When less than 100 is epic
Tony Nichols, Pete Basso and I met several buddies at Starbucks this morning before the ride. Along with the guys from our group we adopted 4 families to help this year for Christmas. Unfortunately I had 4+ hours of bike work to get in before the forecasted nasty weather, so they did the shopping for us.
We headed out on our cross bikes westerly into nowhere with a light snowfall blanketing the gravel. The roads were perfect and with temperatures in the mid-20's we were all dressed appropriately and pretty comfortable. I rode in mostly zone 3 for about 2 hours before circling back to Starbucks where Pete and Tony had parked.
Along the way, we came across a small group of 4 doe standing in the road. When they noticed us, they bolted - 3 immediately hopped into the woods but the fourth just started running right down the middle of the road. Tony sprinted up to her and when he caught her, instead of darting into the woods with the other ladies, she just shifted into overdrive and kept running with TPod time-trialing along side of her. She kept running for nearly a mile. It looked like Tony was walking a dog. He said that she was just galloping along with her tongue wagging. Finally she wised up and pulled off.
Originally I planned to switch to my trainer to complete the last 2 hours but I was enjoying myself so much that I just opted to keep riding.
My day had started early. In fact, when I pulled out of my driveway at 6:00 am I had my blinky flashing because it was still dark.
By 11:00 the snow was falling heavily, and before I knew it the streets were mostly covered. I find it interesting that regular road slicks are totally impossible to ride in ice and snow, but by just adding a little tread (i.e. cross tires) my Salsa hooked up like it was on a rail.
I stayed in-town and finished of with just over 4 hours in (not counting time spent at the coffee shop). I would guesstimate that if I were the mileage tracking sort, that the odometer would register slightly under 100 new miles. Not technically "epic" by the Crabby Old Farts standards, but memorable none the less.
My legs are feeling heavy, but my head and heart are feeling happy.
We headed out on our cross bikes westerly into nowhere with a light snowfall blanketing the gravel. The roads were perfect and with temperatures in the mid-20's we were all dressed appropriately and pretty comfortable. I rode in mostly zone 3 for about 2 hours before circling back to Starbucks where Pete and Tony had parked.
Along the way, we came across a small group of 4 doe standing in the road. When they noticed us, they bolted - 3 immediately hopped into the woods but the fourth just started running right down the middle of the road. Tony sprinted up to her and when he caught her, instead of darting into the woods with the other ladies, she just shifted into overdrive and kept running with TPod time-trialing along side of her. She kept running for nearly a mile. It looked like Tony was walking a dog. He said that she was just galloping along with her tongue wagging. Finally she wised up and pulled off.
Originally I planned to switch to my trainer to complete the last 2 hours but I was enjoying myself so much that I just opted to keep riding.
My day had started early. In fact, when I pulled out of my driveway at 6:00 am I had my blinky flashing because it was still dark.
By 11:00 the snow was falling heavily, and before I knew it the streets were mostly covered. I find it interesting that regular road slicks are totally impossible to ride in ice and snow, but by just adding a little tread (i.e. cross tires) my Salsa hooked up like it was on a rail.
I stayed in-town and finished of with just over 4 hours in (not counting time spent at the coffee shop). I would guesstimate that if I were the mileage tracking sort, that the odometer would register slightly under 100 new miles. Not technically "epic" by the Crabby Old Farts standards, but memorable none the less.
My legs are feeling heavy, but my head and heart are feeling happy.
2 comments:
not epic, just memorable. sorry, but it's the long-standing rule.
i'll republish it on the sermonette. glad you guys were out riding, though.
Lou, I need your help! I am sans-bike because the shop in Princeton completely F-ed up . . . can you help me out?? I will only be riding inside so a road bike wouldn't get dirty. Call me: 515.554.9226
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