Culdesac Road turnoff from Reubens Gifford
"AVOID I95 threw Uniontown. Lee emailed me this morning. Bummer. I had a great ride planned to the Dahmen Barn but it just was not going to happen. I was ready for at least a few riders this morning, but the only folks I saw where the straggly old Seaport Striders and... the Canadians! Who of course where Don Greggain and his followers in stride. None of them where interested, although I almost convinced Tom Callery to join me.
It was so beautiful this morning. I had to get a long ride in. At first, when no one showed I thought I'd ride the grade and venture off to Moscow. I could cruise along, have lunch and be back for the afternoon. I got assorted "are you crazy looks", from the Striders and after getting a DON"T DO IT from Corrie via the cell phone, I choose to hook up with him and ride the Winchester century.
I had to first go home and get the truck to make the hook up in Culdesac. On my new, very cool bike this was easy. I managed to make it to the Smoke shop in Culdesac just as the Corrie and his crew where taking a break. How lucky was that!
Did I say it was a beautiful day! It was glorious. We had a small group of riders. Corrie rode up Winchester with Jim McKracken and I enjoyed the climb with Stephanie one of our new riders. Stephanie and I made it up the grade in record time for me. We all heartily chowed down at Miss Lily's Saloon/Cafe. The sandwiches where just what we needed. Off we went down Reuben's Gifford Road. Jim told us about a cut off road to Culdesac. This would be an easy way to pick up the truck and still enjoy a reasonably long ride. This would mean an unknown road for me, but Jim assured us it was a nice ride, with lots of views and a steep downhill into Culdesac. The ride was all he promised. I spent extra time stopping for photos every few miles. Oh, how I love these rides.
To top it off, in a true Easy Does it way, I finished the ride with a great chance meeting. You always have time to chat with fellow bicycle travelers when venturing off. I came across two sets of tourists. One couple from Co. had just started a cross country tour from Seaside, Or and the other group was a family; mom, dad and a set of 9 yr.old triplets. What a group. I wouldn't exactly call them an Easy Does it type crew, but these 9 yr. olds where touring in class... Ian chose to go with dad in the middle, Zara likes the back and Diedra... well Diedra just doesn't care, she's busy counting deer on her ride.
