On Sunday November 13, 2005 we did our second club bike ride of this weekend.  We had done a relatively long ride the day before, but you can never do too many rides so another ride this Sunday sounded like a good idea to me. 

Tom was definitely in for the ride this day and last I spoke to Pete on Saturday he was planning to join us as well.  Bob was planning to jog instead and would possibly meet us at the Hamlin Pub for lunch.  Our plan was for Tom to drive out with his bike on the back of his new Commander and meet me at my house around 10:30 am.  From there Tom and I would ride over to pick up Pete at his house.  While Tom was driving over Pete called to say he was too tired to ride this day and he wasn’t going to join us after all. 

When Tom showed up I told him Pete decided not to ride and it would just be the two of us riding this day.  Tom was all fired up about Pete’s raw egg drinking challenge and was disappointed to hear Pete wouldn’t be riding with us.  Tom is very much like Pete, stubborn and use to getting his way.  Tom called Pete and put a little pressure on Pete and it didn’t take much persuading before Pete changed his mind.  

We got on our bikes and headed over to pick up Pete.  Before we left Tom showed me these weaved bracelets that he had custom made for all the core club members when he was in Mexico.  Each one had the letters PCT and a symbol of a pyramid along with the person’s name.  I took a picture of mine sitting on top of my burrito basket and that picture along with the few other pictures I took with my phone are posted at the bottom of this page.  Knowing that they were made in Mexico they were probably very cheap, but it is the thought that counts and I am sure all the club members are appreciative as I am of this gesture.  Rumor is Barry is wearing his as an ankle bracelet, I don’t think I will go that far, but I do plan to find a nice spot and tie it somewhere on my bike. 

Tom also brought a Frisbee.  Apparently he had some urge to play Frisbee, so I strapped it to the top of my burrito basket and we took it along with us on the ride. 

It was a beautiful day for a bike ride, a little windy but still very nice.  The sky was mostly clear and the sun was out keeping us warm.  We took the trail south down into Rochester.  We had a nice easy ride on our way to the Hamlin Pub.  Tom hadn’t been to the pub since they did their remodeling, so this was his first chance to experience the new and improved Hamlin Pub.  I called Bob earlier to let him know we were definitely going to eat at the pub and give him our ETA.  Bob ended up parking his van at the pub and he just ran around the area until we showed up.  It was nice to have Bob join us for lunch. 

Once we got inside it was obvious that Tom only had one thing on his mind, the egg drinking challenge.  At first Tom wasn’t sure if Pete had really drank the two raw eggs the previous week, he thought we might be making this up to trick him into drinking raw eggs.  We told Tom that it wasn’t a trick and Pete definitely drank the eggs.  I’m still not quite sure why he did it, but as a first hand witness I am willing to swear he definitely did it.  Once Tom got past this point it was now a matter as to whether Tom could convince the waitress to serve him three raw eggs.  Our waitress was young and I think Tom freaked her out with his request, she came back with the manager.  The manager knows us and he just needed to understand why a customer was ordering raw eggs.  The manager was concerned that Tom might barf up the eggs all over the place and make a mess.  Even with this concern he went back and brought out a glass with three un-cracked eggs.  I had just spoken to Bob and he was only a couple minutes from joining us.  I suggested to Tom that he wait for Bob to show up before making the attempt.  Tom said he was already psyched up and ready to go.  Tom cracked the eggs into the glass and this is when Pete started his loud complaining that the eggs were way too small compared to the eggs he got at the Greek Island.  I have to admit the eggs were smaller, but that wasn’t Tom’s fault, he had no control over the size of the eggs.  I was sitting next to Tom and he looked over at me and said I should move to the other side of the table.  I thought he was just joking, but he wasn’t he looked over at me with a very serious look and said “I’m serious you better move.”  At this point I started laughing and Pete just broke up laughing, it was a very funny moment to see the serious look on Tom’s face just minutes before he attempted to drink the eggs.   

I did move to the other side of the table next to Pete and I continued to take pictures with my phone.  My phone does not do a good job of taking pictures indoors and the pub is relatively dark so the quality of the pictures is poor, but they are better than nothing.  Tom made a critical mistake as he lifted the glass containing three raw eggs to his mouth.  He used his off hand to pinch his nosed closed as he started to drink the eggs.  Needless to say he didn’t get very far, he only managed to swallow one of the eggs and in a matter of seconds it was over.  Tom slammed the glass down on the table still containing two of the three eggs.  Just as needless to say, Pete started a verbal tirade claiming to still be the champion and going on and on about what a feeble attempt it was and how small the eggs were.  If nothing else it gave us something fun to laugh about during our lunch.  The manager came by again and asked how it went.  Pete quickly told him that Tom failed and only managed to drink one.  The manager made a funny comment after he heard Tom didn’t make it, he said, “And you were all psyched upped.’  He must have heard Tom say that after dropping off the eggs earlier.  I really thought that was a funny comment.  

Bob walked in just shortly after Tom finished his attempt and Pete was quick to bring Bob up to speed with what happened.  Bob’s reaction was he still didn’t understand why anyone would want to drink raw eggs to begin with, I must admit I agree.   

We all ordered the burger special with diet coke to drink and as usual our meals were very good.  Even the burgers at the Hamlin Pub are better than anywhere else. 

After lunch Bob took off in his van and the three of us started our ride back toward home.  As I mentioned earlier it was a beautiful day even though it was a bit windy.  Well, the wind really picked up and it was much heavier after lunch.  The ride home was a good work out as we rode up the hills against the wind. 

We did stop at a local elementary school on the way home to have a game of catch with Tom’s Frisbee.  We went out onto a baseball diamond and started throwing it around.  The wind was so strong we didn’t know where it was going to end up after we released it with a flick of the wrist.  We didn’t play for long, maybe ten minutes or so, and it was actually fun.  After this short stop we were back on our bikes battling the wind as we rode toward home.   

Pete still hadn’t put the cover on his swimming pool and he asked if Tom and I would stop by his house and give him a hand.  We agreed and we rode straight to Pete’s.  The wind was really kicking up by now and Pete was concerned it might be too windy to install the cover.  I told Pete not to worry about it, we would just use the wind to our advantage and it would actually be easier than normal with the winds assistance.  Luckily Pete’s son Paul was around with a couple friends and we had plenty of help to successfully get the cover in place. 

After helping Pete, Tom and I had to ride the 2.3 additional miles to get to my house.  Over all it was a very fun ride and a good workout.  I always enjoy Tom’s company when he shows up for a bike ride.  Even though he is a core member he spends a little too much time at work and we don’t get to ride that often with Tom.  We did discuss the Canadian ride that Tom is going to set up.  It may be too late in the year, but we are still definitely going to do a ride in Windsor, most likely in the spring or summer of 2006, so stay tuned if you want to join us on this international ride.  Following are the statistic from this ride, 17.0 total miles, 22.0 max mph, 10.0 avg mph and 1 hour and 41 minutes of actual ride time. 
David Lindquist