability of precipitation on Saturday morning, so I'm in. I'm sure you'll hit 5 riders before the end of today.

Hot Damn! I've been looking forward to the Sufferfest for a long time. Thanks for getting the ball rolling on this, Claire.

Re: Saturday sufferfest - the glorious resurrection

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 3:00 pm
by leftcoaster
minimum height requirement is 5'9" :D




for drafting..........

Re: Saturday sufferfest - the glorious resurrection

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 3:22 pm
by BPhelps
I am intrigued, but non-committal, more because of the pace with a wee group of two or three. Just getting back into the saddle.

Re: Saturday sufferfest - the glorious resurrection

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 5:26 pm
by Claire
BPhelps wrote:I am intrigued, but non-committal, more because of the pace with a wee group of two or three. Just getting back into the saddle.
Commit, Blair!

There's a possibility of a gentler enforcement of the rules - which are fluid/ill-defined but do sometimes include the possibility of dropping riders who aren't well matched to the pace - in order to potentially attract more bodies (taller=better) in the early days of the resurrection.

Are you enticed yet? Oh, there's also the possibility that I will have cookies in my pocket for sharing (at the end of the ride so you have to stick it out). Maybe.

But you should just come because the ride is awesome.

Re: Saturday sufferfest - the glorious resurrection

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 5:56 pm
by mfarnham
Blair, with you we'd be six (plus lurkers).

Get on the bus.

Martin

Re: Saturday sufferfest - the glorious resurrection

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 8:11 pm
by Bosie
Alas- working :(
Enjoy!

Re: Saturday sufferfest - the glorious resurrection

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 8:15 pm
by Greg Miller
I'll be there, or I'll meet up along the waterfront. Looking forward to it!

Re: Saturday sufferfest - the glorious resurrection

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 8:27 pm
by AJ Neale
I'm in.

I'm 6'2"

I like cookies. A lot.

Andrew

Re: Saturday sufferfest - the glorious resurrection

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 8:53 pm
by Claire
Well, I for one am downright giddy with anticipation. I recently received notice that we might even have a representative or two from the FulGas team tag along. This calls for an extra early night and time enough to sip an espresso all Euro-like, pre-ride.

C.

Re: Saturday sufferfest - the glorious resurrection

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2017 9:58 am
by Stéphane Tran
Thanks for organising this ride Claire, it was a good one! I'm glad we didn't get rained on.

Re: Saturday sufferfest - the glorious resurrection

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2017 10:55 am
by Claire
It was a fine day for an early ride: Nearly no wind (just a pleasant puff of a tail wind along Dallas), a solid crowd of a dozen bodies at its peak, and few enough at the finish line (coffee) that everyone got cookies.

Let's do it again soon!

Re: Saturday sufferfest - the glorious resurrection

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2017 2:59 pm
by AJ Neale
And kudos to Martin for personally escorting newcomer Paul all the way home from Lands End .... very Canadian of you. We owe you both a cookie.

Andrew

Re: Saturday sufferfest - the glorious resurrection

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2017 3:58 pm
by Paul.L
Thank you very much everyone for letting me come, being welcoming, and letting me hang at the back. I will never forget my first group ride. Special thanks to Wendell for those pushes, and especially Martin for all his help.

Re: Saturday sufferfest - the glorious resurrection

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2017 9:03 am
by WendellC
Paul.L wrote:Thank you very much everyone for letting me come, being welcoming, and letting me hang at the back. I will never forget my first group ride. Special thanks to Wendell for those pushes, and especially Martin for all his help.
Good job hanging in there Paul, it showed a lot of character! We have either all been there or still are!

In terms of that 80 kph close pass on Lochside Drive (which has a speed limit of 30 kph) (attached frame still), our formation prior was loose prior to the punishment pass, which may have "antagonized" the driver. Not to condone the ridiculous behaviour, but we can work on tightening things up.

I was not able make out the license plate from the video (its an older camera with a slower frame rate), but we have a clear description of the vehicle. And yes the video timestamp is off.

Re: Saturday sufferfest - the glorious resurrection

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2017 2:39 pm
by mfarnham
Hi All,

Good ride. Good riding with you Paul. And by the way, I got cookies too, courtesy of Paul, at Fol Epi!

Wendell, I was just logging in to PM you about that truck and whether you could catch a plate number. He made another appearance up by the McDonalds as we turned off the highway (yelling at us manically out his window)...might be worth checking your film just in case. He's got some loose screws and poses a serious threat to cyclists, given what we saw. By the way, I agree with your assessment that we should have been tighter there. If he'd approached at the speed limit, I'm pretty sure we'd have had time to tighten up to the right. But he came up so fast that there was no time to respond--of course, that's just an argument for alway riding tight.

Another lesson...more of us should ride with cameras. I've got one that I'm forever neglecting to hook up. If we could report more of these drivers and the police at least followed up by talking to the drivers, that might give them pause about reoffending. We know conviction rates are low, but if there's video evidence of past dangerous driving, that should boost conviction rates and may therefore serve as deterrence.

See you all next Saturday, hopefully.

Martin