The Gran Fondo held recently was a great success if one ignored the mechanical incidents that dogged Team Vitesse. For those readers not familiar with the term Gran Fondo, it is an organized ride during which amateurs can rub elbows with the professionals on Team Vitesse. Some twit on Team Vitesse twittered a tweet to which no one but the team chirped. No matter; the weather was brilliant as Lampo Bianco, K2nees and h20 met at the designated launch area down by the river. LB and K2 rode cyclocross rigs equipped with knobby tyres. Attempting to gain a speed advantage on dry tarmac, h20 opted for near slick tyres which he cursed on every snow choked or ice laden section. The trio set off with great fanfare as employees of Happy Lucky 88 Manufactory lined the route. The employees happened to be searching for empty bottles and cans as part of a revenue generating initiative from HL88 management.
Once under steam, the Team Vitesse trio exchanged looks as well as bikes to test braking power during a discussion about the relative stopping power of v-brakes versus whatever brakes. While sitting on K2's tit, h20 made the beastly discovery that would cast a pall over the rest of the ride. After clipping in, h20 noticed a wobble in the tit's left pedal. The team reached the apogee of the ride when K2 discovered that his carbon fiber pedal arm had suffered catastrophic failure. There and then he vowed to switch to the plywood pedal arms currently under development at HL88. The 3 intrepid cyclists stood and marvelled at the problematic pedal when K2 discovered a puncture. With no team car within 1,500 kilometers, K2 was forced to repair the puncture himself.
Cooperation was the watch word on the ride back to team headquarters. K2 was designated the protected rider as he nursed his compromised tit. Closer to the the cosmodrome, h20 himself suffered a punctilious puncture. Due to operator error, he was unable to inflate a fresh tube. Race radio informed Lampo that he would have to carry on to retrieve the lunar module rover and return for h20. The last man standing, Lampo lit off like the rocket he is. Safely back at the cosmodrome over a Duvel, Lampo revelled in the fact that he was the only one who had not suffered a mechanical incident. This hubris will surely come back to haunt him.
The fondo was judged a success and will be repeated in the near future. Stay tuned for the next time the twits go out.
1 comment:
a ride anymore "epic" would have to include the riders from Rapha!!
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