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01-30-10, 03:26 PM
I had planned for a birthday Metric to celebrate #62 back on Jan 10th, with a nice open house birthday bash in the back yard. Unfortunately the Arctic Express made an unscheduled stop in So. Fla. for a few weeks, and well, everyone wimped out. Including me. When you are used to riding in 90 deg weather with 95+% humidity, 40 something is pretty uncomfortable.
So I been planning on a reschedule, but if you have been following the saga of my grandson, you know I've been a little distracted. Celebrating 62 yrs and riding a bike seems so frivilous when he is struggling to make it to 7.
Anyway, this week the prez of the bike club sent out a notice that we were invited to join the Boca Bike club for their Sat AM ride. I mapped out a route, and it was 14.2 mi to the Boca start point. The other wimps decided to drive, but I sucked it up, rose at 5 AM and rode at 6 to Boca. I arrived at 6:40, 2nd on the scene.
The Boca club is quite a bit bigger than our group, so they had 4 full ride classes. I opted for the 21-24 mph group. We did a spiffy 27 mi, and I only dropped when they sprinted the last 2 miles. The old ticker just got going a little too fast.
After a very pleasant breakfast at the local deli, I was facing a 15.4 mi ride home. The reason for the difference is that I hopped a ride to the deli with a girl from the club who drove.
THe ride home was the worst part of the entire ride. I was heading south most of the way, into the teeth of a 13 mph breeze. And being solo, it was all up to me.
None the less, I got home just fine, but I didn't set any speed records.
So let me see: 14.2 out, 27 ride, and 15.4 back. That comes out to 56.6. A day late and a mile short, or well 3 weeks late and 6 miles short. If I had not been fighting that wind, I might have had the time and energy to pack in the extra 6. But not today.
So, that means, we'll just have to leave it on the table. Maybe in Feb. :)
So I been planning on a reschedule, but if you have been following the saga of my grandson, you know I've been a little distracted. Celebrating 62 yrs and riding a bike seems so frivilous when he is struggling to make it to 7.
Anyway, this week the prez of the bike club sent out a notice that we were invited to join the Boca Bike club for their Sat AM ride. I mapped out a route, and it was 14.2 mi to the Boca start point. The other wimps decided to drive, but I sucked it up, rose at 5 AM and rode at 6 to Boca. I arrived at 6:40, 2nd on the scene.
The Boca club is quite a bit bigger than our group, so they had 4 full ride classes. I opted for the 21-24 mph group. We did a spiffy 27 mi, and I only dropped when they sprinted the last 2 miles. The old ticker just got going a little too fast.
After a very pleasant breakfast at the local deli, I was facing a 15.4 mi ride home. The reason for the difference is that I hopped a ride to the deli with a girl from the club who drove.
THe ride home was the worst part of the entire ride. I was heading south most of the way, into the teeth of a 13 mph breeze. And being solo, it was all up to me.
None the less, I got home just fine, but I didn't set any speed records.
So let me see: 14.2 out, 27 ride, and 15.4 back. That comes out to 56.6. A day late and a mile short, or well 3 weeks late and 6 miles short. If I had not been fighting that wind, I might have had the time and energy to pack in the extra 6. But not today.
So, that means, we'll just have to leave it on the table. Maybe in Feb. :)