4.2.2011 Ride: Roadies, Ted, Scorpion, Barns & Banana

Remember this picture of a banana.

It was exciting to wake up to no rain or cloudy skies and the prospect of a warm day of riding.  The morning walk offered some great pictures.  Click on the sunrise shot to get the full effect of the purple along the horizon. 

This is a very basic horse barn under daylight.  A soft morning dawn light can works wonders on a building.











Today was the first ride of the season for the Roadies, a bicycling group that Dorothy Mangold started about 5 years ago with just a handful of riders. Last year the group blossomed, averaging almost 30 riders per outing.  And, this past winter, we even had our very own Roadies' bike jersey made.  We met at Savoy, a small community out Hwy 16 and just before Lake Wedington.

Barn in Savoy

I googled Savoy to find some history, but my short research only came up with the fact that Savoy had a baseball team back in 1917.

Savoy Baseball Team 1917. 

Ted Arriola

There were about 20 of us for this first ride.  My friend, Ted, who I will be joining on the Texas road trip on April 15th was there,  He is one of those folks that should be saluted for riding his bike to work every day no matter what the weather.  His coldest ride was when it was 8 degrees and he's been riding to work since 2007.

The Roadies

It was definitely a good thing that Ted was there since we have very similar riding paces, which tends to be much slower than the rest of the Roadies.  This gets compounded by my new love to stop and take photographs for the blog.  Fortunately, Ted did not have a problem with that and so we feel into a good groove. 

First Photo Stop:  Barn.  Viney Grove Rd.

Shortly before meeting up with the rest of the group in Prairie Grove, we came across Carolyn doing yard work.  She greeted us with a big smile and that was reason enough for me to want to stop and ask if I could take her picture.  She's a native of Lincoln, AR and lived where she is now for 30 years. 







When we arrived in Prairie Grove, the rest of the group was ready to move on (as I said, our pace is much slower).  I told Dorothy not to worry, they should go ahead on and not wait for us, as Ted and I would be just fine.  We had a snack and moved on, exploring a road neither of us had been on.

At one point we passed some elaborate lawn sculpture.  I thought the scorpion was especially intriguing.

The new road eventually led to more familiar roads and back to where our vehicles were packed.  A most enjoyable outing.

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Remember the banana?  This is what a mildly green banana looks like after leaving it in the windshield of a car for 3 hours in the hopes of it ripening by the time I get back.  Outside temperature: 76.  The banana was very bloated and I don't know how much longer before it might have exploded.
(Sorry, Jane.  The picture I took of you holding the banana was out of focus.)





Today's Ride:  2hrs. 59mins.  30.98 miles.  55-76 degrees.  Miles YTD: 1,668.25