Mayor's Ride

My son and I left the house around 8:00 AM to ride down to the mayor's ride. On Friday night, Conor had decided that we should ride downtown, rather than drive. Somewhat right before we went to bed, he remembered that we no longer live 3 miles from downtown. We were greeted by temps in the low 40s and light fog. I gave him the warmer of my sets of riding clothes, prepped the bikes and we were off. We took the Trestle to Trestle and the Neal Smith trail down to the start, grabbed some coffee and a muffin at the downtown Amici Espresso and registered for the ride. A little bit of drizzle at the start and then nothing but gray overcast and some wind for the remainder of the ride. The ride itself was pretty uneventful. Lots of chatting among people as we took a leisurely ride around town. They took riders through a couple of hilly areas that caught many people unprepared. I saw a number of people walking their bikes up the hill on 56th Street.

Conor doesn't realize it but he's a stronger rider than he gives himself credit for. This was only his second ride of the year, and he rode downtown wiithout taking any breaks, and he rode the entire 20 mile loop of the mayor's ride without stopping, or walking his bike, including the climb up 56th street. All of this on a 12 speed with a 12-21 rear cassette. It's obvious that it's time to put a little bit of TLC into the bike he's riding. The handlebars need to be rewrapped, the driveline and frame could use a good cleaning, and the derailers need some adjustment as well.

Tonight we're headed over to a talk at Paglai's Pizza on group riding and etiquette. Lou Waugamann is the presenter. Conor had mentioned that he's not comfortable riding with groups of people and that he has problems holding a straight line with riding. We discussed some ways to better control his bike and ride straighter (don't stare at your front wheel), and the fact that practice makes perfect. This talk couldn't have come at a better time for him. Lou has a lot of experience, so it will be good for Conor to take advantage of that.