Today's Ride

I was finally able to get back on my bike today. It felt good. Got out early enough that the weather was pleasant. I wondered why I don't ride earlier every day, then I remembered that I have to teach Spinning practically every morning, so I have to ride in the heat of the day.

About 10 minutes before I was to leave on my ride this morning, my riding partner calls to say she has a flat and will be late. This is fine seeing how I'm not quite ready to go yet anyway, and the extra time will allow me to start on a loaf of bread I have to bake today.

Riding partner finally shows up and we take off. About 3 miles down the road, Partner realizes that the tire has gone flat again. So we pull over and change the flat. Of course we use my tube, so now Partner owes me a tube and a cartridge (from another ride). Not sure I'll ever get these items back. It's been over a year now since she used the cartridge, and I don't have that back yet.

Pretty soon, we're off again, flying down a fast descent and off toward the lake. I pull several surprise attacks, the first of which is chased down. After several attacks, Partner starts to get tired of the game, and I have to slow down and wait for her to catch back on.

As we're heading back home, we come to an intersection where we're turning left toward a climb. There are some cars coming from the left, so being my cautious self, I wait. Partner goes. She's about a block ahead of me when I go. I decide now would be a good time to attack again. I take off. I am catching her with surprising speed. I yell out in a deep, scary voice, "I'm coming to get you!" Now, if you heard someone yelling that from behind you, what would you do? She takes off. But, I have better momentum going, so I pull right up beside her.
"I wouldn't ever want to say that in a race," I say as I pass her. Then I pictured it in my head: me coming up behind someone in a race shouting out that I was gonna git 'em. I started laughing so hard I couldn't pedal anymore. I started slowing on the hill. I couldn't breathe, nor could I stop laughing. I thought my bike would tip over if I got going any slower. Luckily I was able to gain composure again, because we were still climbing. A fast descent followed by a steep hill climb was coming. I was gonna need to get some speed going on that descent in order to make it back up the other side. That's the best part of this route, and I wanted it to be good. It was.

I'm glad to be back on the bike again. 20 miles in 1 hour 15 min.

Once I was home, I had to shower quickly as I was due to be at a neighbor's house for a visit. I've been in a bit of shock since that visit because the neighbor announced that her husband of 21 years closed all their bank accounts, packed up his stuff, and left her yesterday. She told me before she told her own children. I wish the best for her and hope she can move on.