Cyclists are neat people

I do like riding my bike. Saturday I'll admit I had a terrible time physically. But even given that, cycling opens up my mind, surrounds me with some of the neatest people around, allows me to see beautiful scenery up close (but sometimes too fast to enjoy!) and just enjoy life.

Well, except if you spend the last 2+ hours in pain. I mean real pain -- 9.5 pain -- take your breath away and make you nauseous pain! I had been off my bike for 3 weeks -- 1.5 weeks by doctors ordered due to the knee pain during my Kentucky ride -- then another weekend travelling North and the last week due to working 12+ hour days. So not really a great idea to go 3 weeks then join your superfast friends on a really really hilly ride. They didn't end -- hill after hill. But I didn't feel terrible and was doing OK. Until 2 hours 20+ minutes on the bike -- right knee started. And unlike OKHT when I could just not put pressure on it, stretch to relieve the pain and the pain came and went in degrees -- it went up pretty high, didn't resolve upon stretching, and never abated. Had to stop at the top of a really steep section of Savage Hill (which is 3 or 4 section of steep hills) to stretch then started again. At the top top where my friends (sorry guys!) were waiting for me I dropped to stretch -- and couldn't because my LEFT hamstring went into total cramp. Well it didn't get better! So although I didn't have to walk up any hills it hurt any time I spun a pedal -- even freewheeling. So finally about 5 or 6 miles from the end, after Mike trying to push me along, they talked me into stopping and Jim B (thanks Jim!) rode and brought his truck back and Mike (Thanks Mike!) stopped and waited for me. Ouch -- that was rough.

But the real moral of the story -- cyclists by and large are really nice people. I really enjoy the group I ride with -- well other than the fact that they are all too strong and too fast for me! Jim called today to see how I was, they are always there for you and generally they are a hoot! And it's not just me. I talked to an old friend Lynn who volunteered at Pelotonia as a parker. She said she was astounded by all the folks thanking her for being out there -- and she said all she was doing was pointing them to a parking spot! But to a person each and everyone made a point to thank her. Yes part was the spirit of the ride. But I've been on day rides, weekend rides and weeklong rides -- and you see it time and time again -- thanking the volunteers, offering to help out other cyclists, giving up tubes if someone is out, etc.

We do have our nutcases, rude people and cyclists that make it hard for us on the road as they've made car drivers mad -- so no stereotype is totally accurate. But as stereotypes go -- I'd rather be in no other group then the friends I ride with and other cyclists.

I am truly blessed to have found such a nice group of people. They tease me about my ADD (at the top of the hill while I was trying to get on bike, answering questions about how I felt, I saw a cat cross the rode down the hill -- so of course in the middle of the conversation there I go -- look a cat!!! I do love cats though!), and just about anything they can tease me about (for instance Court is fond of saying he always knows where I am in the pack as I'm usually gabbing (usually with Heidi!) or laughing loudly -- heck at least they won't leave me behind -- it'll get too quiet!), but always I know they are there for me. And as scary as the open roads can be sometimes be, that is so much more than I could really expect to ask.

So it wasn't a great ride, but it was also an awesome ride. Get me on my bike, surrounded by my friends and fellow cyclists, and nothing really can go wrong, no matter what does go wrong!