Five roadskaters showed up for the Clemmons Bicycle training ride in Clemmons, NC.
I was in faster company and needed to take photos, so I got a bit of a head start
on the faster four, who caught me out by the railroad tracks and quickly moved on
until I caught up at the first stop. At various times we were together later, too.
This is my favorite route of all the training rides (the 36 mile route), as it has
lots of great hills but nothing really technical for an experienced roadskater.
The folks at Clemmons Bicycle are really nice, and they do a really good job of
providing SAG support, plus they have some awesome bright yellow advertising tents,
but once again there was no Gatorade and there were no cups at the first and third stops (the
ones the bike shop supplies). Now some bike shops haven't even been doing rest stops on their own,
so let's give Clemmons Bicycle some credit, but for about $50 tops they could have made a
big positive impression on the riders and skaters by helping them get electrolytes
and carbs early on when they have time to do some good, and at the end when a little boost
helps a lot. Thanks to Molly for giving me some 'ade at stop 3. The second rest stop,
provided by the tour, was incredible as always, with Val and Elaine getting some
extra help from Law. Kudos to the Clemmons Bicycle SAG driver who drove the route and
who came by several times on all parts of the course as I was out there alone in the wind.
He did it right, not staying behind me to "block" traffic, and asking if I needed anything
as he went by, but not acting like I was a hassle or anything like that. Also, the third
stop stayed open longer this year and they didn't seem to be in a hurry to pack up. Thanks! It's
really important as people get ready for the Tour to Tanglewood. So all in all, it was a
great, fun day out, with a little time with my faster skatemates, lots of cyclists out
there sharing the road, and nice long stretches of sweet roads and friendly drivers.
I don't recall any yelling, and only two cars might have buzzed me a bit close, but
others made up for it with smiles and encouragement.< br/>

Photo name includes 24-hour format camera time as YYMMDDHHmmSS.

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Photos by Blake Lambert of Roadskater.net using a Sony Cybershot DSC-S50 camera usually.
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