around and around

I tried out riding around in circles yesterday. Since everyone one else seems to be doing it, I figured I should give it a try. I wasn’t able to scrounge up any riding partners. Here’s the exact text message sent out before the ride:

“Road ride around the Rose Bowl?”

And the reply:

“Join me for my 3rd pint?”

See what I’m up against? But it worked out okay because when I arrived at my three mile loop around the rose bowl there were about a hundred or more road cyclist riding in peloton style and hundreds more walkers, runners, skaters, etc. That’s one of the nice things about that area, there’s always someone there to keep you company or keep you motivated.

I didn’t ride in the pack. I’m a little afraid of that and don’t know what the rules are anyway. Maybe someday it would be fun to follow along because they really get going fast. It’s amazing what the aerodynamics of a group of cyclists can produce. But, it was fun to see all those people out riding together, and to check out the snazzy bikes.

So, I just let myself get dropped off the back right from the start after cruising through the tangle at the start. Then I had a nice ride through the evening. I don’t usually ride loops over and over again, but I actually liked it. I might make it a once a week or so thing. My intention for the ride was just to take it easy and spin it out for a while because I was feeling a bit “run out.” It’s a strange thing, though, once I’m on the speedy bike it’s hard to hold myself back. I start racing cars, and trying to lap other bikers. At least, my humility was always checked when the peloton lapped me about every 2.5 laps.

Even though I went out a little harder than I had planned it turned out to be a good evening and maybe most significant of all was that I didn’t stop by the pub afterward. I held that carrot out in front of me for most of the ride. I told myself that I needed to complete ten laps or I couldn’t join my friends at the pub. So, I pushed myself to get to that tenth lap to earn my beers, and then I was so tired that I just decided to roll home and go to bed.