And so it begins....

We got our first little taste of the heat and humidity last night. Welcome to Summer!
The ride went out SLOOOW, and steadily picked up pace as we went. I can say with some degree of certainty that the trip up Gator was one of the fastest in a long while. The run down 302 was about the same, as three of us got clear coming to the airport.
Kudos to Morgan for staying in until that point, and taking her licks. She's a beast. Give me a solid 6 months, and I could turn her into a bike racer that would put the HURT on women's fields...and the dudes on the group rides...
And of course, when we sat up for the group to reassemble, the survivalists rushed the front, and tried to push the pace through the airport, only to disappear a short time later.
As usual, our favorite donkey attacked at the sprint, and "won". It's quite funny to watch. Nevermind the fact he was dropped...twice...only to get back on when we waited. Wanker...
Again, as it's been the last few rides, it was fun. Hard enough when it needed to be...

The Giro...
Richie Porte is in the main group, and in GC contention. He gets a flat. Simon Clarke, who rides for Orica (a different team), is mates with Richie. Simon is also WAY out of contention. Simon stops, and gives his mate his wheel. The UCI frowns on this, and docks Porte 2 minutes, taking him out of the GC fight, and fines him 200 Swiss Francs.
Meanwhile, Astana...you know...the team that had FIVE doping positives in the past few months, but got to keep their license, sends their "B Team" to the Giro, and has three guys in the top five on GC.
The UCI has no issue with this, but cracks Porte and Clarke on the knuckles for good sportsmanship.
Yeah, that shit makes perfect sense...

Speaking of the Giro, Ashley and Jered Gruber posted a rest-day adventure. They do it better. Period.

And while we're talking about things Italian...

 Mancation 2015 is ten days away...

I'm no expert, but this can only end badly...

And on the cool bike radar, there's a Bridge on the rides these days. It's the house brand of the guys up at Glory Cycles. Pretty damn nice, and seems to be a fair deal as well.

And on a much sadder note, we suffered a loss here at SUAGR HQ.
My nearly 97 year old grandmother passed quietly this morning. She'd been under hospice care for the last couple of months.
She was the best grandma, and great grandma, a kid could ever ask for. I was insanely lucky to have her, and forever grateful that my kids were afforded the opportunity to know her.
She saw, and lived through, myriad changes during her time on this big blue marble. All were taken in stride. She did things that people only read about in books. Again, all were done with the quiet reserve present in people of her generation.
She was always there for me, and always on my side.
It was my supreme honor to be her grandson.