Parr For The Course

Parr Road that is! (insert crickets and tumbleweed). The Blog gladly participated, at gunpoint, in a 4 hour ride along the fabled Parr Road route in the hinterlands of Northern Columbia. Leading the ride was local yokel and cycling enthusiast Toby Porter. Toby is a good, honest, morally-dubious gentleman whose riding skills are matched only by his ability to instantly change his skin pigmentation to match his surroundings, similar to a chameleon. Fellow Hawley employees Will The G. and Kyle mixed it up in the skel-oton (a peloton with less than 8 riders) with Cane Creek engineer and pigmentally challenged Jim M, ruddy-cheeked Kel B. and child-minded Brian Hackathorn who drove from Charleston, in his words, "to escape the bad men who want to tickle me!". To keep this tale short, here are the highlights: 30 mph headwinds. Swirling crosswinds. A dog who was searching for death. A dirt road section. Zero traffic. A desperate longing for an I-Pod. A silly climb up to a radio tower. Multiple clothing and base layer modifications. Actually riding my bike for longer than 1 hour (the Blog's commute time). The Blog looks forward to the next group ride in 2012. It shall be a joyous event!

A rough approximation of the ride route minus a few miles:At a rest stop, Brian regales the group with graphic tales about his hobo killing spree in the mid-nineties. The Blog respects his honesty and candor.. and his prowess at dispatching hoboes!A visual testament to the lack of traffic. Here we are riding down I-26, at rush hour!!!
The pastoral canvas of unused farmland and life-affirming power lines. Behold its glory: