by jerri Wiley
Defying the threatening skies of the 6th of June, a small but enthusiastic group of chapter members gathered in Granby to enjoy each other’s company, to get a bit of exercise and perhaps to beat the gas companies out of a few dollars. The rainy washout that seemed a possibility in the morning didn’t happen, and the overcast skies made for a comfortable bike ride – much better than a hot muggy day.
Most of the participants showed up with single horsepower vehicles, although Dave and Nancy brought their 2-horsepower (read “tandem”) vehicle and rode donuts around the rest of us. They could even tell us how far we’d ridden and at what speeds – having acquired the much coveted vehicle equipped with trip computer. And at least one of us – who shall remain nameless (but her initials are “jW” – ed.) – was running at only half horsepower, bringing up the rear all day. A few participants experienced clutch slippage problems on some of the hills and needed a push to the top. Marsh and Andrea had replaced their old clunkers with new lightweights. There ensued a considerable amount of weight comparison discussions.
One spot on the trail went from a nice paved road to dirt, inviting a longer, maybe smoother detour. Only Willy decided to tough out the shorter route and took to the dirt. When the road deteriorated further (the trail is built on an old railroad bed and the ties had not all been removed in the dirt section) Willy wisely opted to walk the bike for a while. He made the acquaintance of lots of mosquitoes, a snapping turtle and a couple coyote cubs – something that all the street rods missed. Meanwhile the street rodders encountered some hilly terrain dotted with broken pavement along the racing line and at each apex. The detour around the dirt section took much longer than expected due to certain navigational errors in reading the map. This “longcut” burned off plenty of excess fuel from the vehicles that took it.
During one fuel stop, we were visited by a self-propelled vehicle (read “rollerblader”), who stopped to ask if we were a bicycle club. Much to her surprise we told her that, no, we were a car club. In the quip of the day, Sheila informed the rollerblader that the price of gas had gone up so much that we needed to find alternate transportation. During this same fuel stop, we were joined by Jack and Linda who arrived on foot. Apparently, Jack’s new bike hasn’t had a good coat of wax applied yet to make it waterproof and he didn’t want to chance bringing it out in the rain.
Lunch was delayed when some of us decided we’d need a longer ride to be sure the tanks were on empty before heading for lunch. So we rode to the other end of the trail, taking all of about 3 minutes. Andrea noticed that this part of the trail went slightly down hill but didn’t point it out to anyone else. So the trip back may have taken a few seconds longer. Then it was time to fuel up. Bob and Sheila couldn’t carry two bikes in any one of their cars, so they came in separate vehicles. This made it easier to follow them to the restaurant since they could split up and lead two packs. We were the only people in the dining area of Goumba’s, an Italian restaurant in Granby, and were able to rearrange the furniture so we could all sit together. The food and conversation were great.
We had a special treat waiting for us when we left the restaurant. As you may know, our chapter picked the Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation a few years ago as the charity we’d support. This organization trains dogs for placement in homes to help people with special needs. Sure enough, when we walked out of Goumba’s we came upon two Fidelco German Shepherds walking their trainer in the parking lot. One was an adult dog who hadn’t made the cut to become a companion dog but was helping train a very cute puppy.
When the day began, Willy and I hadn’t been sure we wanted to make the 90-minute trip from our home to Granby, perhaps only to arrive in a rain storm. I’m glad we decided to chance the weather. The skies and the temperature were perfect for all the hard work this ½ -horse-powered vehicle had to exert. It made me wonder why we don’t go bike riding more often. Our group ended the day talking about doing it again before winter sets in, so stay tuned for news of another ride. Maybe.
