Narragansett Bay Weenies?

Okay that was unfair of me, especially since I'm acquainted with only ONE MEMBER of the Narragansett Bay Wheelmen. Why the poke? Only because I was expecting a huge turnout today on their Scituate ride at 11:00 am! That's all.. no one have a hissy fit.. no one's a weenie. Just me- I'm the biggest self depracating weenie in the world, so just chill everyone..and save your finger wagging and hate mail for another time.. It was 48 degrees out at one point.. so WHERE WAS EVERYBODY?!?! I distinctly recall a person boasting the other day about how the NBW group was populated with some real die hard lunatics- that they would turn out in huge numbers even in the coldest and crappiest of weather! Oh well. Whatever. There were about ten cars in the parking lot, and a couple of people rode there from home.. I was still pulling my booties on when the "A" group (consisting of FIVE people) departed from the parking lot! About a full minute later, I managed to add my hat, helmet, gloves, phone, pump, spare, multi tool, and wind jacket and then shove off from the parking lot in hot pursuit. I think that the look of my bike was taken to be an indicator of my fitness level- I took the Redline 9-2-5 fixed gear commuter with me.. If I had my LOOK 486- they might have waited another minute.. but I'd rather not speculate and give credit where it isn't due.. SO.. I catch these five guys about 2-4 minutes later.. huffing and puffing.. as we got down route 102 in the vicinity of the reservoir.. On a slight rise in the road I go to the front and take a pull.. kind of like "hey guys.. my bike sucks, but I don't!" kind of pull. (I have FULL fenders and FULL reflectors.. and MOUSTACHE bars!) Five minutes later, we're down to three. I'm with an AFD guy and a Minuteman guy- both looking fit and comfortable.. The other two must have turned off someplace else or just gotten shelled (one had a WAAAAY over geared fixie with TT bars, the other had a Bianchi with a stem that looked just plain wrong..) Next rise in the road at about minute 25, I get shelled by my two road mates- I'm over geared a little bit too.. but I relent. I keep turning it over and after reaching Maple Valley Road and descending to the bottom (10 minutes later), I re-connect with them. Could not tell if they were surprised or happy to see me again.. but whatever. Burned a few matches to do it too. So we rode together for another hour or so, I felt better and better as the ride went on.. Didn't feel too much difficulty except when the road turned up- then I really needed a smaller gear.. but I managed to get out of the saddle and muscle my way over in good time.. until.. towards the very end we were on route 116 north and took a left on route 14. Down into the valley and across the road which cuts the reservoir in two.. the road tips up on a pretty steep grade for my gearing.. Seeing that we're only about 2 miles from our starting point at Scituate HS, I take the hill at my own pace, arriving a minute or two after my friends. From there, I phone dear wife, who's sledding somewhere in Johnston with my son and friends. So I head north on 116 and find them at Deerfield Park.. Cold and soaked thru, I get in the van and strip down, get the wet base layers off of me. Ate a donut, drank some hot coffee, some water.. I even put my boots on and sledded down the hill a couple of times with my son Reis.. Then I realized.. I feel much better.. Having ridden only 2:30 and being required to do at least 3:00.. I turn to my wife and say "I gotta ride home from here.. I need to get at least three hours in today". With that, I disappeared back into the van, suited up, put on my new balaclava, and wisely took my back pack with me to help keep my back warm (works like a charm..) One hour later I arrived at my house (most of the ride home was on 116 into West Warwick, then a turn onto 115 before reaching Hope Furnace Road) I'm very pleased with myself.. Overall 3 hours and 30 minutes on the fixed gear over challenging terrain and with guys riding light weight road bikes for the first half.. Let me tell you.. if you're in a funk and want to feel really good about yourself.. FORCE yourself to do something which you loath, but which you know is a requirement to reach your goals.. It's worth every minute of discomfort to get to the end of such a mission, because I feel like a million bucks right now for completing what I really didn't feel like doing.. (Back down off of soap box now) So.. Other than the 30 minute rest and sledding, it was all contiguous, no stops. Does that count? Let me pose a Seinfeld/Larry David-esque question: What's the cut-off? How long of a break can you take within a ride for it to be considered one whole ride and not two? I love Larry David-Curb Your Enthusiasm.. Bought a coffee mug at the HBO store in Manhattan last month: Half empty/Half empty.. Genius. If I had a chance to meet one famous person from Hollywood, he would be the one I'd choose over all others. I'd love to have a conversation with Larry David. Who wouldn't?