Rhonde de Rosey Recap

Where to start with the Rhonde de Rosey? How about Thanks? Thanks to Rosey for setting it up and thanks to Billy for getting the Pink Beacons on the start list. And can't leave out the Washington Tavern for hospitality.
Rolled up early and by 10 it was pretty amazing how many bikes were hanging out on the corner of Washington and Beacon. Saw this photo on a couple other sites and the Major and I got a chuckle cause it's our bikes at the bottom of the pile. There were a lot of nice rigs laying around.
We rolled out first stop Nahant park followed quickly by the out and back frenzy of Cutler Park. I was definitely nervous about what laid ahead based on this. A totally New England combo of marsh, mud, roots, and wooden bridges. Add in oncoming riders and you have a recipe for chaos and fun. After that it was onto some singletrack along the highway and some hijinxs getting lost. I don't really have an issue with confusion or being slightly lost and it was already more fun than any training ride and light years beyond a Sunday at Wells Ave. I will not be complaining about directions or marking the course! Fun is fun.
Details from here on are hazy, there were many road and trail sections that followed. Lots more getting confused. Billy gets points for navigation and demonstrated some of the benefits of the I-Phone.
I was demonstrating my lack of fitness and focused on holding wheels so the miles flew by. No mile by mile description here. It hurt and was fun. My favorites were the railbed into concord and the reformatory path which had almost a bmx rhythm section feel to it-between the mud bogs.
We somehow rode without and flats or mechanicals which is pretty hard to believe.
The mechanical misfortunes of one of the faster teams allowed us to witness the Matt Roy intertube tow. Pretty rad.
Made it back to the Washington Tavern and started in on the free bear(thanks Cisco!) Still lots of bikes outside, but a lot dirtier. The kitchen didn't open until 5 which left us plenty of time to get tipsy off a couple beers.
Pink Beacons cleaned up in the raffle. And then it was home. Happily downhill. There were too many fun things to try and capture in this post.
Dirty bike cooked in the car until lunch time the next day when I did this. Genius. Hope it happens again or motivates other people to give it a try.

Check for some good photos here.