Sunday, November 26, 2006

The Wind at My Back (and front, and side...)

After letting two 60 degree days (in Chicago, in November) pass me by, I grabbed the old Felt, loaded her up with water and Go Lean Chocolate Turtle bars (mmm, chocolate turtle...), put on my finest running/riding windbreaker (some call my "versatile" gear scrappy, I call it graduate-student-on-a-budget-resourceful) and hit Sheridan Road with my pallie Larry. Larry, by the way, hates riding behind people so he ended up blocking the wind for me for a good part.

And then, just as we are about 3/5 of the way done and on the Skokie Valley path, he decides that he'd be "damned" if the 50-year-old lady on the recumbent bike that had been drafting us for most of the path, succeeded in passing him (oh the horror!) So he engaged in what can only be described as the cycling version of "Duel in the Sun" with this poor lady who was shifting her life away just to keep up (and the lady on the recumbent bike struggled too!)

Eventually, recumbent lady ended up breaking from us at about Clavey Road, and left us to finish the last 1.5 miles at a somewhat moderate pace. By that point, however, even my little turtle bars could not revive my spaghetti legs. I bet Larry was hurting a little too, but he would NEVER admit it.

Overall, the weather was warm, then cold, then warm, then coooooled. But it was so good to hit the road after long trainer rides in front of the t.v. But fear not, in true procrastinator form, I opted for a HOT shower and the Bears game as opposed to weight training at the gym. The way I look at it, there is always tomorrow.

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