March 21, 2005
Auburn Bethlehem Gratis
Sunday, at 11:00 AM Theron, Doug and I rolled out toward Auburn. It was right after the long descent on Appalachee Church Road, the sharp right at the bottom and into Barrow county, that we encountered the *new gravel* on the dirt road. My rear tire hit a rock just the wrong way and went flat. I used my only spare and we were back on the road to Bethlehem.
The roads were mostly flat and the wind was propelling us all the way out to within about 8 miles of Athens. We turned back in toward Gratis, the center of the known universe to GTC riders. From here we refueled quickly, chatted with some local cyclist briefly and remounted.
A county line sprint led to the pace accelerating and ultimately led to Doug not being able to hang on. Theron and I motored on, contested a couple more sprints and kept the pace brisk.
Opting to return over the *new gravel* on the dirt road, even though Theron suggested bypassing, I flatted again, this time the front. I used Theron's spare tube and C02 and we rolled on. At the final county line sprint back into Gwinnett, I noticed my rear was leaking and nearly flat again. Three flats and I'm out. Theron went on home, I called Bev to pick me up and then sat down and waited.
About 15-20 minutes later Doug arrives looking like he was just about done for the day. He offered his spare but rescue was already on the way. We waited and rode in the car for the final few miles.
It was mostly a good ride totaling 62.2 miles in 3:24 -- basically a nice way to spend the first day of Spring 2005.
