 |
| Start/Selfie Champion Ironman does the honors with the threat of rain! |
MINIONS DON'T START IN THE RAIN, BUT WILL RIDE IN THE RAIN!
GAZELLE GIRL "SPANKS" NATION!!!
WISHBONE WINS BEER JERSEY DAY AND BUYS!!!
SKITTLES RETURNS TO TAKE THE TAPE!
MORE 30TH ANNIVERSARY JERSEY INFORMATION!
KELLOGG/TONY THE TIGER JERSEY DAY THIS SATURDAY!
Belo News
June 16, 2018
Shark Cove, Mi. - Sharkman couldn't believe it!!!
As dawn broke over the Shark Cove, our intrepid hero, the Sharkman, awoke to the sound of rain on the roof!
Wait, ....what? Not again! "Can this be happening?" he thought as he jumped from his Shark Bed and ran to the Shark radar!
To make matters worse, the shark radar indicated one of those patterns that is far from definitive as to whether to cancel the ride or not. The radar was showing breaks in the rain, but there was more rain behind it.
 |
| The Koffee was fantastic! |
Oh, the humanity! More rain!?!
At 6:15 a.m. the first text came from Nikeboy....."My weather app says rain for at least 2 hours. I’ll keep an eye on the radar, but I’m probably out."
Sharkman responded with...."OK. If it continues, I may just drive over to the start. I can't believe our Saturday morning luck this year......"
Sharkman shot off an email to Gazelle Girl to see if she was up yet and she reported she was and that it was a steady rain over the Triple Nasty Ranchero. Sharkman replied that he was going to drive to the start to make the call and got his Shark Vibemobile loaded with his steed and cycling gear.
On the way into Galesburg, he did notice a rider in a neon yellow jersey with the appropriate flashing light and thought Mad Dog, but the rider turned to go towards Qman Hill or McDonalds and he could not recognize him. He would learn later that it was Skittles, who wanted to stop at McDonalds for something quick to eat. Ah, youth.......
As the old Shark made his way to the start he could see Galesburg setting up for Galesburg Days and was wondering when the parade would start.
Still no rain.
When the Sharkman arrived at the start, he received a text from Gazelle Girl that she would meet the Nation at the Klutch. The rain had stopped for the past half hour and there was hope!
Wishbone was so excited to see someone, he blurted out "I"m so happy we're riding, I wanted it known that I'm buying today!" Yeah, that and the fact it looked like it would be just Sharkman, Wishbone and Bull Dog, who had also pulled in and was unloading his steed.
Soon Ironman arrived and was designated to take the start/selfie photos since he is so good at it, and, well, was named Champion of the selfie!
It was "Beer Jersey" day and Sharkman was sporting his Oberon Jersey, while Ironman had on his Beer City Bicycle Jersey and Wishbone had on a new Gonzo's Beer Jersey! Since he had already volunteered to buy the koffee, Sharkman named him Beer Jersey Day winner!
Is this a great country or what?!?
After the start/selfie photo (please note what a nice job Ironman did on that shot!) the riders were off.
As they got to the Klutch, there was no Gazelle Girl, so Sharkman took the short cut, while the rest of the riders went the normal route so as not to miss the "Sweetheart of the Peloton" coming down from the Triply Nasty Ranchero.
The riders came back together at the normal location and headed north and immediately spotted Gazelle Girl riding up, sans beer jersey, to shouts of "Gazelle Girl!"
Ironman and Sharkman got into such a deep discussion, the old Shark almost forgot to take his honorary sprint, but woke up enough, and in time to bring the speed up to 24.3 mph as he crossed the line, taking the first sprint of the day. Sharkman does not like to dishonor the sprint by not actually sprinting!
As the Nation made their first crossing of G Ave. of the morning, Skittles jumped on from the rear, smelling of McDonalds egg McMuffins......MMMmmmm.....that made Sharkman hungry!
The old Shark was so excited to be back with his beloved Nation, and noticing no one was really paying attention, he took the second sprint of the day as well, with a weak response from Ironman who didn't seem to really care.
After the col de Twin Lakes, Wishbone jumped early and Skittles went after him. Interestingly, Wishbone edged out Skittles on a bike that Skittles had built for him while at Team Active in Battle Creek. Skittles mention later it was an honor to lose the sprint to Wishbone!
