Let There Be Light

     A good turnout tonight for the first ride in the dark and the weather really co-operated.  It was nice enjoying the more relaxed pace and we needed that for the first night ride.  Staying on the trails seem to be an issue for some.
      Kudos to Ian for taking one for the team.  As if it wasn't bad enough being Ali's gopher in the states by picking up his lights, but Ian was also kind enough to charge them and leave them ready to go on Ali's porch.  Only to realize that he forgot his shoes, Ian returned home and hightailed it back to Alis's but we had left.  However, Ian did meet up with us at Morton.  Ian, you don't want to know how Ali plans on thanking you.....
     Some big shakeups look like they are going to be happening in the attendance.  Because it has been such a tight race, not much separates many guys.  Miss a couple of weeks this time of year and you may be up for beers first next year.  That is of course, after Russ and Rodney.
      As for the beer order, some guys are getting busy on Wednesdays and others are dropping out of riding for the season.  If that is the case, there will have to be some minor tweaking to the list.  I have attached the list of who has bought and when.  Next up is Rob, Matt (think he is done for year), then Ian.

Next Stop... Tour de France

     Congratulations to Matt who finished second in this weekend's Alpe d'Windsor.  Matt did 25 km in a scorching 1hr 16 min and 50 seconds, only losing by a mere :49.  Based on the look of Matt in the picture, he had the guy in his sights but just couldn't catch him.

25km 

 1^st – Derek Stewart 1:16:01

2^nd – Matt Mousseau 1:16:50

3^rd – Neil Klimecki 1:23:38

4^th – Rob Mora 1:35:35

Last ride of the year in daylight?

     Well, it was a gorgeous Wednesday night with nice temperatures in late September, but the Chain Reaction Cycling club didn't represent very well. Only 4 dedicated members of the squad did a good ride in 1:45 by hitting the usual Morten / Malden trails. Ali, Mark, Liam and Jeremy showed up and earned their point.

      The story of the night came when we arrived back at Ali's to find two other members drinking themselves silly after breaking into Ali's house. Yes, Jay and Craig walked right in the front door, raided Ali's fridge and were slurring their words by the time we arrived back from the ride.

     Not only did they skip the ride with a lousy excuse, they lobbied the committee that they deserved a full point as they claimed they were out recruiting new riders before showing up. The committee would have none of it, and ruled that they deserved no more than a half point for bringing chips, which is what the constitution states. No ride, no point!

     We spoke briefly about moving the remaining rides to 6:30 and riding with lights.... let's make a call this week via emails to ensure we're on the same page.

     Look out... Michigan - Michigan State only 2 weeks away from this Saturday. Find your 'tailgate' shirts from last year boys and put together some good tailgating ideas, its gonna be another one for the ages. Game time is still "TBA" so we'll have to wait to see if its 12:00 or 3:30 start.

     Next up for beers is still Rob then Jay.

Is Chain Reaction Cycling still together?

     TMZ called and wants the scoop on CRC.  Apparently the rumour mill is going wild with talk of the group no longer riding together.  Well founded I would say.  Matt goes off to do his hills.  Mark just meets us at Malden.  Dave, Rob and Ian go off into the woods and .... never mind.  The only guys that actually completed a full ride tonight was Jay, Craig, Ali and Jeremy.
     Next up for beer is Rob then Jay.

What a Day!!

The boys

    The football gods were smiling upon some of the more elite members of Chain Reaction Cycling this weekend.  The day began very ominously.  First, we were practically strip-searched going into the US until they got wind of what Jay had been letting loose all morning.  Then, we had to wait at Meijer until 7:00am (the earliest time they can sell booze (something to remember for the future)).  Back on the road... but no... we were pulled over by an overzealous Michigan state trooper for "allegedly" speeding.  Note: he had no proof other than we were going faster than him.  However, once he realized who we were and where we were going, he let us go and told us to "go whip some Michigan ass".  Go figure.  Bad things come in threes and we figured we had cleared the hump.... and then it started to rain and rain and rain.  However, we tailgated through, playing some rain bocce.

Touchdown Jesus

Jay praying for tickets... or another beer

     The ticket situation was looking grim.... $75 per ticket was the cheap rate.  So off we headed to the stadium (rain stopped and it was clearing up) desperately looking for tickets when our day finally began to turn.  An angel smiled upon us in the form of free tickets.  No, this was not a typo.  Some lovely young lady recognized us from Chain Reaction Cycling posters and gave us free tickets.  And what a game!
     After the game we..... well you know what they say..... "what happens in South Bend, stays in South Bend".  Sorry fellas, you should have been there.

Chain Reaction Cycling.... Heroes????

     7 members of Chain Reaction Cycling risked life, limb and bike tonight to fight of a wildfire that rivaled those in British Columbia.  Rob, Liam, Dave, Jeremy, Ali, Craig and Mark came across a fire that was burning wildly out of control.  Realizing that the only hope of saving the park was to take desperate, immediate action, these brave individuals put out the fire with their feet and sticks.  The fire department was called and they thanked us for our heroic efforts as well as many individuals using the park this evening.  Many of the women that were thanking us were also asking if we were going to be in next year's firefighters calendar.
     As for the ride..... a little cool tonight.  It was surprising that Mr. Heat was a no show given that we are finally in a temperature range that he can handle.  Must have been an important reason that kept him away.  It was nice to see that Jeremy learned his lesson from last week and stayed with the group.

     Thanks to Mark for the beer and Dave happened to bring as well so I think we are good for a couple of weeks.

.... and then there were 4

     What an interesting ride tonight.  We started with Matt, Jay, Mark, Ian, Liam, Craig, and Rob.  As for tonight's route, Matt had other things in mind.  Matt wanted to just hills at Malden.  Since Jay doesn't do hills we opted for Brunet Park.  Bye Matt.  The west side of the park was decent.  The east side sucked.  A lot of purposely downed trees as well as many naturally downed trees.  And then the fun began.  Jeremy, despite all his P90X workouts, could not keep up in the technical singletrack and became lost.  A massive search party was mounted to no avail.  At this point Liam decided that he had better options for the evening and he left us.  Bye Liam.  We decided that maybe we should head over to Malden to meet up with Matt and maybe Jeremy.  On route, the skies became very overcast and a storm was brewing.  Mark decided that our safety was more important than finding Matt or Jeremy.  We returned to our cars.  Ian opted to continue riding home.  Bye Ian.  So this leaves just four of us to sit in Mark's garage and enjoy Jeremy's beer.
     Shortly after settling in, we were joined by Matt and Jeremy.  Jeremy claims that he thought that we took off on him (he obviously doesn't know our motto.... no man left behind, unless it is Ali).  Jeremy clearly did not appreciate the effort that was mounted to find him and in the end scuttled our ride.  There was much talk tonight about who actually earned a point. Matt?  Did he really go to Malden?  Or did he just go home for a nap?  And was Jeremy in on this?  Liam?  He rode only 1/2 hour.
     Mark is away next week so he will have to swap with Dave in beer order.  So Dave you are up next and if you can't do it, then Rob.  Jeremy seems to be running away with attendance (as well as his riding group).  Ali was a no-show again tonight, although he did leave a bag of chips for his half point.
     As per tradition, rides will now leave at 6 PM.  Also, many stores have sales now on lights(REI, MEC).  Get some!  We will be needing them soon.  See everyone at Jacques Gone Wild this weekend.... except for Patti... I mean Rob.