On a good deed and a good ride

Friday night I drugged myself to sleep with
two full doses of NyQuill hoping that
it would knock me out and take care of
this congestion crap that I have.......
it surely knocked me out. (by 10pm, don't even worry!)
And at 5:15 when my alarm went off,
I was feeling better.
So I chowed down some delicious
Kashi Crunch

(the must have cereal pre-ANY quality cycling event)
Got me ma clothes on
and loaded up my stuff...
hitting the road at exactly 6am
just as planned.

....with beautiful beautiful gloria, of course.

and I arrived at ye ol


after checking in and getting the packet
of goodies...pinning my number on
and taking pictures for people.....I was ready.

We took off at 7am sharp

I tagged on to a rider who was quite a ways up front
as...the group behind him was going a nice social pace....
but honestly...when its 50degrees and i'm in
short sleeves/shorts....I need to spin just a BIT faster...
So I did. Eventually the two of us were caught by
another fellow who I can't for the life of me remember the name of
it started with an M
....Montey!??

He was a larger guy, but from all I know about cycling
one of the most important things I've learned over the years
is that its not about your size...
When I first started racing, I'd look for the skinniest,
fittest looking gal and she'd be my target,
I would think to myself "wow, she looks FIT she'll
probably hammer.
Not the case my friends. Those scrawney bastards
might take off up hills but when its time for that sprint
at the end, its the girls with the big builds who will sneak
up from behind and steal away everything you worked for
simply.more.power.
its that weight/strength ratio, and how much you train.
But whatever, Montey and I...We kept great pace with each other.

That first guy I had caught up to ended up stopping
at rest stops longer than montey and I had wanted to
so we kept going on our own.

at 33miles (1/3rd of the way...I noticed me shifting in my saddle a bit...
ooooh hammer crotch....it'll numb soon enough)

at 50 miles I knew that the ride had Actually begun
spin time is over, now even the easiest gears
the smallest hills
the weakest winds....would start to hurt.

after lunch, mile 66, we were headed South with wind
out of the south east...I pulled for quite a while
and held a strong 19mph, it felt good.
But as I waved for him to take a turn he says
"you're going to have to pull me in"
...i looked down and saw that we were at 72 miles
(...and with 28 to go...)
"oh shit" i thought.
I wasn't sure if I should keep that pace and get us out
of the wind faster...or slow it down and try
to save myself, for both our sakes...I slowed down.

at 76 miles, after a good little climb
good 'ole montey
excalimed "I popped, i'm done, you can go ahead"
.....another moment of my wisdom
came to my head...
no matter what......two people working will
ALWAYS, always, always be faster, and easier
than going it alone.
So I slowed down, let him catch my wheel again
and we made it to the next rest stop.
And the next.

mile 89, the last rest stop
Montey needed a water refill and to rest
I said "okay" I'm going to keep going ....
but we need our picture together!
You don't ride 90 miles with a stranger and not
get a picture!!!"



he refueled quickstyle and joined right back up with me
understanding when I explained...
the sooner we're done,
the sooner we're done.
out of the sun, out of the heat
ooooh how I longed again for that brisk morning start.

Mile 101 we roll back into the DMACC campus
where the start had been held. On arrival
they rang bells and cheered
and as we passed threw iced towels at us
"get on my neck, Please" i said to that towel.....




And that was that.
There was beer and hotdogs and ice cream
(i just had ice cream..then later a hot dog)
And said my farewells to the people I had met
Homework doesn't do itself these days...

I'll reflect a bit on it later...but...for now
homework beckons...
so does a need for more kleenex.
ride.happy everyone.