Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Keep The Sunny Side Up


This should be a recounting of wonderful adventures in the Texas Hill Country. I really was going to regale you with stories of fast decends and heroic attacks. It truly was my plan but I don’t think it is going to work out that way. Honestly we just were not all that heroic. We rode well, we all had our moments, but it was hardly a spring classic. (Paris -Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege)


I could be wrong about this. I might have a grander definition of heroism than is needed. Sponge Bob rode like a champ. he broke his hip last October and has hardly been on the bike since. The Big Guy gave up all he had and then some on the Saturday ride. Hudler lacked a certain respect for cheerfulness but otherwise rode very well. Myself? Never too fast or too slow but I had a good time.


This was the first year that all of us have been able to ride together in years. Sponge and The Big Guy have been trading off injuries for four or five years now and Hudler just started going with us 3 years ago.  I have been blessed with good health and opportunity. Usually there is a litany of what rotten condition we are all in.  Most of it is lies. We are all in the best condition we can be in. This was also the first year we are all over fifty. None of us are retired or a paid athlete so training is hit and miss. Hudler commented to my wife that he seems to ride less and drink more beer. He is no longer allowed inside or within ear shot of  a spouse.


Hudler and I are a pretty good match. We both climb pretty good, he goes down hill a lot faster than I do but I’ve got a little better stamina. The Big Guy comes down hill faster that anyone and hardly even pedals. For perspective, I clocked 40 mph down hill and he was a lot closer to 60 mph. Sponge Bob is in between a rock and a hard place. He’s in better shape than the Big Guy but not quite as fit as Hudler and I. He comes down hill well and climbs well but ju

st hasn’t had time to get his fitness back.


The portrait you should be seeing now is four guys over fifty who really are not race ready but have reasonable expectations. Sponge and the Big Guy went on the shorter route Friday so they were in charge of finding beer and icing it down. The Jacuzzi was not just a luxury it was a necessity. The game plan was pretty much ride, soak, eat, sleep, eat, sleep and repeat. Beer was also involved but not nearly as much as you might be led to believe. (Do not listen to Hudler, or my wife who listened to him.)


So here we have a bunch of buddies, we even picked up a couple extra, who are not looking to set any records but just finish with out too much agony or embarrassment. Since speed is not so important I think good humor and chivalry should be our aim. Hudler is not so sure. Case in point, The Wall. The Wall is a little nuisance that is an 18% grade at the top. Last year I did the paperboy weave up it to conserve strength, this year I just followed Hudler. By the time we got to the last 1/4 of the climb most of the people were weaving or walking but Hudler and I were slogging it out like manly men. Politeness and cheerfulness are important so I said “Good Morning!”, “On your left!” and “Good job keep it up!” to everyone we passed. Hudler for some reason was mumbling something unintelligible. We will have to work on his enunciation. 


The next day we all decided to stick together because the weather looked bad. Shortly after Camp Verde a guy on a blue bike passed us in his big gear. He did not say “Good Morning”, “On your left” or even “Out of my way lard ass”. He just rode by us in silence, completely rude. He did not get very far in front of us and we started closing the gap. I started whistling a pleasant cheerful tune so he would know we were behind him. Sneaking up would be rude, would it not? We had to pass him So I said, “Good Morning, on your left, grab a wheel!” It is not easy being so nice but I work hard at it. He went to the back, rested a while and came around us again. No word of thanks or anything. We kept him in sight for quite some time. I thought he might be mute but there were some loud guttural noises when he missed a turn. We caught back up and Hudler told me to go ahead, he’d bring the others up. I got to with in a bike length of Mr. Rudeness and thought maybe he needed some cheering up. He did not look happy and was working real hard so I decided to serenade him. I stayed right behind him for a couple of miles doing my best to whistle a show tune. (If I Only Had A Brain) I know I can’t carry a tune in a bucket but he didn’t have to just run off like that. He wasn’t looking real good on Bandera Pass. He either had bad gas or was trying to cough up a lung. It was a little later in the day so I did not say “Good Morning” as I passed him with Hudler and Sponge Bob in tow, I said “Good Afternoon”


We may not be heroes but we are polite.

1 Comments:

Blogger Eduardo Arguelles said...

hehe! nice...

11:05 PM  

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