Bam! Done and dusted! That is a wrap on this season of The Knight Rides. And what a season it was.
We started out today with a strong field of 12 Sufferlandrians. You could feel the anticipation from the start. Even though it was quite early for some the happy chatter started from km zero.
For some of us the weather was not too outdoory at all, but even the fair weather and the promise of an outdoor ride could not keep away some steadfast Sufferlandrians, just to celebrate this final adventure together.
While Sir @CPT_A had not made it yet again we were happy to see Sir Evan @emacdoug finally in the peloton again.
The ride today had almost everything we have come to love on the winter group rides. Suffering, more suffering, deep knowledge (we learned why Fluffy and his kin only wear sandals), a trademark TT by Sir @montgoma with catching the peloton even before the endsprint, a sip of water (it was recorded at 1:13:54 in annals of this ride) by the immortal engine @Medina81 and much more laughter.
I botched my try to stay Z2 miserably by too many white lines. Seemingly I was overconfident when saying I would resist the siren call of sprints.
The route itself was demanding, but nothing we couldn’t handle with such a strong group. We chatted away the Epic KOM, all the way to Radio Tower. Afterwards Sir @rrutis sent us flying down the mountainside. Not even the buggy coffee-break function could stop us today.
After the last few Ks it was time to head into the last small climb that would lead us to the finish of the ride.
And what a finish it was.
While it was technically a short climb, no one says you cannot sprint that one, too. So we did.
In all fairness, Sir Ruben propelled us up most of the climb with a number of powerful riders putting in strong bursts as well. So like usual on the Knight Rides, Sir Ruben would have left us in the dust, thank GvA for the rubberband.
When we closed in to the line it was an all in sprint which Citizen @Chris_Wright defended at the finish line.
It was a worthy Finale to the season. Thank you for all joining up today and all the season!
If you missed out this season, look closely in the fall for the call of The Knight Rides Season 2025/2026.
I will see you there!
Citizen Blackwater