I rode out to Longmont to join them, since I was supposed to be doing a pretty long day, and on the way I encountered a guy changing a flat tire. I slowed down to make sure that he had everything he needed, and he totally recognized me. "Marty! How are you? What's up?" etc. True to form for me, I had NO IDEA who this guy was! He was in Louisville Cyclery clothes, but that didn't clue me in... and he was bundled up against the cold, which made it worse. I made the best small talk I could, then escaped as quickly as possible. He could probably tell with no trouble that I was totally clueless. God, I hate that!
When I got to Longmont, surviving the expected close encounters with penis-compensating rednecks in jacked-up pickups, I found the girls at the Dyslexia Cafe. (This coffee shop used to be called Gizzi's, and was a sponsor of our bike team. Now they're still a sponsor, but out of the blue they changed their name to Ziggi's. HUH??? I'm still waiting for an explanation on that one.)
After consuming some fabulous banana bread, we took some back roads north toward Mead, passing Cindy's Scenic Lake.
We made a detour to find some outdoor johns, but they were locked, which was annoying. After running out of ideas on how to write "These bathrooms should be open" in pee, we took a leak nearby. I recently learned that public urination is considered a sex crime... can you believe that?? That basically means that every runner, cyclist, triathlete, adventure racer, etc etc. in this town in a "pervert." Hmmm... okay, wait a minute... where is this line of thought going, again?
Anyway, I pulled out the camera again and got this response:
Nice. We made our way back to Longmont, and I persuaded Cindy to ride with me part of the way back to Boulder. I was pretty tapped by this point, entering hour number four on the bike, and she was kind enough to tow me all the way back, practically to my doorstep. And the gods must have truly been smiling on us, because a largish group of other riders passed us and were surprisingly friendly. I usually find many dedicated roadies to be snooty; they usually pass without deigning to even say "On your left." Maybe my name is written in large letters on my ass, because one of these riders recognized me, too... my acquaintence Chuck Coyle of the Vitamin Cottage team. He gave me a big wave as they passed.
I was very happy to get in nearly four hours of saddle time yesterday, and it was great to have some social miles with pals, but I still maintain that road riding is not for me. I feel that it has all the physical work with none of the mental/emotional rejuvenation that I get from mountain biking. I love to be in the woods, away from the noise and pollution of cars, where I can stop and hear nothing but the wind in the trees, and see wildlife, etc. etc. And of course I need the mental challenge of rocks and other terrain. Sitting on a bike on the road, pedaling like a robot with nothing else to do just leaves me feeling flat. But the beauty of cycling is that there's something for everyone. From road riding and it's various forms -- track racing, crit racing, road racing -- to mountain biking... trail riding, freeriding, downhilling... and all the more unusual things, like trials, dirt jumping, -- even mountain unicycling -- you just plain can't go wrong. That's what I love about this sport. There's always something new to try if you want to.
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