OF REDLAND-RIDERS, VOLKSWAGENS, PHONEBOOTHS, LIGHTBULBS AND SELFIES! Talk about beeing one with the road ! Yes, after todays Redland ride I got it. One with the road does not mean how bright & snazzi your shirt is, how cool or snarky your glasses are, or how svelt or buffed guys and gals are on bikes. The thought ive paraphrased is a snapshot of Ozzie camaraderie with the Redland Riders; he got the full groups attention and we delivered. Why ride Redlands? The Redland ride delivered for me all the jazz about safety, skill, and teamwork, BUT as indispensable tools of EBC leaders. The ride to the Redlands Wonderland in the handlebars of Oz evolved with the idea that regardless of your level of skill--the rider on long distances is an integral cog in the teams cassette. EBC Leaders nurture, nudge, and lead from a position of expertize-not strength as it is inmaterial on a bike; endurance definetly is!. The skill lesson set forth worked so well that all 20 of us were like a fine tunning fork - so much so that at 20 miles down you could hear all derailers zing while the Redland-Riders sang in tune: One with the road! No longer freaking out by the 20 mile mark - I began to believe this was a a no brainer, easy peacie. -The light bulb indeed was on In the Attic for all of us. The peals of laughter from our women cohort, and the tenor snorts from the guys came and went like the Volkswagens and Phone-booth antics of days gone by, Impossible feats do happen! Our team could be heard swooshing across the quiet Sunday Redlands landscape and the cool morning was not bothered. What-works worked because the team that bonded since this rides inception was teaching all of us newbies to the ride that pulling is an art and the 15 second rule gave every one time to be the artist of the ride as well as a rest and pull time. As history shows, great strategist are the great equalizers--. Amazing roadwork EBC! - We indeed packed-in the Selfies - Alex is officially the King of Selfies and...well, you know the Blacbry Curve is the havoc machine of my pixes!. Why selfies? -Wouldnt you know it?! Great Inventions are often the result of past cultural pressures and the Redlands ride was no exception. It was over 50 miles, -and I was under a lot of preassure. I had time to think my apprehensions through-including my Selfies!. And the light bulb was still on when I realized that modern day selfies are iterations of the ancient Selfies of days gone by. No, not Kodachrome! Just tell me who in our group does NOT remember when we crammed into phone-booths in Britain, or NYC - and in Miami; or when to freak out our parents we stuffed bodies into Volkswagens and bet on the last derrier out the window-- ok--when not busy with college finals!??. The last word in this amazing day is this: Safety, Skill and EBC pride made it possible for me today to get my 15 seconds of fame many times over - but Ozzie Carriazo made it perfect! Thanks to all the great friends who were the cogs of our wheels --Saad, my new pal and riding partner Leo (happy trails in Detroit L!), JJ, Alex P, Saad (again), Rub and Juan A and two of my favorite EBC folks - Marsha, and Al - with whom I rode when the sanity had not left the building (the attic)-and the women who finished (Yippee!) Vickie, Arlene, Kristina, and yours trully...all missing names are equally loved :) - We, saw, we conquered, and we returned!!!!-Yes, to ride another day with great friends and our EBC pride intact. God Bless all!- Whew!!
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 19:46:41 +0000
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