All Clear

Big Worm in an earlier incarnation.

Sorry about that last post being so morose. For those who asked everything seems to be working out.

That was Saturday, now I want to talk about Sunday.

28 degrees and we were loading the CX bikes in the truck. Every time the wind blew I wondered if this was really a good idea. Sunday was the collegiate crit. in Monticello, Fl. and we were headed over to watch and then ride clay roads. I'd missed my ride the day before plus I had been off the bike earlier in the week with that damn cold so I was determined to ride, even if I froze.

Big Worm, Lil Ball, Mingo (?), and B were all crazy enough to saddle up. Watching the kids race around the streets in downtown was scary. I learned quite a bit about race strategy on a road bike, it's almost like a chess match, only you might get hurt. After the race we gobbled cookies and energy bars in the parking lot of the old high school, then worried over how much stuff to wear or not to wear. It had warmed up to the lower 40's by this time. We picked up BS on the way out and headed North.

The Worm had plotted a route which was 70% dirt. The first section of pavement was ridden at a moderate pace. As soon as the road turned to clay we hit our first little hill. I was warm by then, at least on the inside. My nose however kept reminding me of the words from the Jethro Tull song Aqualung "Snot is running down his nose, greasy fingers......". It seems the leftovers from my cold combined with the cold dry air had my sinuses flowing. I haven't perfected the snot rocket yet so I ended up with it all over me by the time the ride was over.

The pace on this trip was a bit quicker than my first clay road ride. Some of the roads had just had the ditches pulled and were rough. So rough it rattled my teeth and made it hard to see. The short sandy sections got my attention real quick as I headed for the ditch. After some coaching I was a little better prepared for the next spot. I still have trouble trusting that skinny front tire in the dirt.

B was riding a CX bike on loan from Higher Ground. He had a couple of water bottle ejections. Plus his tires were on the slick side so the sand really had him pissed. But by the end of the ride he was trying to figure out how to save his money for a CX bike. By the way he beat me on the yellow sign sprints despite my best efforts at the end as we came into town. The rest of the crew blocking me and telling him I was coming just wasn't fair though.

The ride worked wonders for my mind. At the end I felt dirty on the outside but cleared out on the inside. We stopped at the Jr. Store on the way home and bought bags of popcorn and drinks. The sun had the cab of the truck warm as we headed west. B and I started picking at each other about the yellow signs, telling stories about the sand, the dogs that chased us, and smiling.