OPENING DAY "COLDED" OUT!

OH, THE HUMANITY!

Minions get their own thermos!

BUT ONE RIDER SHOWED UP ANYWAY!

OK, TO THE FAT BIKES!

WILL THE NATION RIDE THIS SATURDAY?


Belo News
April 11, 2018

Shark Cove, Mi. - As dawn broke over the Shark Cove, our intrepid hero, the Sharkman, was sound asleep in his Shark Bed, dreaming about taking the first sprint. Then he woke up remembering that Opening Day for the 30th edition of the Shark Minion Ride had been "colded" out! Oh, the humanity!

This, of course, wasn't the first cancellation of an Opening Day, but it was the first that was cancelled due to "cold!"

The team at Belo News, who had been pouring over weather charts for days, had nailed it almost perfectly. The prediction was for a 17 degree wind chill at launch time and it ended up being 18.

Sharkman had been getting emails all week asking, "Are we really going to ride?" and "How cold does it have to be to get canceled?"

Yeti Boy dishing out koffee and
cookies!

With all that in mind, and having come back from short sleeve riding in Santa Fe, Sharkman regretfully pulled the plug on the ride.

However, on the previous evening, Sharkman had dinner with Yeti Boy and he and Zyckmann had decided to do a fat tire ride and invited the Sharkman as well as Reb with a launch time of 10:00 a.m. It is always a bit warmer in the woods!

Though there was a dog sled race, conditions were perfect for the fat bikes. The trails at the Fort were frozen and the fat tires were not rutting up the trails, though they did soften a bit towards the end of the ride, causing the group to head over the the Klutch for a kup of Bottomless!

During the ride, Sharkman received a text. It was from Mad Dog, along with a couple photos:

"Must have missed the memo!" it said, along with this photo.....

Then, "At least it will be a fun ride home!" again, along with this photo.....

When Sharkman got to the Klutch, the Barista was heading out and mentioned that "one of you Minions was here looking for you!" Of course, the old Shark new it was Mad Dog.

Yeti Boy was in a generous mood and not only bought koffee, but also a couple of cookies to share! Is this a great country or what!

When Zyckmann when up for more koffee, Andrew brought an entire thermos for the small Minion group.

As they sat and drank their bottomless and ate cookies, Reb noticed a rider heading towards the Klutch and stated, "here comes a riders but he looks too good to be a minion." Wait.....what does that mean?

As the rider past the Klutch, the Sharkman and his Minions realized that it was none other than Mad Dog, looking cold but looking good in his layers of clothing! Mad Dog later texted Sharkman stating, "Glad you got out, smart to stay out of the wind.  Couldn't stop to say hi, if I got off the bike and got warm I wouldn't have been able to get going again.  Hopefully next week."

Yes, hopefully next week! It is next week!

However, the forecast for launch time on Saturday is for 70% chance of rain.....but it will at least be in the 40's! Well, 43 degrees that will feel like 37......

It will actually be warmer at 9 a.m. than 10 a.m. so the ride will be planned for 9:00!

So, for the time being, the ride will go on, but watch for an update on Saturday morning before 8 a.m. If not sooner.

If there is no update, the decision might happen at the start.

Remember, the Minions will ride in the rain, but not start in the rain.......or at least most of the time!

This Saturday, Opening Day!

Launch Time 9:00 a.m. - SHARP!

Be there!