I rode my bike for 17 miles yesterday. It was amazing, and amazingly long!.
Everyone showed up late and we got off about an hour later than we were supposed to. Bright sunshine and warm weather were our send off. The first hill we hit was small, like a driveway, but it still scared me. I just didn’t know what I was getting myself into. But it was a small hill and I rode up it no problem. The next two hills were super long and challenging but I managed to ride up the them (with ample breaks).
Then came the pay off.
Downhill is the reason I own a bike. It might have not been the reason I bought it from Jof, but it is the reason it still exists (especially after the end of yesterday’s ride, but more on that later). There is nothing like riding down a back country road with the wind racing past your ears. You are bent over your handle bars, tucking to make yourself as small as you can, so the air doesn’t know you are there. Your weight is on your feet and hands, you look like you are sitting on your sit, but you have deployed your natual shock absorbers in your elbows and knees. You see corners and want to touch your brakes, but you don’t want to loose any speed for the hill that is you know is coming up so where. So you just swing wide and hit the corner praying you don’t loose your back tire.
And of course right at the beginning of one of the best downhills, your bike tire goes flat… So since you are in the back, you just have to walk down. And walk the flat part. And walk up hill. Then about halfway down the next downhill till Jordan comes and rescues you with the bike pump (YAY JORDAN!).
But then the rest of the bike ride was mostly up hill going into the town. During the hottest part of the day. And some one forgot the keys to the truck up the hill. And the person who was supposed to bring them brought the wrong ones. And your girlfriend drives all the way up the hill and back to bring them to us.
Also, it seems after we got into town I got stuck in a time warp. We went to the pizza place, and they took 3 hours to bring us the food, and I went to Lindsey’s house for another 3 hours, but I was somehow only at each place for an hour and half… Strange.