Sunday Ride Revisited -8/30

Ok ..we did Schmuckatelli's ride again starting earlier (8am) today. I would guess that we would have less traffic at 8am Sunday mornig but that was not the case. It seemed that alot of people had 'stuff' to do ...right then....Today's participants were Quadzilla, Sweet Spot, Schmuckatelli, Masher and Red Shirt. We were all doing well but got seperated a bit on St Johns Bluff after turning off from Monument. As everyone regrouped, we got an Add on to the group. A lone rider that asked to hook up. AS always we have no problems with adding to our group. He was a nice conversational guy....saw my VT(Virginia Tech) racing jersey and asked if I had been a part of that team since he used to ride against them back in his Naval Academy days. I told him the truth and said I wished I did looking back on it now...man how fast would I have been a few pounds lighter and 15 years younger....ok back to reality. Well we were talking a bit more when he hit a large rock and almost went down, luckily it only popped his front tire. So we all do what all good groups do...stop and watch him repair it. Well he had a mis-matched air cylinder and nozzle so I gave him my spare set....he filled his tire up and proceeded to rip the stem clear out of the tube while removing the nozzle head. Ok... I give him my spare tire and air cylinder number 2. He gets the tube in and can't get the nozzle on fully since it was a short stemmed tube (curse my bulk order from Nashbar) so he borrows Masher's extra tube with a long stem (leave it to one of the ladies to have one of those....). I know its alot of parts but we didn't want him to have to walk home....we were nowhere close to the SAG mobile. Anyway, he stayed with us through the rest of the ride and was strong over the bridge...We made it all home in one piece and had fun doing it! Diesel was missed...she is back in town tonight!!!