It was here at breakfast this morning midway on the morning HC ride that Monty predicted he'd drop us all and hang on to a bunch of skinny tired weight wienie racer boys. Monty, I think its time to shave those legs again and order that custom Rivendell track bike.
Let us go back in time to 10 PM on June 29th. I, in the elephant arrived late for the night time HC ride. Thankfully the rest of the bunch waited for at the light (which I seemed to fail to recognize was red). I was late because I'd forgotten 35W Southbound was closed and had to map a new route. No paper map, no GPS, no TomTom on my dash baby, all brains. Which is why I was late. We looped around the city for a outstanding 22 miles. What a night to ride and many awesome scenes were observed. The hill by the Guthrie and riding the bike lane down the middle of Hennepin were two of mine. Low light, not finding any food at the end of the ride beyond, gulp, White Castle. I can attest that everyone resisted that strange urge. Gosh we're all old.
I got home and into the sack at 2.
Three hours later the alarm went off. I wasn't driving in that mess again. I got up showered, scraped my noggin, dressed up, ate a bowl of Cracklin' Oat Bran (Ray is their signature rider and personal spokesperson), and launched. Seeing the clock on the cyclometer, I thought I was late. No, I was sleep deprived. I went to the big ring and pushed a pace that was unwise. To arrive half an hour early. After getting rather bored, I was about to lie down on the bus bench across the street after taking this shot as testimony I was there in case I fell asleep and they left me. Thank God, Velocopete showed up to keep me awake.
I had clocked 21 miles already by that point. Plus the breakfast ride, plus the return trip added to 56 miles.
And tomorrow someone arm twisted (they asked, "want to?" and I said "Sure") into joining them to ride the Empire builder to Winona. And then yes, Ladies and Gentlemen ride our bikes back.
My legs still feel weak. I will be toast tomorrow. And somehow regret one of these foolish maneuvers, for at least a moment or two. Wish me luck and cool weather.
Did the HC off road ride. There are no mountains in Minnesota so we can't call it that. I took my ridiculous overkill double boinger Jamis Dakar. I ride it so little it needed a chance to show off that I own more than the orange QB I usually ride. So, I put air into the tires and arrived on time. See the drag with the Dakar is it was a bargain, but its Al-U-min-eum, so its not taken to well by the HC crowd. Plus its got an ass hatchet for a saddle. Its from the days where I too was a weight wienie. I sought to shave grams instead of examining my form in a mirror and knowing where the real kilos were in plain view. I gotta save up for another of HCs B17, maybe I'll make the Dakar feel better by buying one of the titanium railed jobs in black ors something. For a bike I hardly ride. Duh.
While I was browsing afterward, Jim exclaimed how he found a tick. As in woodtick. There were some comments about post ride stripping and mutual tick check. No one went first so I left. Good thing there were not women riders or I'm afraid Ray would have disrobed in seconds. Maybe less. Just for the shock factor you see.
Today I did my semi annual carpet cleaning. I bought a house with new carpet. Good quality carpet. Horsebleeping white carpet. Sigh. I'm a pig. Lets face it, laundry is harder for me, because I'm always puzzling over how to remove this or that stain from my shirts or pants. Can you imagine what my house is like? Oh, lord I do try. Its a good thing I don't date anyone, or more correctly why I don't date anyone as they come and see my hovel and well, that's the end of that.
So I shoved furniture around yesterday and vacuumed like a banshee. Everything everywhere. This morning I rented a extractor from Homer's Depot. Used their machines before and they work well. Pulled every fan I have out of my storage and got to work and cleaned all the carpeting. Shoved furniture around until it was done. Took seven hours with a stop for lunch. Nice warm day, all the windows open and the carpet dried quickly. Looks much better. Except for the enormous disarray of hte funiture in irrational locations. Maybe they'll get back into place this week.
After returning the machine and paying the big $28 (including a nice pair of ear plugs, the thing is really noisy for 6+ hours) I was a sight. Needed a shower a great deal. I shaved as usual when I shower and cleaned up. No big deal. As I was washing I discovered something unusual. In a very unusual place. Lets put it this way, if I was dating someone, and she got past my inability to keep a clean and neat home, and she ah, saw fit to sleep with me for more than rest, she'd might have found the tick first and in this case: Two strikes and you're out. Or she'd be out of there.
So, not only did I ride. I had a rider.
Best line on housekeeping ever. Zsa Zsa Gabor once said, "I'm a great housekeeper. Every time I get divorced, I keep the house." Ta dumb bump.
It was here at breakfast this morning midway on the morning HC ride that Monty predicted he'd drop us all and hang on to a bunch of skinny tired weight wienie racer boys. Monty, I think its time to shave those legs again and order that custom Rivendell track bike.
I had clocked 21 miles already by that point. Plus the breakfast ride, plus the return trip added to 56 miles.
