Riding in Arizona
 

6:50am and 66°. I'm 11 miles into my ride and the legs feel really strong today. I'm riding west with the sun rising behind me in a cloudless sky, it's casting a long 25 or 30 foot shadow in front of me. I notice Old Glory on a pole ahead laying limp, no wind. This is quit a change from my usual minimum of 8mph winds with 15+ gusts...I think I could learn to live with this. The Cateye is showing 19+ mph and the HR monitor is ticking away at 146. My Blackberry's mp3 player is running South City Midnight Lady to my ear buds and I'm contemplating how far I've come in the last 20 months. From a Wally World MTB with a daily ride of 2-3 miles to today's ride which I planned for 40+ miles. All seems to be good.

Suddenly next to my shadow I notice another coming up in the lane next to me. But it's coming very slow, as I look over my shoulder I can see it's a golf cart. As it pulls up along side of me there is some hayseed looking at me with a half toothless smile saying "What's the matter? Can't keep up with a golf cart?" :eek: What;s this? I'm being taunted by a "Bubba" in a golf cart?? This will never stand, how could I ever post on the pages of BF again after reading Stapham's and TSL's recent stories if I let Bubba get away with this. No this will not do. I'm running the 39 ring about the middle of the cassette so I drop it down to 39/11 and stand on the Speedplays. After 5 or 6 pedal strokes I settle back down on the seat and reach for the drops. I glance at the Cateye...28+ mph :eek: Holy Cow! Where did that come from? The Polar F6 is beeping away at 164 and I'm riding right on by Bubba. :D Another 2000' down the road I hit a signal...and Bubba comes rolling up next to me with a stupid look on his face. He says WOW! Great, I've impressed a Bubba. :rolleyes: But I'm thinking to myself, "That's right Bubba, don't mess with a 50+er." The light turns green and he zips across the intersection ahead of me and turns into what else? A liquor store. :rolleyes:

The rest of the ride was fantastic eventually doing 40+ miles and set a new high average speed for myself of 17.58. :)

Lving in AZ we do see a few golfcarts on the road.
Next time, just draft the cart and yell 'faster . . . faster!' . . . then pass 'im!
Oh, I'm not over 50; I'm over 75!

There's not really a helluva lot of point to engaging in a pissing contest with "Bubba", but if you really can't resist you might as well do it with style.

Since 'Bubba" was the one who started this competitive nonsense, engage him in conversation and stimulate those competitive instincts in him. Get the fella frothing at the mouth, but in the process steer his attention away from 'speed' and toward the notion that 'endurance' is what really counts. When he's good and ready to compete with you take off first and head off toward the desert. Every now and then put a bit of a sprint in, passing him and ensuring that the 'race' keeps headed out into the desert.

Once you are well out of town let him get in front of you and stay there, keeping within sight but looking like you are tiring.

When his battery runs flat ride about 100 yards past him, turn around, and then head home. :D

Where in AZ has in not been windy for the last week? Even Friday the forecast was low wind and the opposite was to be had in the middle of the day.

A little AZ sidenote: It has been quite hazy over Northern AZ for the last week. Not normal as they say. Anyway we were on a 1 day field trip to the Grand Canyon and visibilty was really low compared to average. Our guide stated that the haze was from forest fires in Siberia. All the smoke and ash had gone atmospheric and found a home in AZ. I had assumed it was just all the air pollution from the valley.

I am visiting my youngest daughter and son in-law. They live in Queens Creek, south east of the GM testing facility. After about 10:00 am it got breezy but really very light.



edit: I must say oilman that this morning was an entirely different story, ENE winds @ 20+mph.

Hey, Cat. Are there Bubbas in Australia?

Not ones who drive golf carts down the road, we don't. But then we have fair dinkum laws, a decent policing system rather than elected officials and jurisdiction disputes, and a dearth of excessive whining about 'rights' in everyday culture. :D