Hot Damn! Ride of the Damned 2010: The Aftermath

updated pics here

A huge thank you to all who came out and made the Ride of the Damned a smashing success today! I'm talking about all the riders, spouses, kids, and friends. I'd like to extend an extra special thank you to the Polds (Jamies parent's), our checkpoint hosts, who pulled off what I'd describe as the best checkpoint spread I've encountered. Absolutely smashing! I think the checkpoint fare, which included pineapple, bananas, PBJ sandwiches, burritos, trail mix, and water was a big hit for all involved.

Thanks also go out to Brad for pulling all the threads together for the BBQ. While we couldn't pull off the kids race and crafts we'd planned, I think the kids had a good time, as did adults, not least Andrew Hayter, winner of the Steelwool Limited frameset, thanks to....Steelwool Bicycle Co! Thanks to everyone who contributed food and drinks! If I didn't know the strawberry-rhubarb pie from Pipolinka was surely butter filled, I'd have been all over that!

The During-math

So we rolled out at 8:20, covered 143k total, climbed a bit over 1600 m (by Rodd's altimeter), took in plenty of sun, and generally has a great day on bikes. The weather was incredible, unbeatable in fact, and the roads were in excellent shape, with the exception of a washboard section that was a couple kilometers long. The high hit about 22 degrees, humidity was low, but I've discovered the UV was pretty high, evidenced by burns on a few riders I won't name here. I think it takes a little practice to figure out which sunscreen lasts 8 hrs on the bike. I hope they don't peel.

Navigation seemed to go well overall, though I was informed that the map used for GPS files had a superfluous one or two kilometer section on it, and the cues were missing the turn onto Notch Road. Thankfully, neither were big issues, and I think everyone handled them well. I'd love to hear how riders found the cues, and any suggestions for improvement. Did you like them? Next time they will be available for printing well in advance (we'll reuse them with fixes), so you'll be able to devise your own arrangement for mounting to your bike if desired. This is helpful and fun to figure out. For the map, I'll simply make sure its not screwed up. Feedback about the route, checkpoint, and BBQ would also be most appreciated. We aim to improve wherever we can.

There was at least one crash, suffered by Rob McLure of the Big Ringers, which landed him on his head and put him out for the day. I saw him afterwards and he seemed perfectly fine; I hope that is the case. Noah Spector of the Tall Tree Westboro Rollers suffered a fatal mechanical that saw him hitch hike back to civilization. Bummer. The Wheelers also lost Harry Musson to a biological. Total number of starters was 58 (10 teams), total finishers, 55.

Here are the finishing times; ranked to reflect complete teams at the finish:

• Tall Tree Gravel Grinders--------14:25
• Euro-Trashed--------------------14:43
• Tall Tree Hung Squad------------15: 07
• Tall Tree Hunk Squad------------15:23
• Aging Chelsea Athletic Club------15:30
• The Misfits-----------------------15:38
• Euro-Sports Behind Bars---------16:18
• Wheelers-------------------------14:35
• Big Ringers-----------------------14:58
• Tall Tree Westboro Rollers-------16:33

We promised times would not count if teams did not arrive as they departed, so in fairness, I've adjusted accordingly. Beyond 5, the benefit of a larger group starts to diminish, while the likelihood of a mechanical, biological, or crash increases. The smallest team today was of 3, the largest 8, and there were two of those. It will be interesting to see how groups approach team sizes as we do more events with this format.

We'll tally up the total amount we raised for Martin's Ride to Conquer Cancer as soon as we finish the accounting. Thank you for your generosity everyone!

You'll find a link to our photos up top. Photo credits for many of these go to Nathan Underwood. He makes a perfect shooter, as he's strong enough to sprint ahead, take a break, set up a shot, take it, then chase back on. Nice. Please feel free to submit yours/links and we'll get them up. 

Great ride everyone!

Stay tuned for an extra special fundraiser for Martin's Ride to Conquer Cancer the first Wednesday night of June, the 2nd: the Hell-Climb for Cancer!


We'll stage at the gate, ride to the base of Fortune, and send people up to the T one at a time. We'll run Clydesdale, fixed gear, vintage, contemporary steel, and racer-geek classes. Its going to be a hoot, and for  a good cause. Wanna see me trash myself on a fixed Steelwool Limited with a 44x16, or maybe a 46? Come on out! More info to come, start spreading the word.