After Leesburg Bakers Dozen my riding has been minimal and not altogether enjoyable. I jacked my back up pretty good and every ride ended in pain. The combination of sitting on the road mid pace line during the Tim Johnson Ride on Washington, and riding laps in a field in Virginia had me twisted like a Philly soft pretzel…. twisted, thick and mushy.
Dr. Mark from the Tour de Pink and now Dr Johnny here in town have me on the road to recovery. So last night I went for a spin for a few hours. The pain was minimal the power has flown the coop but I was enjoying the ride. Then several things happened to make me remember why I ride.
First this guy made me stop and bring him back to the creek.
It was a welcome rest and who doesn’t like scrambling down a creek embankment in cycling shoes?
I hopped back on the bike feeling happy of myself.
Only a short while later on this same road I was forced to stop again when I saw this 73 Monte Carlo in cherry condition by the side of the road. Of course i wanted one of these as a kid, plus I knew I had to share this with Taylor. If you know Taylor you understand. If you don’t know Taylor you should. He is bicycles.
Then not even a minute later I rolled up on a preschool. There were two basketballs laying in a ditch by the side of the road. I stopped and tucked them into the preschool yard as the attendants stared at me. The kids however went nuts. You would have thought I threw a bundle of $20’s in there. They immediately started reuniting with their long lost friends. I gotta admit at this point I was feeling pretty happy of myself indeed.
So I kicked off again with my self inflated sense of self worth. As time rolled past the back nagged a little the wind picked up and I started to have the usual I’m riding a bike mentality.
Then another turtle made me stop and move him. He was much more animated and when I rode up was getting sniffed by a groundhog.
The ride was almost over and I was glad to be riding slower without a purpose. Taking the opportunity to take in the sights. I was rewarded by finding this shrine to rubber duckies.
An elderly women on a beach cruiser stopped to ask if I was ok as I was taking pictures. When I told her I was just taking pictures of the duck shrine. She said to me “those are always there”. I must have ridden by this spot hundreds of time’s if not more, yet I never saw them until now.
When I got home I sat on the porch and watched the kids ride around the neighborhood for a minute, or more. Man I like bikes.
Ironically on this same ride I also made some riding goals and ponder the idea of actually training to achieve them. Us cyclists are a fickle breed.