Today was one of those days where what started out as a ride disaster turned into by best solo ride of the year so far. If it was a solo ride, why is it the Waffler's Blog? Because although he did not ride, Action Figure Bill was a driving force.
I had wanted to ride today because I had two big inspirations from the Tour de France today: Frank Schleck doing a heroic ride in support of his brother, Andy, and Thor Hushovd serving the Manx Mouth, er Missile, Mark Cavendish a tall glass of shut up. Bill was not able to ride, but urged me on to the road. And so I eventually set out. Five miles in to the ride, I reached for my water bottle for a drink, and realized that I had left something very important at home. You guessed it! There was no way I could do twenty-three miles with no water. I was ready to turn it around and go home, but as a last ditch effort, I put in a call to Action Figure Bill for some Waffler Team Car assistance. He was not quite home from his errands, but he said he would stop at his house, snag a water bottle, and me me along the route. All of a sudden, it was on!
Now, don't get the idea that I thought I was going to beat Bill in his car, but I just wanted to be farther along than he would be expecting when he caught up with me. I figured I could at least make it to the top of the big hill at Kinnelon before my water drop. So I dropped the hammer, and took off. I made great time to the base of the hill, and as I started the climb, i couldn't tell if it was from the exertion or the excitement of the chase. Every time I heard a car behind, I was checking to see if it was Bill. All of a sudden, I was Frank Schleck climbing the Col de la Colombiere. And when I crested the climb and still did not see the car, any pain from the climb was flushed away, and I threw myself back into the frantic pace.
When I came around the lakes, I was torn between the thrill of not having been caught by the team car,, and concern for lack of water since I was getting a bit dry in the throat. Bill caught up just at the right time, handed me one water bottle and doused me with another, and I got back on the pace. Because it was getting a little dark, Bill tracked me the rest of the way back, and hopefully got a few good pix. And this ride was wrapped up with a 15.3 MPH average pace, and two slices of pizza.
And that's how a ride started as a disaster, and wound up wild! (for me at least)
I had wanted to ride today because I had two big inspirations from the Tour de France today: Frank Schleck doing a heroic ride in support of his brother, Andy, and Thor Hushovd serving the Manx Mouth, er Missile, Mark Cavendish a tall glass of shut up. Bill was not able to ride, but urged me on to the road. And so I eventually set out. Five miles in to the ride, I reached for my water bottle for a drink, and realized that I had left something very important at home. You guessed it! There was no way I could do twenty-three miles with no water. I was ready to turn it around and go home, but as a last ditch effort, I put in a call to Action Figure Bill for some Waffler Team Car assistance. He was not quite home from his errands, but he said he would stop at his house, snag a water bottle, and me me along the route. All of a sudden, it was on!
Now, don't get the idea that I thought I was going to beat Bill in his car, but I just wanted to be farther along than he would be expecting when he caught up with me. I figured I could at least make it to the top of the big hill at Kinnelon before my water drop. So I dropped the hammer, and took off. I made great time to the base of the hill, and as I started the climb, i couldn't tell if it was from the exertion or the excitement of the chase. Every time I heard a car behind, I was checking to see if it was Bill. All of a sudden, I was Frank Schleck climbing the Col de la Colombiere. And when I crested the climb and still did not see the car, any pain from the climb was flushed away, and I threw myself back into the frantic pace.
When I came around the lakes, I was torn between the thrill of not having been caught by the team car,, and concern for lack of water since I was getting a bit dry in the throat. Bill caught up just at the right time, handed me one water bottle and doused me with another, and I got back on the pace. Because it was getting a little dark, Bill tracked me the rest of the way back, and hopefully got a few good pix. And this ride was wrapped up with a 15.3 MPH average pace, and two slices of pizza.
And that's how a ride started as a disaster, and wound up wild! (for me at least)
2 comments:
awesome blog. love it. afb caught me walking the dog on his way to rescue you. awesome how the morris county minor celebs stick together.
well done!
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