Where to begin?? Okay I suppose I should start at the beginning.
Wednesday
I was interviewed by the local news paper, covering the event. Kinda funny, but it was your typical interview, why are you riding, how long is the ride, yada yada yada. Though the main purpose of the article was the same as the ride. Getting the word out about this event, and the YSC.
Then they want to send out a Photographer. Humm I thought, won’t that add 20 pounds? The Hershey Rep sent me T-shirt and a Hat for the photo shoot, and I figured i’d just try to suck in the gut.
They photographer came out, during a down pour on Wed, and she was like okay, lets just do the shot in your garage. WHAT!!! the garage is nothing short of a disaster, after all i just finished painting the house…. She assured me that it would be out of focus for the shot…. Yeah okay.. Sure..
Well Click Here for the article
I finished Wednesday by cleaning the ole Pinerallo Opera. All the while looking at the MASI hanging in on the wall, and thought to myself.. Humm, just an odd feeling, but some how, i felt i would be riding that bike for this years tour….
Thursday.
So there With everything packed. I set the Opera on top of the car. Headed inside to get some items and was ready to leave. When i went back out and looked at the car, I had sick feeling before i figured out what was wrong. I’m like where is my bike??? It isn’t ontop of the car…. OH SHIT!! It has fallen…… I never locked down the rack, as i was going to put the bra on the bike… I figured it had smashed the sun roof.. So i grabbed it and looked it all over.. Then there was the impending damage to the fork. The dropout was bent. SOB I’m like this sucks, so with the nausa in the stomach I called Will, (who was patiently waiting for me to pick him up) and indicated that I would need some time to prep the MASI. Of which hadn’t been ridden all season.
Before the fall
I pulled down the MASI, and was debating on what to do first. When Will called me back. He indicated he had another fork, and to bring both bikes. So I threw the MASI on the roof rack, the Pinerallo in the back, and headed to Lancaster.
The good news is the fork on the Opera, is for lack of a better term stout. The machined aluminum dropouts were bent but not cracked or other wise damaged. So between Will and myself we muscled the drop out back into place. After throughly inspecting the allignment of the front wheel, we were satisfied that it was fine..
Okay so with some nagging thoughts that the Carbon Fiber was fatigued we hit the road. The whole way there Will assured me that fork was fine and to put it behind me. Okay i thought.. He knows more about bikes then most.
We arrived later than we wanted in Hershey, and some how everyone already knew about the day hiccup. (Thanks Will)
The bonus for Thursday was that Beth brought the kids up
us, and met up with me, Will and Deirdre. I think my wife and Deirdre hit it off, and made some kind of deal to have Deirdre run my fat ass in the ground. I’m not sure i don’t have proof yet, but i’m convinced that they conspired.
After seeing Beth off, the three of us headed back to Chocolate world where we enjoyed the opening of the event, Good food, and got re-acquainted with old friends and starting making new ones.
Getting details on Start of ride
Getting details on Start of ride
Since we had a long day a head of us, I headed to get the gear ready and organized so that at least I could be somewhat efficient in the morning.
The highlight of any of these rides is teh Jersey, Will it fit, will it accentuate my gut or hide it. These Jerseys were sweet! Love the colors, fit, and the full zip.
Jersey
The evening ended at the Bar when Deirdre laid down the gauntlet that she could drop me. So we ran a little wager that if either of us could drop the other by lunch the first day, the loser would donate to the winner…..
It was on..
FM
