Cocktail Ride

When I advised showing up with more Brawn than Brains for the ride, B2 Bomber and von Diesel took me seriously. They met up for a pre-ride 12 mile "warmup" (no doubt with VO2 max intervals), finishing just in time to lead out a dozen Drafters.  Side note: they did not take Mother Nature serioulsy last week, choosing the old school method of sniffing the wind for rain instead of relying on modern radar.  Mother Nature rewarded them with a shower, but luckily not a jolt of electricity.  Too Hip did an extended warm up as well, biking to work at 5AM in the rain, and then biking from work out to Cross Plaines as he missed us at the start.  He blew by the Draft on Timber donning a seemingly heavy backpack.  Drafter officials were suspicious and confiscated said backpack.  While body mass to power ratio was not hindered by the pack (all show, no go), it did not contain EPO or other performance enhancing drugs.  Too Hip is too awesome.We welcomed our first Kiwi to the Draft.  It is too early to tell if he can hold his own on a bike, but there is no doubt he can hold his own in a conversation.  The Kiwi met C-Monster and Footer while out riding Wednesday night, and chatted them up long enough to learn about the Draft.  This Kiwi can Klatch. Pipes, brandishing her new Scott bike, was intrigued by his discussion of grinding cat food with mortar and pestle, but could offer nothing in return as no oxygen molecules could be sacrificed for the sake of coffee klatching.We changed up our beer drinking venue a bit, and were delighted with the selection at Longtable.  Bomber didn't get the pre-ride memo regarding venue change- one of the perils of "warming up".  First off the bike, and the last to the table.  I'm not sure how long he sat at the Free House, or how many beers he had alone, but he did finally join the Draft across the street. There is something for everybody at Longtable.  Pipes, BrickO and Footer went to the dark side while C-Monster kept it light.  Pipes spilled $4 worth of her ClusterFudge.  She can hold onto an oar long enough to win two Olympic metals but not a damn beer?????  Clearly, more training is required.  I'm just the coach she's looking for.Happy Birthdays to Nurse Sully and Pipes this week!  I'm happy for company in the half century club.  Sully has been a "long time" card holder and paved the way for us into the club.  With those celebrations in mind, let's ride the Tom Collins cocktail route.  This is a moderate 30 mile route with a shorter 25 mile option that can be achieved by taking the bike path home.PDF map for download and print: Tom Collins 30 25GPS link Tom CollinsA reminder that University Ave is under construction between Park St and Parmenter, so allow extra time to detour to the start.Looking for an event?  The Wisconsin Gran Fondo series is under new management, but SAME ownership.  Enough said, for those who rode these 3 events last year without much in the way of food or water.  This Driftless area event just popped up on my radar and we are giving it a go.  We would love your Drafter company.Link: 17th Annual Syttende Mai Bicycle tourFor those who like their rides dirty: The Bear Gravel RideDraft responsibly,BrickO