For the past seven years my riding friends and I gather together on a weekend in April for the first 'race' of the year. This is an off the grid, between friends kinda race. All on gravel country roads, 70-80km long, with a very low-key vibe. Some people show up on race bikes and smash the ride out in impressive times. Others elect to race 'the executive route', which generally means taking a shorter and more scenic route, stopping for snacks and some beverages, perhaps rolling a smoke if that's your thing, and just generally enjoying the day on a bike. The term came from a joke about some of the oldest members of our cycling club who've grown tired of racing and prefer to take it easy.
This year was my second year 'racing' the executive route on my Atlantis. The forecast was for 75mm of rain....that's 3 inches for the Americans. So I put my 38 Barlow Pass tires on and of course the fenders and long mud flaps, brooks saddle cover and packed some rain clothes in my bag. The drive out to the start was like a monsoon. But the cycling gods smiled on us as the rain stopped for exactly the duration of our ride, starting up 10 minutes after the race finished. The route included 45km of rolling gravel roads, a detour to ride some single track, the consumption of two bottles of red wine, several croissants and dark chocolate. Here's a few photos from the surprisingly not too wet weekend of riding. <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AVf0eUnUHrY/VxUN08_9crI/AAAAAAAAQBA/Lm-iX66ddy8XGpU-jxCg9pHDNLJfVkiXwCLcB/s1600/untitled-21.jpg> <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I7FQtNXN5KQ/VxUOGuy-XfI/AAAAAAAAQBE/E1lg0JY76SwLsz1wxZ8WWMuzNFP2B8JpgCLcB/s1600/untitled-2.jpg> <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-M1fu-52dLuI/VxUOTSZS1_I/AAAAAAAAQBI/l2u2ISDl6NskpMUaU3Ly90i48m__vLj6wCLcB/s1600/File_001%2B%25282%2529.jpeg> <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wPHNhycoPEo/VxUOhwzA4TI/AAAAAAAAQBQ/9vZ3VLE5f80etoS-Uc20Wh6p4k3dc8RgACLcB/s1600/File_002%2B%25282%2529.jpeg> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
