Rose Bowl redux...

I sometimes find it hard to believe that seven years have passed since I last turned cranks during the Tuesday/Thursday Rose Bowl training race. I have been thinking about it lately, mostly because my next post in the "ride history" series will be the Bowl ride, but also because I have wondered if anyone I knew then is still there and, quite frankly, I miss it. The Bowl was a rush like few others. Anyway, I knew that tonight was going to be the last of the season, and there was no way I was going to miss it. Turns out, there were a number of familiar faces; I took warm-up laps with Devon, saw Doc, Nick, Del, and others I knew, but didn't know, from rides long past.

The ride was still a rush, though it being the final night, the peloton was not at its mid-summer finest. Doc swears the ride is faster this time of year since, being down to a six lap affair, people want to make the most of it. I am not so sure, and it certainly wasn't as fast as the above photo (showing the front of the group coming around the final turn on the last lap) would suggest. I really need to figure out this shutter speed thing during dark conditions, darn it. I didn't get a single good photo. I had pulled out the previous lap in order to take some pics of the finale for nothing apparently, since all of the photos came out blurred. Cest la vie.