Man, and I've been rebuking myself for my own compulsion to speed up when I see another cyclist in the distance. (This habit becomes less and less advisable as I age.)
There's a Trek Madone in your future. Note, I'm not criticizing, just laughing. On Thu, Apr 30, 2020 at 11:14 AM Leah Peterson <jonasandle...@gmail.com> wrote: > Do not worry, Friends, I am NOT giving up biking on the daily. I just mean > I’ll miss this thread, which I won’t contribute to after today, since it > will be May and May is not National 30 Days of Biking month. > > It was cloudy this morning; I hurried my first cup of coffee so I could > take advantage of the cooler weather. “You going out on your two-wheeler?” > my husband asked. I completed a perfect 12 miles and I’ll tell you > something... > > Clems are not for racing. > > The last part of my ride takes me up Killer Hill. I was on the MUP, but > across the road, there was another cyclist making his way up and he was a > little ahead of me. I don’t know why I do this, but there is something > exhilarating about beating someone who’s physically outmatched me. That’s > the key - it can’t be a fair fight: the bike or the rider has to be > superior. Bonus points if I can make it look like I’m not struggling. > Triple bonus points if I beat a man on a road bike wearing cycling kit. I > had a fighting chance when I rode my Betty Foy, but I haven’t won many > races on my Clem. > > He wasn’t on a road bike, but he was a man under 40 and moving at a decent > pace. And he was already ahead before I was aware of him. I had to make up > for lost time at the very base of the hill, and I thought for sure I was > going to die. You know when you are so out of breath it starts making you > anxious? That’s how I STARTED, and I had 0.9 miles to go, straight up. 🙄 > I couldn’t quit because I had looked back over my shoulder at the guy > several times - he knew what I was doing. All the while I thought, > “Clemsarenotforracing. Clemsarenotforracing. Clemsarenotforracing.” My legs > screamed and my lungs burned. Only my fear of looking like a total fool > kept me moving. > > I suppose I put a quarter mile between us in the end. I lost sight of him > when I got to the top, and I figured he probably would turn off somewhere > before my neighborhood. I looked at my watch and realized I needed an extra > half mile to make 12 miles for my ride, so when I got to the stop sign near > home, I circled back to add that last half mile. Lo and behold, here comes > my vanquished rival. Now, I am pretty distinct in my goofy blue polka dot > helmet - he has to realize it’s me, doesn’t he? I thought maybe we would > have a good laugh in passing. An acknowledgement. Something. > > The guy totally snubbed me. > > So, this entire race was either completely in my head and the guy was > caught unawares (likely), or the guy was a sore loser. Whatever the case, > my Clem and I are still WINNERS, and it doesn’t matter if that guy knows it. > > Happy last day of National Biking Month, Friends. Go beat someone better > than you today! 🤣 > Leah > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/C8CE7056-2423-4342-962E-7946BD6E359A%40gmail.com > . > > > > > > Sent from my iPad > > > On Apr 30, 2020, at 9:40 AM, rob markwardt <robmar...@hotmail.com> > wrote: > > > > Right on! I’ll hit 50 today...don’t stop!! > > > > n Thursday, April 30, 2020 at 6:03:23 AM UTC-7, Andrew Letton wrote: > >> Why stop at 30 days, Leah?!?! > >> > >> Just ride. > >> > >> cheers, > >> Andrew > >> (Painstakingly pecked out on my iPhone; please pardon my brevity and > tpyos.) > >> > >>>> On 30 Apr 2020, at 2:37 pm, Leah Peterson <jonasandle...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >>> > >>> Mas - copperheads on your ride? Oh my gosh. Just NO. > >>> > >>> I’m one of those people who has a family that wants to spend time > together and make my plans for me. Weight-lifting and a game of Whist were > on the agenda and I’d have to fit a shower in there, too. So, I had to set > out earlier than I wanted, sun high in the sky, 91 degrees and miserable. I > did 11.5 miles and got to experience twilight the last few miles. I do so > love riding in the dark because all the houses on my Top Secret Trail have > their windows illuminated - like fish bowls. I can look in them and see > what people are doing. Which sounds voyeuristic and maybe it is, but there > is something enthralling about seeing folks sitting down to dinners > together and playing with their kids or sitting on their fairy light-lit > patios. The world is going on, and people are making their own ways and > here we all are, in this together. > >>> > >>> A chain link fence borders one side of my TST, and someone had ripped > apart the book The Three Little Pigs, laminated and hole punched it, and > zip tied the pages to the chain link fence at intervals. Genius. There were > little kids careening on their tiny little bicycles, and one kid on a BMX > bike who I thought was for sure going to take me out in a head-on > collision. He zoomed into his lane with a couple seconds to spare and I > wanted to congratulate him. > >>> > >>> My iPhone pinged and when I stopped and checked, I discovered I had > been the subject of some voyeurism myself! An acquaintance from church saw > me from her window and snapped a photo. “Biker in her natural habitat,” the > caption read. > >>> > >>> The roadies mostly ignore me (I’m not like a REAL cyclist) but the > mountain bikers are always such bros. Oh, and I forgot to tell you that > last night I crossed paths with a woman on a powder blue beach cruiser, > decked out with fenders and cup holder and I remembered Grant admonishing > us to remark favorably on other people’s bikes. “Hey, we’re twins!” I said. > She beamed, “I just got this bike...TODAY!” > >>> > >>> I’m going to miss this thread. Tomorrow is our last day of > #30daysofbiking. > >>> > >>> Leah > >>> > >>> -- > >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send > an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > >>> To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/768EF366-D60E-4E0D-98C7-9A8BF384314E%40gmail.com > . > >>> <image0.jpeg> > >>> <image1.jpeg> > >>> > >>> > >>> Sent from my iPad > >>> > >>>> On Apr 29, 2020, at 12:58 PM, masmojo <masm...@sbcglobal.net> wrote: > >>>> > >>>> Google research says Copperhead!? > >>>> > >>>> -- > >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in > the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > >>>> To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/LNXRlm7RzOY/unsubscribe > . > >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > >>>> To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/45f04ada-61ec-4697-9612-39333aa1027e%40googlegroups.com > . > >>> > >>> -- > >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send > an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > >>> To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/768EF366-D60E-4E0D-98C7-9A8BF384314E%40gmail.com > . > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/LNXRlm7RzOY/unsubscribe > . > > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/8cad917d-56d3-4ec0-bf5e-ebe710da50ca%40googlegroups.com > . > > <04DA48BD-5BA7-445B-9A94-D6E01D17F396.jpeg> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/C8CE7056-2423-4342-962E-7946BD6E359A%40gmail.com > . > -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Patrick Moore Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CALuTfgtzwJoc4H02MMVZeJ%2BSVgjxyWt7jj%2B3PCE3O0Z6vk-9-g%40mail.gmail.com.
