Champions Ride for Charity
The Blue Hammers with Sammy Sanchez and Alaina, KBS Girl
Sunday September 13th. It felt like the middle of the night when the alarm went off. The forecast didn’t look good again! It was 2 weeks ago when Ty Turbyfill and I had ventured out up to Deland to go for a group cycle ride with JC’s bike shop boys, and again today the weather in Deland promised 70% of rain at 9am.
Rick, Dave, Jan and I set off up to the AAA Headquarters building on International Boulevard in the dark. We all talked about how we thought the day would pan out and if it would be flat out speed from the start. There was a great sense of excitement about the upcoming Century group ride we were about to embark on. When we pulled into the parking lot, there were already more riders than last year according to Rick. A good turn out of cyclists from various cycling clubs. There was great participation from the Florida Freewheelers cycling club and everyone was smiling and doing their last minute prep before the 7:30am rollout. Fellow Hammers all met up at the start. Hammers, Ty, James, Dave, Ted, Tim, Don, Jon, Vince, Josh, Rick, Jan, Tom, Lief, Avcon Engineering Sponsor Rick and celebrity guest riders of day, Samuel Sánchez and our friend Alaina from KBS.
Vince and James – Fresh and Ready at the Start
We set about getting our gear together, a final banana, some fluids, quick visit to the bathroom, time for a group photo with a lone KBS young lady and roll out at 7:30am to a dying air horn running out of gas. The Blue Hammers rolled out with some familiar friends from B3 Cafe, Darrell, Lee, Carl and Sebastian were all sporting their sharp new Cafe Kits. The Blue Hammers were wearing their Sunday whites, but the driest time of the day was about to come to an end.
The group ride route rolled out North from the AAA building up the familiar road out up Oregon Street to the Sanford overpass and the 17-92 before turning right out to Dirksen Drive. When the Dodge Ram Diesel truck leading us out to the City limits had rolled away in a blast of Diesel fumes, and there were no more forced green lights (courtesy of the Sheriff’s Department – thank you)! the ride began.
At mile 8, JC’s Bike shop and his gents pushed up the pace and the ride changed gears. The hard righthand turn onto Main Street and down towards the live oak shrouded Lake Shore Drive along the north shore of Lake Monroe was a familiar sight and before we knew it, we were passing SAG 1. No bananas and pickles for us yet, there was still 90 miles to go and at least 40 until the first planned stop.
Lake Shore Drive came and went as quickly as the first 10 miles. The front group consisted of The Blue Hammers, JC’s Bike shop and B3 Cafe gents. The first left turn onto Courtland Blvd lead the peloton up to Historic Lake Helen and that’s where fun started. At this point the heavens opened and the rain started at Mile 35. It would not stop until the ride was over. Before the 50 mile SAG, the group split, there were 3 groups at this point from the main front group. Some had taken a wrong turn and were on a journey very similar to everyone else, but this fatal error would leave them short by 10 miles at the end. Others were on the right route and would get their Century.
SAG 2 was at 51 miles and the Blue Hammers rolled in with a couple of JC’s guys and Carl and Sebastian with B3 Cafe. The rain was coming down hard but spirits were high. A quick visit to the SAG tent and some food presented the group of 12 riders with the news that ‘they were the first group!’ Little did they know that they had cut off 10 miles of the course. After a quick 15 minute stop, the group rolled out and towards DeLeon Springs and the most beautiful backroads in the area. The road surfaces were smooth and the riders didn’t care that they were soaked and water was everywhere.
Finally the group reached the intersection of Martin Luther King Blvd and Orange Camp Road and stopped. We were off course and lost! Thankfully the lone JC rider with us knew how to get us back on the right track and off we set. With Don, on the front, the Blue Hammers headed off at 30 mph down Martin Luther King Blvd and a collision course with East Graves Avenue and ultimately Sanford.
Hammers Don and Tim Ready for a Cold one
The rain seemed heavier than ever now and at mile 75 the legs started to finally feel warmed up. Spirits were high as Sebastian came alongside me and had some friendly words and said ‘Man I love this weather, it couldn’t have turned out any better’. I responded and said that I felt like the whole ride had been like going downhill. No sooner had I spoken than the next turn revealed a nice uphill overpass over the I-4 before turning onto Normandy Boulevard.
Hammer Josh (Birdman) and Darrell Cunningham
The final 10 miles of the ride were equally as wet as the first 80, but no less fun. As Lake Mary approached, the last hill over the St John River approached. Sebastian jumped ahead and Carl and Lee from B3 Cafe stepped up the pace. Don from the Blue Hammers jumped onto Sebastian’s wheel and the charge up the bridge was on. Down the other side and back to Lake Mary. We rolled back to the finish with the rain still pouring down and the sound of cow bells and cheering from the Rotary Club girls under their cosy tent. Hot Dogs and Burgers were fresh for the first arrivals back from the ride. The parking lot was quite empty at this point and plenty of food and drink was still available. Sad. Most people had probably completed shorter courses and had gone home, or maybe were still out on course. Vince and JC rolled in next with 100 miles on their Garmin’s. About 20 miniutes later, Darrelll from B3 Cafe and the rest of the Blue Hammers came in. A good day was had by all, but the festivities were just beginning as Darrell said ‘I am heading up to Liam Fitzpatricks to drink some beer, the rest of you are welcome to join me’…….
Summary: The Champions Ride for Charities was a nice Century group ride. The route was scenic, quiet and a lot of fun, despite the dismal weather on the day. The route could have been improved with a lot of feedback from people who ride those roads everyday. JC’s Bike Shop Gents all said that if they had been asked they could have planned a 100 mile route which would have been more enjoyable and would have emphasized the use of more scenic back roads instead of some of the main roads used. The green arrows were hard to see at times and often appeared right before the upcoming intersection, forcing the riders to look at the last minute for the arrow. I am sure this is for safety purposes which is of course fine, but perhaps a couple of arrows prior to the intersection would allow for the riders to know if they were turning left or right or going straight so they could position themselves appropriately in the road to allow other motorists to know which way the riders would be going.