Grove City, OH to HOME!

Please forgive my tardiness in getting this post out.   I got home yesterday and just enjoyed the company of my wife, my pesky dog, my middle son Joe, my son to be daughter in law Mandie, and their much bigger pesky dog.   I will also deviate from past practice to show and explain one picture at a time to give you a better chronology of my return.

This is the night before my final journey home.   Joe and Mandie posed in front of their soon to be “new” house.   They were so afraid that they might “creep” the current owner (apparently they’ve been by many times to look at the house again and to get pictures that they wanted to do a “picture and run” mission.   The funny thing is that a neighbor (left hand side) came home and thought we were casing the joint.   Had to explain and he allowed us to proceed.

SHOUT OUT to Performance Auto Group in general and Greg, Jeff, Kyle and Joe.   Greg, Jeff, and Joe all work at Performance Group and Kyle is Greg’s son.   Joe has promoted the Pelotonia at work a number of times and these gentlemen and many of their co-workers have generously contributed.   These gentlemen all got up at 5:00 a.m. or so and met Joe and I at their corporate office in Dublin to ensure I made it home.   Not shown is Brenda who drove the SAG Wagon (chase car to help if needed) to provide backup.

Joe and I enjoying the early sunrise on the return home.   Admittedly I was the slowest one in the pack.   I could blame in on “tired” legs and a “heavy” MG but the reality is that most of these guys are practiced Pelotonia riders (riding again this year) and drove forward like a clock.   The benefit was I was able to draft on them much of the way and got home just after 10:00 in the morning with a 15.8 MPH.  Nothing stops this bunch!

MG and I are on the roadside 2nd position in this picture.   I think Kyle took the picture.  Kyle works in a bike shop and not only took pictures but also selected a bike route that I had never been on to get us home.   We did run into a sign that said “Road Closed, 6 Miles Ahead” and without really too much decision making kept going (with my eternal gratitude).   Our timing was a bit off however.   As the last rider went through the construction site (me of course) the workers drove up in a truck.   Their looks didn’t give me the impression that they were cheering us on.

MG and I at the Mt. Gilead traffic circle and slightly earlier when we were approaching it.   The untold story here is that construction crews were also repaving the road just North of this position.   At this point our group got split into two.   Each group thought they were ahead of the other.   Joe and Jeff can claim anything they want but the “truth” is that Greg, Kyle, and I took the more hilly (arduous) route and beat ’em to my house by 5 minutes.   No matter what they say this is the TRUTH!

Can’t say enough about these riders.   They showed up at 6:00 a.m., rode till 10:00, spent 15 minutes at my house and then went BACK to work.   During the morning’s ride there was always at least one of these guys that stayed back with me.  It was a fun morning, a quick ride, and a great bunch of riders.   Hope to see them again at the upcoming Pelotonia!

In the spirit of full disclosure this is a staged picture taken at my request.   It is not supposed to reflect reality but my true feelings about being home.   The reality was we were charging the battery on our very dirty boat which when completed allowed us to take Joe and Mandie tubing.   Their dog Dwight kept trying to jump in the water to get to them and the tube.    You should have seen Jill try to restrain the 85 or so pound dog.

Lastly, when I woke up at Joe’s house I looked around the room and found this sign.   Do you think any additional explanation is needed?

Thanks for sharing this adventure with “The Scotts Kid”!