Champagne Scramble, September 25, 2005

I woke to light rain and dark skies. This did not bode well for the annual Champagne Scramble. Gary Corin rode out to my house shortly before 8:00am. As we drove up to Maple it was raining off and an on. On our arrival at the Centro Bakery no one was else in sight. Slowly riders began to roll in. Just before the 9:00am start we had 5 riders. Henry Levy, Mark Hopper, Louis Dionne, John Saunders and Gary Corin prepared to start. After a short introduction and explanation of a minor route adjustment to avoid a construction zone the fearless five departed in typical Rando fashion at 9:10.

This group quickly split into two groups with Henry, Gary and Mark set a harder pace and John and Louis a slightly more leisurely one. As they approached the first of many climbs the gap was about 60 seconds.

The front group continued making time into the Holland Marsh.

It was in the Marsh that things became interesting. Gary who was riding his old beater against the advise of Henry experienced a mechanical that put him out of contention in spite of his excellent fitness he once again was out due to equipment failure. His rear tire blew off the rim and no replacement was available. Henry waited until it was apparent that Gary could no longer continue.

Now the chase was on.Mark was soft pedalling but it still took until they were out of the Marsh for Henry to catch back on.

Mark and Henry stayed together to the turn around and back to Pumkin with Louis and John about 5 minutes back.

The riders enjoyed a post Scramble repast.

Results

Mark Hopper - 3:12
Henry Levy - 3:13
Louis Dionne - 4:02
John Saunders - 4:02
Gary Corin DNF

In spite of the weather this was an exceptional event. All of riders enjoyed themselves very much. Hopefully we will see many more come out next year.

Some photos can be seen here