Oh my oh my

Ride #76
Sunday, May 22nd

18 miles in Folsom, CA

Although there were no trombones, we did have a parade today.

Yes, all the bikes you see in this pic (and MORE) were on the ride with me!

A parade of more than a dozen bicycles winding their way down and around Folsom's bike paths. I seem to remember counting 17 heads rolling by at one point. No idea if I am remembering that number correctly. I'm sure there were more than 12, and less than 20.

This was one of my bright ideas (maybe I need to switch to compact florescent bulbs in my head) to satisfy multiple levels of bicyclists.

Not sure it worked quite right.

The first part of the ride was 9 miles with a long hill. I did discourage one hopeful rider from this part of the ride, and I think that was OK, since the second, flatter and slower, and also 9 miles part of the ride seemed OK for him. He was slightly pink around the edges and muttering about cardio. So I'm glad he skipped the first part of the ride even though I hate bossing people around. I think he would have been miserable.

I had one person on a 3 speed, walking the bike only a few times. There were others for whom this ride was far too slow. I figured I was providing them with practice for going really really slow without crashing from the clipped in pedals. Heh heh heh. Or maybe an entry into trackstanding.

Managing a large group of people on a non-straightforward path is non-trivial. I'm glad my sweetheart showed up for the second ride and swept the group. He only needed to play herding dog once.

So how does one ensure that all riders are ready for a ride? Ask them how long they've had the bike, what's the last ride they did and how long was it. Ask them if they do other cardio stuff: hiking, swimming, dancing, rowing. Then there are the bikes. Does it shift? Can the route be done on 3 speeds? On a fixie? Blah. Too much thinking!

It was relaxing to go an average of 9 miles an hour, but stressful to try to keep an eye on that many riders.
I think I'll go bombing around on the trails sometime this week All By Myself. I do, after all, need to squeeze 75 more miles in this month for May is Bike Month.