Dogwood Metric Century

This annual Springbike Bicycle Club ride is always held on the first weekend in May. This year and last, the ride has been on a new route starting in Republic on Saturday. The old route started in Sparta on Sunday and was much more challenging. The route was changed because of the increased traffic on the roads.

This year saw a good turn out even though the day started cold, cloudy and windy. Although there was some sprinkles on the drive to Republic, it never rained on the ride. The wind was another issue. It blew out of the west to northwest at 12 to 18 mph the entire ride. The route generally goes southwest to Billings, west to Aurora, northwest to Mt. Vernon, east to Billings and then back to Republic. So the wind gave us a great push on the return. There were rest stops in each of the communities.

I met Doug and Tom at the sign-in at 7:00AM, and we started a little early because we were cold. I rode my new commuter/shopping bike since the ride is short and relatively flat. The bike worked great considering it is set up for short commutes and shopping. I had a little problem with the shifting, but that was fixed after I adjusted the cable, which had stretched, at the rest stop in Mt. Vernon. I also tightened up the chain. I rode with MKS sneaker pedals and Keen-type sandals, rather than my normal crank pedals and Shimano-cleated sandals. The MKS pedals and the sandals have plenty of grip, and I had no problems with slipping. The lack of different positions on the albatross handle bar was uncomfortable after about 30 miles. I would not want to ride more than 100K with this handle bar setup.

We were back in Republic at 12:30PM for the cookout. Thanks to Bill Hill and everyone else involved in organizing and supporting the ride!