Got a little behind with my ride reports, sorry!

Fifteen riders started out on a cool and breezy, but wonderfully sunny morning for the Clay-Central Square-Mallory ride Sunday, Oct. 9. One joined in as we made our way out of the mall parking lot, having just just arrived riding from home in Baldwinsville, making us a group of 16. 

That lasted briefly as we quickly lost one rider to a flat after riding over a deeply pot-holed bridge. Most of the group stopped to assist, but upon assessing the situation, the affected rider chose to turn around. 

Those who opted for the shorter distances made the best decision, as clouds moved in and the breeze turned into 20 mph winds that couldn’t make up their mind what direction they wanted to come from. 

One rider completed 22 miles, four made it through the full 39, one completed 32 - although at least two were seen turning off at that turn - six appear to have followed Tom Hotaling on his creative 35-mile route, which I hope he’ll share with us. The rider from Baldwinsville who joined us en route never signed out, so he and his mileage remain a mystery. 

This ride “leader” missed a ”turn” - it’s almost a straight-across - but now knows the Oneida River area well enough to successfully navigate my riding companion and me back to our starting point. If we hadn’t missed the turn, we’d have had ended up heading north in order to go south. In missing the turn we created yet another 35-mile option, much to the relief of our wind-weary legs. 

So the official totals are 14 riders completing 490 miles. 

This rider had two “firsts”: first 14% grade successfully “summited” and first recorded 16+ mph mile split - which must have come during the one and only mile the wind was at our backs. 

Karen Kelly