My plan today as the pinch-hitter ride leader for Mark Gummer was to ride a little bit with the b.i.k.e.-Syracuse kids and then do the 39 mile rest of the ride. In the end, I rode less than half that, but it was well worth the shorter time on the bike.
First of all, today’s ride had 3 differing agendas: Leisure ride (This was the largest group of L.R.s I have ever seen on an OCC ride), joint OCC and b.i.k.e.-Syracuse kids ride, and the Jazzfest tour, and consequently, there were many different rides, distances and routes taken which was a little chaotic, especially when waiting for the last riders to turn up - there was no way of knowing which direction people had gone.
Those of us who had parked at the OCC lot got to see the layout of the Jazzfest and were also given V.I.P. passes for the night’s show, courtesy of Mr. Gummer. Surprisingly, this small viewing made the difference to several club members who had never been to Jazzfest before - somehow knowing where everything is and eliminating that dread of having to find the parking and the stages provided a bunch of us with the impetus to finally attend the event.
From there most of us rode 4 miles downhill to meet the kids at Western Lights. I understood it was going to be slow going with these kids, and prepared myself for some frustration. After an anxious minute or two, about 20 kids and 3 leaders appeared, riding in formation in their jerseys from behind the McDonalds. We OCCers spontaneously burst into applause, because they looked just fabulous pedaling across the parking lot. It was clear that their leaders had done a substantial amount of work to train them how best to be safe and organized. We all admired each other’s bikes and exchanged greetings. I had brought 3 waterbottles that were newish, but which I don’t use but stupidly I hadn’t filled them with water, but had at least put a power bar or a gu in them - these were readily accepted, though several kids were still without water bottles.
The call to formation was given, “Shoulder Partners!” “Position One!” and off we went, up hill with a lot of traffic, but amazingly, most of the drivers seemed to treat us with caution and gave plenty of room. Frankly, it didn’t take long for me to discover how absolutely charming these kids were. I think the youngest was 8 and the older kids told me they’re going into 9th grade next fall. We did ride v-e-r-y, v-e-r-y slowly, and we had to stop a lot to regroup, help with shifting for some of the littler ones whose hands weren’t strong enough, adjust some of the saddles that were flopping all over the place, and many were too cool to ride with their saddles at a height that was to their benefit. (Somehow I managed to convince 3 girls to let me raise them and they agreed it was more comfortable.) But, I was awed at their obvious pleasure in the ride and clearly this weekly event is a big deal to them. Katwana (sp?), 8 years old, missing her front baby teeth, a total animal who did not want to walk her bike up any hill, asked me to be her shoulder partner and her brother DeSomething (she kept quizzing me, but I kept forgetting his name - the older sister, Janeeda, I could remember) wanted to ride behind me. These little guys were just too much - I completely lost interest in doing the club ride, this was actually much more fun.
They stuck it out on the climbs, some of them walking, but not too much complaining, and at one regrouping point, Mike Lyon was the absolute hit with his recumbent. Everyone wanted to sit in it hough few were long enough to reach the pedals, despite basically lying down on the bike. Some of the kids clearly had skills - two boys could pull off amazing wheelies, and most of the entire roup had learned how to lay down rubber with a dramatic skidding stop (much to the aggravation of the leaders.) My little pal Katwana had apparently only recently learned how to ride after having racticed all winter and she was without question one of the most into it. With just a few words of explanation, I had her drafting off me. The boys clearly loved the descents, but they remained urprisingly in control. They also marveled at the leader’s strength and speed (while carrying a heavy backpack) riding up the hill to help out a straggler who was too frightened to ride down the biggest hill.
Many of the bikes were new and in good shape, thanks to the efforts of Dave Baker who worked with a local bike shop (crap! I forgot which one!) to get 10 bikes for the kids. Still some bikes were in need of repair, but the kids seemed to make do pretty well. They could easily use more waterbottles, and the grip-shifters were really tough on some of their hands without gloves. Having met these kids, and finding them completely charming, I’m now more inclined to donate stuff/money, because it’s very apparent that they are getting a huge benefit from the experience.
We finished back at the parking lot by McDonalds with about 10 miles Anne Diekema and I left and rode back up to OCC while BS Sr, Wayne and Dave joined them for post ride snacks - I felt badly about leaving early, but I promised I’d ride with them again, and I meant it. It was honestly a really fun time.