Seven of us met to ride this morning at 11am from the Scholars Inn Bakehouse. All were riders from the Scholars Inn Bakehouse team including: Fred, Gary, Tom, Liz, Sarah, Carl and Aaron (Prange). It was 34 degrees when we left our steaming coffee, tea and the warmth of the Bakehouse, stuffing half of our muffins into our jacket pockets. Early forecasts indicated that the sun would come out at some point, but it never made an appearance. Due to some local road flooding, we settled on a 100k route that would take us clockwise east on 45 through Bear Wallow, Nashville and Owl Creek then home on South Shore.

Well, It’s that time again. Time to set your sights and mark your calendars for another season of Wednesday night races at the Wednesday Worlds! As a going away gift that will last all season, we have conspired with the man from Liverpool to set a calendar that will keep you challenged all season. We are also planning on adding a little spice to these training races this year as well, in the form of primes and prizes! Look to future posts for details! March 16th is less than a fortnight away mates.

It’s funny how you get to know someone. The world is so different now from when I was a young cyclist. We hear sound bites and read Tweets, we connect on rides. We know lots about what people do now, but we are still distanced from who they are. Two by Two we ‘converse’ on our rides. “How’s your knee?” Or, “What races have you got your sights on,” “What wheels are you racing on.” It’s difficult to really understand the depth that many of us carry with us in the peloton. Each of us has a story, an important one that adds color and flavor to this beautiful sport that has selected us. Storytelling may be a lost art, or maybe cyclists just don’t have the time or energy for it. But it’s a vital commodity as it’s the stories that bridge the gaps between what has happened and why it’s important, how the pieces fit together, even if the importance is not fully understood at the time. Cyclists like to talk a lot about statistics and heart rate and watts, but capturing the essence of a sport in a few words requires emotion. A picture may tell a thousand words but it’s the story that tells us who we are.

We’re losing our storyteller next week. For years now, Geraint Parry has been the keeper of vast stores of information about the cycling community.