Raining and windy it was as I maneuvered the rain soaked streets on my way to drop them off.
Once I dropped them off I made my way to a Friends house for a Soul Food dinner party. I am doing my very best to become more of a social butterfly and hang out with people who do more then just ride bikes.
My cycling Friends are a good Lot, they are diamonds in the rough. In fact they are so Diamond like and so in the rough that unless I drive 100 plus miles spending time with them that doesn't involve pedaling is a chore.
So all too often my weekends are spent solo. Riding Solo, eating solo, watching TV solo... I think I have enough Solo, I want Dolo's at least. LOL...
So my good Friend Shizelle has been doing plenty of work to get me involved in other activities. And lord knows she has been great. I call her my counselor and over the past weeks she has really helped me and looked out for me in some deep dark moments. Regardless, she invited me to the Soul food dinner party. As you can guess all there was to eat was soul full food and I partake and enjoyed. Had some Tequila with sprite, and eventually made it home and fell into an immaculate perfect tequila coma.
AFTER, wrapping my roadie bars and fixing my bike packing packs. Mental note, intoxication is not the best way to do mechanical stuff. I discovered in the morning that one side was not wrapped as far as the other and that I ended up repairing the wrong buckle on my bag, so I ended up having to undo the repair and fix the correct side, UGGGHhhSSSS...
I awoke from my coma at 4am.. Ungodly hour to awake, and laid there for almost 2.5 hours just thinking, not good. On top of all that thinking I could hear the wind blowing hard outside. Eventually I decided to get up and suit up and prepare for the day.
It seemed like the prep took forever. I knew the ride home would be chilly, so I had all the lights strapped on, I also had close to hang out at the Mt. Dora arts festival and clothes to bundle up on the way home.
I loaded up and rolled out, the bike was packed perfectly and I felt good about the trip. On my way towards destination one which was breakfast at Bagel King, I noticed a Roadie coming up from behind. Being a cyclist, and a man, sometimes means that whether the other guy knows it or not there is an imaginary race going on. So I immediately put the hammer down, trying to keep my pace in the headwind on a loaded bike up around the 21mph range. When I look over my shoulder, here he comes passing me by with a friendly wave.
Damn, I ramp up and grab his wheel and then notice that he only has one rear cog. I'm like wait a minute, is this guy on a fixie?
I pull up next to him and spark a conversation. His name was Winston, he was on a fixie, I cant remember the gear ratio, we talked for a bit, I tucked in behind him again and figured. Well, I am going to attack him up here after this curve see if I cant drop him, Let's see how strong he really is. I made the turn, put the hammer down, and I gapped him, but got tired, he closed in again, and I declared it a draw and we cruised for about 3 miles chatting and talking.
Good guy, will keep an eye out for him. Made it to Bagel King and sat down and ate some quick carbs. 11 miles in and I had not ate nor drank a drop so I was ready to feast. Goodness, I have never seen so many riders in my hometown. As I watched people going by and coming in. One guy invited me to a roadie ride. I was polite and hoped he could not see the disinterest in my face.
Finished my food, stepped outside and amazingly it felt even colder then when I had gone in to eat. So I slipped on my arm warmers, threw on the head phones and hauled ass.
As I made my way down the country roads, I was passed by a gang of Latin American motorcycle riders who all politely gave me the "hang loose" sign with their fingers, I felt a sense of belong. LOL...
I meandered down bike paths, and noticed wet spots everywhere and dark clouds over head. I'm like, wait, I checked all the maps and there was no mention of rain. Usually if I expect rain I waterproof my clothes in bags and I did not do that. If I get rained on and I get wet, this could be disastrous. I had to get into a Bear Grylls mind frame and as I reached the start of the bike path, I saw the maintenance man. I asked him for a hefty bag, and I grabbed it and strapped it to my bike, resolving that if it started raining I would cover my seat bag Ala Matt Lee tour divide picture I saw in Dirt Rag a month back.
Kept riding and noticed that the head wind was becoming down right Huracan like. I said to my self, I am going to be riding into this for the rest of my way to Mt. Dora. Damn this is gonna hurt.
And it did. The rest of the ride was a battle. But I kept a smile on my face and ticked off the miles. When the wind did let up I clicked up the gears and took advantage for those brief moments. Eventually, the hills came and I knew Mt. Dora was close.
As I rolled into town, the traffic got backed up and I reveled in the pleasures of pedaled transportation, but wondered why my left knee was hurting? NOT something that Usually happens to me...
I followed the logical flow of the turns and streets to finally get myself to that little blue dot on the my GPS that said Mt. Dora. Eventually, the people were everywhere and I dismounted the bike and walked.
My first mission, a much deserved Latte.
Part 2 whenever I feel like it...LOL
Take care,
Laters,
The NaKeD InDiaN
No comments:
Post a Comment