On May 22nd we held our first bike trip in a few years. It turned out to be a great day for a bike ride, but it was shaky for the week leading up to it. Sheila and I had been in Flagstaff, AZ the week before the event, with some Car Club friends from VA and Chicago, and using our iPhones to monitor both the weather forecasts and the e-mails from members seeking information about the event. The forecast looked bleak and you were getting rain here in CT every day while we had great weather, until it snowed (!) for two days in AZ. Meanwhile, some people who had signed up were canceling, while others who had not signed up were expressing interest. The most novel, but unfortunate reason for a cancellation, involved one new member whose home had been struck by lightning during one of the storms and needed to get some new appliances in a hurry and had to go shopping instead of joining us on our bike ride.
Finally, the chance of precipitation seemed to be headed in the right direction for Sunday’s forecast and we gained confidence that we might not have to cancel due to weather. We arrived back in Phoenix on Friday, so we could get our flights okay on Saturday. Our flight from Phoenix to Chicago actually arrived 23 minutes early in Chicago, so we made our way to the gate for the Hartford flight. That plane had not even arrived on the incoming end at the time that we were scheduled to begin boarding. We also had a “high-risk” passenger that necessitated quite a Police presence at our gate while we awaited the arrival.
We finally boarded about 30 minutes late and the plane backed up from the gate, but quickly pulled right back in and the pilot announced that there was a mechanical issue and that a mechanic was coming to have a look. Several minutes later, he announced that the mechanic thought it would take 15 to 30 minutes to complete the repair. Thirty minutes later, he then announced that the part that was replaced did not fix the problem and now it was supposed to take another 30 to 45 minutes before we would be ready to depart. So, 2 hours and 30 minutes late, we finally pulled away from the gate and headed for Hartford. The pilot made up 15 minutes in the air and we arrived in Hartford just after midnight, less than 10 hours before we had to leave for the beginning of the bike trail!
All the while we were waiting, I was still e-mailing a couple of participants who had last minute questions and one who had not gotten either of my two previous e-mails for some reason, and was still wondering where the start point was even located. Also, we were wondering if the plane never took off at all and we spent the night in Chicago, who we should call the run the event for us. When we arrived in the luggage area in Hartford, our car service driver was standing there holding a sign upside down that said, “MORIN.” I told him that we felt sort of upside down after the day that we had, so it was fine. We got to bed about 1:30 AM.
Fortunately, the updated forecast held and there was no rain for our event. We had 13 cyclists and one walker who participated, and among them were four riders attending their first-ever CVC event. We all headed North and after about 4.5 miles traveled into MA on the bike path. Jackie Ritacco, our walker, walked about six miles, while the cyclists did between 20 and 25 miles for the round trip. Once we returned, there was some brief socializing in the parking area before 11 of us made our way to a nearby restaurant and had some lunch, which turned into about a 2 ¾ hour visit with those attending, so it seemed as though everyone was enjoying the company.
One of the interesting things about this event was that the quality of the bicycles had improved immensely from previous CVC Bike Trips. Now, I’m not going to claim that we’ve ever had a high-wheeler attend, but usually there are a few Raleighs or Schwinns or Huffys that appear to have been around since the participant’s youth and had been dusted off, and the balloon tires blown up, just for the event. This year, we had a few carbon fiber, high-tech, ultra lightweight bicycles that were a far cry from those antiques of the past. No one was riding a BMW bike, though.
Thanks to all who attended and to our first-timers, we hope to see you again.
Bob Morin
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