One Way Is Better Than No Way

OK I am still a little bit of a weather wienie.  I was all ready to go this morning and then when I went out it was raining a tad harder than I like and I called the pit crew (who was watching me from the window).  So I got a ride in.  I cleverly had her drop me off around the corner (at the top of the last big hill)  so I could ride in looking cool and everyone would think, "hey he is good he made it up that hill without breaking a sweat". 

Anyway I made it, on time showered and changed and started looking forward to the ride home.  The weather forecast for today was sprinkles in the morning and clearing later.  It was supposed to be 65 this afternoon and warmer every day for the next 3 days.

I got ready to ride home and at the first light there were two other bikers.  The first guy left us in the dust.  The second guy pulled ahead of me and then I caught up to him on the hill.  I passed him, but at the light he caught me and had more speed so passed me easily.  But then we made the turn back up the hill.

Now this guy is wearing street clothes and riding a comfort bike.  I am set on passing him and he isn't even trying.  But he is my fish and I am going to reel him in.  Here fish.  So we start up the hill.  I am just trying to keep contact.  I am about 30 feet back and he is going up smoothly.  He is standing I am not.  Finally about 2/3 of the way up the hill he cracks.  Like Jan Ulrich on one of those mountain stages.  I wait to make sure he doesn't catch his breath.  Then I make my move.

I pass him on the left, politely but decisively.  I keep up the pace but he is still back there.  Then I get caught at the light and know that he will catch up.  But he doesn't appear.  So I am counting that as a pass.  Oh yeah 3 rides and passed 2 people.  One was a teenager on a mountain bike and this guy who wasn't even trying.  but I am counting it.  And now I am going to start counting my caught fish with this little logo.  So one   

for today and two for the season.  This started me off at a good pace.  Then I used the virtual partner on my Garmin and cruised to home in a time of 57 minutes.  Third ride and already under an hour.  I took advantage of having fresh legs, since I didn't ride in.  I kept in the middle chain ring even on the climbs and just used my powerful Clydesdale legs to power up the hills.

I beat Yesterdave by .18 miles.  Coming from behind to paste his virtual butt.

Total Fish so far:

Comments

[Bryan]

Nice ride Dave and congrats on cutting your time down.

[thePig]

Congrats on the pass.

I have to admit that I am a fair weather cyclist. If it is raining outside I am not going anywhere. There is only 1 thing I hate worse than riding in the rain and that is cleaning my bike after riding in the rain.

However, when on a bike tour there is often no choice but to put in a long day in the wet. And it is always funny to see the look on the faces of the hotel receptionists when 6 dripping cyclists invade the building asking for rooms.

[Bruce]

Way to go, Dave! In remembrance of my Seattle days, I rode home in (a little) rain yesterday. The plus was the storm brought a nice tailwind, so I had my fastest ride of the year, so far. BTW, I read that bicycle sales are up, so maybe the teeming millions are finally going to wake up and climb out of their cars. Well, I can dream, can't I?

[Dave]

Thanks Bruce. Nice to hear from you. We had a ton of people at Bike to work day. I even passed a few.