We did a short warm up from Orangewood to Lincoln then stopped for a short little stretch before heading back to the coast. Of course we had to pose for a pic or two of the jerseys. Just as we were ready to roll, Herb and Alyce roll up. That's cool with me. I like riding my bike but sometimes it's hard getting started so I was up for some laughs. Had some good conversatin' (yeah, I know that is incorrect, but just trying to sound street hip ha ha!). So we chatted and of course, .........had to take a few pics. Herb's new bike is pretty sweet! Allied brand. I've only seen one other one and that was on GMR so not like my Trek and Cannondale. Not everybody and their baby mamma got one! :-P
So we rolled up, Herb & Alyce heading the opposite direction. As we roll out, I felt the wind pretty stiff and Jose says we should just hold it at 17. OK, I'm pushing and doing 15 ha ha! Sure felt like I'm getting old but the day before was a good effort and being sick, I deserve a little suck time on the bike. But, this is the first time I have ridden both Saturday and Sunday in a loooong time. I really have to start putting all the sick people behind me and start doing my thing again. It's true what they say, taking care of sick people, usually the caretakers end up losing on their own health being so involved in taking care of others. But, can't let Mom sit home alone but this year, I am putting cycling back on my priority list.
Twenty three consecutive years on the bike. 7300 miles a record high in 2005, many 4,000-6,000 mile years then bam, into Suckville when family members start getting sick. But this year, I vowed to find a way to get back on my bike. I'd be happy if I could get back up to 4,000 per year seeing the last 3 have been about 2,000, that really sucks!
But anyway, Jose and I roll to Edna Park and take another break. We planned an easy ride being my second day, all the floor scrubbing, sore knees and the sore throat, so another quick break at Edna was good for me!
As we were there, a couple of young dudes roll up and we exchange greetings. I think I saw them a few weeks ago but it was much busier so they were mingling with another crowd. BTW, throw in some wind and the Superbowl and the cycling population goes WAAAY down ha ha! I'm good with that, the trail was nice and quiet. I think the hoodlums must have been superbowling with the other cyclist cause they weren't around either ha ha! Probably one big cyclist/hoodlum nacho superbowl party. Me? I don't care nutting about the SuperBore. Loved playing sports but never cared to sit down and watch from the recliner. Give me a bike, you can have the SuperBore. Heck, I haven't even watched 10 seconds of the highlights.
So anyway, as we are there, like all 4 of us, big cycling crowd ha ha, one of the dudes looks at my 1998 Cannondale CAD3 and asks which one of us owns the bike. Uh, that would be me! I thought he was going to mention something about the year of the bike or being an older bike. But he sees my Mr. Beans name on my bike ( I use a Z at the end now for online reasons, the S was taken already by too many) and says he has seen my stuff, videos and pics if I recall correctly. He says I have some pretty good material. So we chat about it and yeah, I explain some of the sexier stuff being requests by many, many, and many, several bike forum members from across the country to be specific. And how the forum mods thought I should be locked up for stocking women blah blah blah but yet, their husbands, sons, are probably my biggest viewers ha ha! I didn't tell them about the viewers part but I'm adding that now because it's probably true. I have had men that one would never expect, as me to post sexy bikini pics of women. Of course I love sexy women but many I see at the coast are not for me, I take them because others would enjoy the pics as I have mentioned many times. Skinny bean pole chicks in bikinis for me? No way, give me a curvy woman with a big booty and some meat, that's my thang! But again, I take pics of women I think others will enjoy. Something for everybody ha ha!
So we introduce ourselves. One guy is Steven and the other is Ramy. Brother of another ride we have met out there. His brother had been doing tris adn plenty of trainging but backed off now studying to be a doctor. How cool is that? Maybe I can get some free advice since our doctor friends won't give me any. Well one doctor we know out there will and often does but she keeps offering free prostrate exams in the public restrooms there at the coast so one must pass on the deal ha ha! Crazy lady and lots of fun and laughs if you know who I am talking about. OK, so it isn't Aimee. I want to point that out because if she reads this, she might think, OH CRAP, now everybody is going to think it is me, so, no , it is not Aimee to be clear! ;-)
So we chat for a bit at Edna Park, exchange a few stories and had some laughs then they headed off in the other direction. I'm glad about that because after looking at their Stravas, they did a Donut Ride that would have killed me with the shape I'm in right now. However, I need to find out what kind of donuts they're eating because they did a pretty sweet 77 mile ride at a really good pace. Pretty cool guys I could tell and now buds on Strava. Ramy even looked at my blog so he must be cool ha ha!
So Jose and I make our way to the coast taking turns with one mile pulls at the front. For some reason, Jose can not keep track of a one mile stretch so I have to tell him when to move aside and take the front. Usually I shout out but with a sore throat, my voice is barely coming out while riding. I can't even hear myself. So I implemented the "secret code" bell ring. Pretty sophisticated but once practiced for a while, becomes much easier to understand. The secret code you ask? Three ring dings of the bell. Pretty difficult to pick up on but it comes to you sooner or later ha ha!
We get to the coast and there rides up Joaquin. He rides a much shorter ride, 18 miles but at a good pace most times. So when we run into him, we've usually got about 35 miles on our legs at that point. So he lifts the pace on the return and it's tough to keep up at times, unless we're in shape. But even then, he'll pic it up to 24-25 for a stretch that really burns the legs. Saturday I was suffering on the return with Joaquin. Seemed he slowed on the down sections of the underpass, then held back the first half of the short incline, then sprinted up the upper section. It was like a sprint after sprint. Having about 38 miles in my legs at one point, I had to say uncle and dropped back. Yeah, they slowed and let me get back on but I was suffering. But Sunday, Jose and I did a much shorter ride. Again Joaquin said he would pull us back, cool! Very steady and at a better rate, I had no problem keeping up, actually felt comfortable and was even thinking we could go a bit faster ( 9/10 of a mph faster than yesterday today). But hey, I didn't say anything ha ha! Give me another week or two to get back into it!
Then Joaquin dropped off leaving Jose and I with only another 2 miles or so to the end of our ride. Jose gets in front and says he can do 20 the rest of the way. Umm OK, if I don't pass out. I swear, you tell these guys you're sick and they try to kill you ha ha! So I catch my breath and our average is not all that good so let's go for it. Pretty soon he's doing 21 but hey, I'm comfy so we roll back at a good clip. I was happy with it. I think the shorter ride this day made it a little more tolerable.
Over all, a beautiful day, good people and a good ride. I don't mind the headwinds but today, it was tough but hey, when the throat is good, I'll be back to normal enjoying the wind.
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