DOES THE SHARK SWIM?
Belo News
Galesburg, Mi. – The emails started coming into our intrepid hero, the Sharkman, at 10:48 p.m. on Friday night.
“Does the Shark swim in the rain?” – Yeti Boy
“We’ll find out in the morning!” – Sharkman replied at 10:54 p.m.
7:30 a.m. – “You riding?” – Falcon
7:32 a.m. – “Guess I’ll go to the start and decide there, looks like there is some clearing on the radar!” was Sharkman’s reply.
8:40 p.m. – “I’m running late!” – Falcon – What? How can that be?
Yes, you guessed it, the Minions rode on Saturday morning! Game on!
Though the rain threatened, it held off long enough so that four mighty Minions got their ride in on Saturday. Brewman, Falcon, Yeti Boy and our intrepid hero, the Sharkman came ready to ride…… Well, sort of…... Falcon, claiming he had already put his bike on the trainer to ride, was indeed late and delayed the start for around 10 minutes, but then it was game on!
The roads were remarkably dry for the amount of rain that had fallen overnight and the Minions speed moved up accordingly. Sharkman took the opening sprint with a lead out by the entire Minion Nation, as small as it was, with Brewman taking the second sprint uncontested.
Yeti Boy raced to the front and pulled the peloton up the col de Twin Lakes where he was overtaken by the group and Falcon took the next sprint. The peloton seemed to work together well through the Country Club section and it actually looked like the Skipper had swept Kellogg Corner as it was clear of gravel. Thanks Skipper!
Once the peloton summited the Col de Norte, and began to ride into the wind, a pace line formed up with 20 second turns at the front that was quite impressive for its precision this early in the season.
Yeti Boy took his first sprint ever at the Inlet Stop Ahead, much to the delight of the fans along the route. As the group crossed the digital divide the precision pace line continued to perform as a unit and stayed as such through the 3G zone.
As the fast moving train headed south for the final leg, Brewman took an awesome pull at the front of the peloton and once he got the Mighty Minion Nation over the summit, he took his foot off the gas as the rest of the pack began to form around him. As the finish loomed closer the peloton seemed to be joined at the hips while Falcon started moving up on the right side of the group, moving in on Brewman.
The speed picked up as Brewman allowed the group to pass and Falcon shot to the front while Sharkman and Yeti Boy fought to stay on his wheel.
Falcon took the tape, closely followed by Sharkman, while Yeti Boy made his first appearance on the podium finishing an impressive third!
The crowds were reduced on the Champs le Galesburg due to the threat of rain, but there was a large number of fans at the Klutch as Sooner had come in with his famous Soccer playing daughter, Rebekah, age 13 and her brother, Caleb, age 4 to sign autographs between soccer games. At the press conference, the peloton thanked Brewman for the tow into the finish as they sipped their joe and looked forward to next weeks ride.
SATURDAY – MAY 1, 2010 - Time Change!
The weather is looking a bit warmer for this weekend so we will move the time up and hope it doesn’t rain.
Launch Time – 8:30 A.M. – SHARP!
Be There!
THE BEER RIDE IS BACK!
What better way to cap off a successful ride, then to do it again? This time we want some WARM weather, so we’re doing it in June. Come on out and join us. Nice ride, cool shirts, great beverages!
Calliou, who is organizing this ride needs to get an idea of the number of riders, so please respond to Sharkman on whether you plan on joining AND forward it on to anyone that might also be interested. All are welcome. This is a social ride and not a race.
The Info
How far is the ride? The full ride is about 27 miles. Arcadia to Barking Frog is about 12 miles and the last 15 miles is from Barking Frog to Bell’s.
When’s this happening? Friday afternoon ride from Arcadia Brewery in Battle Creek to Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo. Tentative date is June 11. (the day after Calliou's birthday for those that wanted to know…).
When are we rolling? Noon brew at Arcadia followed by an approximate 12:30/1:00 start
How are we getting there? By bike (or car if you want to skip the exercise). We have a number of different types of riders. The full distance should be about 27 miles, but we’ll have a halfway point at the Barking Frog to pick up those that would like to focus less on the riding.
Just like last time, we’ll have cool shirts. What’s a ride without a cool shirt? Shirts should be about $10.
What if I don’t want to ride the full trip? There will be options to ride a shorter distance, possibly from Augusta.
When will more details be available? Judging interest from email responses, I’ll send out another email with more details over the next couple of weeks.
What if I just like to drink beer? By all means, skip the riding completely. You can either help as a support vehicle or just spend more time at Arcadia and Bell’s!
Please share this with anyone that might be interested. Contact Sharkman with any questions.
Thanks!
Calliou
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