Class act........
Ironman and Skittles did a lot of the pulling as the Nation crossed Rt. 89 and headed into the Kountry Klub section after the Yorkville Church.
Though there still was no rain, the wet road was providing quite a bit of dampness to the ride and at times the "rooster tails" made Minions think it was raining.
 |
| Gazelle Girls riding companion, Road Toad! Oh, the humanity! |
It was at the Rt. 43 Stop Ahead that Gazelle Girl introduced everyone to her new riding partner, Virgin Minion Lurleen (Minion name Road Toad - see photo). She even came complete with a small platform to ride on.
Road Toad seemed to be either a petrified toad or a toad smashed flat as a pancake by a passing, heavy vehicle). And to think, Gazelle Girl is all ours!
Oh, the humanity!
The Nation stayed together through the col de Norte and into the Holy rollers where there was some new pavement that made the climbs a bit nicer to navigate!
At the Food Stop, the Dandelion was again closed on a Saturday morning, which made no sense to the Nation, yet the Nation hammered on through the Inlet and on to the Digital Divide.
At the crossing, Sharkman noticed the average speed at only 17.4 mph. Now that included the average to where he started the game clock as the Nation starts when they get to 36th Street.
Sharkman started the pace line and after the Bermuda Triangle of Flat Tires and the short climb, he turned the honors over to Skittles, who was leading out gazelle Girl, and never gave up the front until he launched Gazelle Girl into her coveted GGG Spot Spring!
 |
| Gazelle Girl and Road Toad spanks the Nation! |
Skittles provide a hug launch pad for Gazelle Girl to rocket to her finish, giving the Nation quite a spanking in the process.
It was a victory for America!
At the GGG Spot crossing, Sharkman noticed the average speed had gone up to 17.8 mph! That was a pretty quick section!
As the nation lined up for the finish, Ironman, who had worked hard all day, threw himself on his sword and pushed to the front of the train. Sharkman, behind Skittles, didn't think he could hang on as they climbed the short, small hill at the start, but managed to get it into gear.
After a huge pull to the top of the finishing hill, he moved aside as Skittles and Sharkman went by.
However this was momentary as Ironman came back around Sharkman as Sharkman grabbed on for dear life. Meanwhile, Skittles was opening up a gap but Sharkman felt he could not try to steal the podium from Ironman after the monumental pull!
 |
| Ironman and his Beer City Jersey! |
Sharkman noticed that from the Digital Divide to the finish, the average speed went up .9 mph (from 17.4 to 18.3 mph) and the average speed for the ride was a respectable 18.7 mph considering the wet roads and rooster tails!
As the riders crossed the main highway, they waited for all to catch on for the ride down the Champs le Galesburg.
The streets had tens of peoples lining the road in anticipation of their hero's ride to the Koffee Klutch!
OK, maybe it was in anticipation of the parade, as they all seemed to be looking the other way from the riders. But it was inspirational none the less!
Wishbone had them line up the Bottomless at the Klutch and the Nation drank deeply of their joy of riding. It never rained. The koffee tasted partricularly good as the sun came out over the Koffee Klutch. It was going to be a great day!
You won't want to miss next week's edition as Sharkman is back, yet again!
 |
| Wishbone in his Gonzo's Bigg Dogg Jersey! Named winner of Beer Jersey Day! |
It will be Kellogg/Tony the Tiger Jersey Day, so blow the dust off that Tony, Honey Smacks, Corn Flake or whatever Kellogg Jersey and come on out and ride!
Saturday, June 23, 2018
Kellogg Jersey Day!
Launch Time - 8:00 A.M. - SHARP!
Be there!
MORE 30TH ANNIVERSARY JERSEY INFORMATION!
Belo News
June 21, 2018
Triple Nasty Ranchero, Mi. - Gazelle Girl reports that she has requested the company making the 30th Anniversary Shark Minion Jersey's to send sizing samples that can be tried on at the Koffee Klutch this Saturday! So you will want to be at the Klutch to get your sizing correct before ordering you jersey.
This is a jersey and Shark Minion will covet so stay tuned for more information on ordering as we go through this process and a big thanks to Gazelle Girl for all her work on the design AND her dealing with the vendor and responding Shark Minions, which isn't always an easy task!
Be there Saturday, even if you don't ride!
No comments:
Post a Comment