Last evening was our annual nighttime gravel ride. We start riding at 9:30 pm and ride well into the night. Naturally, there aren’t a lot of photos to be had for that type of event, but I can give you the synopsis even so. There were a couple different routes planned for this ride, and we chose the 30 miles of gravel. Ambitious really, because I haven’t yet ridden 30 this year. The route takes us on the same route that we were riding when we got stopped by mud, but moves us off the route before that MMR. The 50 mile route did take the MMR, but I am sure it was much drier this weekend.

Mr. Ink came too, even though he doesn’t like gravel. I feel like this is the one ride he is willing to do with me for sure. On previous year’s rides, we’ve struggled with heat and humidity even though it was the middle of the night, it’s often still in the 90s here overnight. Last evening that was not the case. I am sure it was low 80s when we started, and in the middle of the night, I think it was down to 66. That was such a treat! Biking in general just feels better at those temps.

Anyhow, we set off a little ahead of most of the group since I knew full well I was slower than the majority. I had many people pass me, but there were a fair number who also stayed behind me too. I was riding so much faster than the weekend before, and felt really well too!

We stopped for a memorial moment, we lost a cyclist last weekend. Natural causes, but unexpected. We stopped where that happened, his family met us there, we had a moment of remembrance. I did not know him, but I am glad I could add to the crowd for the family. I suspect in the future there will always be a loop on this ride for him.

Then we pushed on again, heading into a town for a bar stop. I thought it was just Mr. Ink following me, he’d left his wallet and phone at home by accident, and thus felt that he should stick by me very carefully. Once in town, I realized that there was actually a huge group of cyclists following me, but no one passed?! Strange.

I took a photo of the bikes outside the bar, it was a pretty nice crowd. The family that had been at the memorial was there as well.

After a beer and some socializing, Mr. Ink, my regular ride partner, and I set off for our vehicle. It was only 10 miles, but somehow that last 10 miles, when it’s so late, is pretty tough. I rode and rode and rode, and at some point, I began thinking “Is this ride never going to end?” and about that time, it was done. We started at 9:30 pm, and I think we got finished just about a quarter to 2 am. We drove home, stopping at a gas station along the way for snacks, and then fell into bed, sleeping in quite a bit this morning.

In other weekend news, I am done with the undyed merino spin, and boy am I thankful! I can’t show you yet as I still need to soak/wash and dry it. However, this was the messiest spin I’ve ever finished. I had 8 ounces, and while I was spinning, the vegetable matter was falling all over my lap and chair and floor. I thought that this was ok, as I’d have less to deal with as I plied, but it was even worse as I was plying! Furthermore, it was dropping out of the singles on my kate, making a royal mess out of my kate and my ottoman.

There was even VM falling out of the finished yarn as I put it on the niddy noddy, and despite all this, there’s still quite a lot of VM in the finished yarn.

So, I am pleased it’s done, and I did a massive clean up. Much vacuuming was needed after that, and I had to dust the wheels and the furniture and floor near my chair. The vacuuming I’d been doing twice a day during this spin anyhow, but it was good to know I could do it and not have to do it again immediately.

I’ve been getting a lot of this too:

Bored dog desires attention. She was so pleased to see Miss Butterfly come home after camp, so to have her leave again so soon has made her downright clingy and needy. My spinning is frequently interrupted, but her face is awfully hard to resist!

That’s about it from our little corner of the world, hoping to have a shop the makeup stash for the week posted tomorrow. After that, more TdF updates including my finished 8 ounces of merino. Have a great remainder of your weekend!