2009 dawned bright and cold on New Year’s day. We had our annual “Guts” ride down to Pirates Cove scheduled, and I was anxious to get out on the bike. It had been too long since I’d had any good mileage put on, and I was going to get out – regardless of the 40-degree weather. Except it wasn’t quite 40. In fact, it wasn’t quite 30. When I left Columbia around 9:30am, the temperature was a whopping 27 degrees in the sunlight.
Properly layered, leathered, and sporting toe and hand warmers left over from hunting season, I headed toward Millersville to meet up with the rest of the Bayside folks brave (and crazy) enough to roll out on the rather chilly day that it was. I pulled into the WaWa and much to my surprise, there were at least a dozen bikes already there. In the end, I believe the final tally of two-wheelers was 19. There were a few back-seaters as well, and Chuck R. showed up in his cage. At least there was one guy with some sense amongst the group!
We pulled out right at 10:30 and headed toward Annapolis and then on to Galesville. The ride was good and uneventful for the most part. We only got separated at one light, if memory serves. Once through Annapolis, Jimmy lead us south along Muddy Creek Road, a great ride and one that I’ve resolved to take again when the temperature is a little more agreeable.
Arriving at Pirates Cove, most of us scampered inside to find a fireplace to sit by or a vat of coffee to dive into. The folks at the restaurant put us out in a side room which under more moderate temps would be great, with a nice view of the marina. The bad news was that the room appeared to be an add-on, and I think they forgot to add-on any heat producing devices. The good news was they rolled a porta-furnace contraption out in the room for us to cozy up to. The worse news was that it ran out of gas after about 10 minutes of use. While working, it provided us with an opportunity for a few pictures of folks raising hands (even the Southern Baptists!) to the heat source which for some reason was at the top of the thing. Too bad for young Miss Gabbie; she was about three feet too short to get her hands remotely close to the heat source.
After lunch and a great time of fellowship, it was time to mount back up and head back to our homes. Many folks took off in their own direction straight away; I suspect that each rider had noodled out in his head the shortest possible route to take toward home. That was my excuse, anyway. I knew Clarke & Angela would be heading the way I needed to go so I tagged along behind them and learned about some nice routes for this coming season. Along the way we came up to several traffic lights but go figure, for once I was able to blow right through them. I was hoping for some red lights to pop up so I could shake my hands and/or sit on them, but we just kept rolling right along.
Regardless of the cold ride and the time it took me to thaw out afterwards, I really enjoyed my day as this was the third year in a row I’ve kicked off my year of riding with my Christian brothers and sisters in the Bayside Believers chapter. I’m looking forward to the rides, the fellowship, and the ministry opportunities that 2009 will bring and its my prayer that the Lord will watch over us as we ride so we can all gather again for the next “Guts” ride in about 300-some days!
