My thanks to our RBA, Rob Hawks and to the rain and wind gods.  While it turns
out that a few very fast riders got rained on when they reached the coast, I
believe the vast majority of us enjoyed a spectacular winter day of riding. 
Yes, the headwinds were trying as we headed towards Healdsburg, but from then
on, they were pretty neutral or helpful.  The sunny, mild weather was about all
we could have asked for. 
 
Rob was a fabulous (as usual) person to ride with and he pulled me most of the
way to Healdsburg.  He's definatly stronger than me these days.  I missed the
wonderful burrito in Healdsburg, but really appreciated the shorter off bike
time that resulted by grabbing a sandwich in the Safeway.   Somewhere heading
north, we picked up Carlos and rode the rest of the ride with him, picking up
various others and then having them take off or drop off at various times. 
We rode some with Albert as well.  Albert and I have ridden
together occasionally on doubles and brevets for many years, and I always enjoy
his company.  We rode quite a bit with a "new to brevets" rider named Allen, and
we seemed to have lost him on White's Hill.  I hope he hooked up with some other
randonneurs for the journey back through the Marin suburbs with which I suspect
he is not familiar.   We also seemed to find ourselves connecting with
Lisa-Susan and Willy repeatedly.  They may not have been riding quite as fast as
we were, but were clearly much more efficient at the controls, though I suspect
they stopped for something warm as they passed through San Anselmo as we didn't
see therm again until we were heading home and they were on the bridge.
 
It was great to see so many of us out there, especially given the "wind" date. 
Given how hard it was riding into the 10-15 mph breeze heading north, I wonder
how many of us could  have completed the ride within the time limit last
weekend.  The sustained 45 mph winds that occurred then would have made it
impossible for me, and that ignores the safety issues. 

Seeing Masa's photo's from the ride is wonderful. They give a fabulous sense of
what the ride was like. It always amazes me that people can make themselves
stop and take photo's. Somehow, I always feel like I'm in too big of a rush.

Thanks to Mark and his fellow volunteers for being there at the start and for
what must have been a long cold evening. I was quite warm when I arrived at the
bridge but of course cooled off rather quickly as I sat around. It sure felt
good to get dry clothes on and then into a warm car.
Bruce