first ride of the year!!

[OakLeaf]

The roadies wimped out from the cold this morning and I didn't feel like riding alone, so I rode the commuter to yoga and on a couple of errands, just maybe 9 miles RT. At least one guy is riding at noon, but I had to be home. I'll get a road ride in on Friday anyway.

[luv2climb]

Well, I got to thinking about Sunday's ride, and I had a bad feeling that I may have screwed up by riding along without saying anything first. I PMed a member of another forum who is also a member of the cycling club that hosted the hill climbing challenge, and he confirmed my fears. Another lesson learned the hard way.

To anyone I may have offended by doing this, I am sorry.

[luv2climb]

On the lighter side, I discovered this blog entry from a local Clydesdale who also likes to climb. Halfway down the page, right above the picture of him climbing, is this.

"Another low point was being passed by someone on a Bike Friday – one of those folding travel bikes. All I could think of was “are you kidding me?” As it turns out, that person was there to watch the repeats, not do them (at least not all 12). So, pace was not a concern to them — that took a bit of the sting out of it. Still, that’s the sure sign of trouble. Any time someone on a folding travel bike passes you, you’ve got issues. It felt like I was driving in a Nascar event, and getting passed by a Prius. It’s not right. I probably could have knocked them over, and beaten them to death with their ridiculous bike, and the police would understand (it was simply overtly disrespectful – I had to do it). Of course, I’d have to catch them first."

I left a nice comment on his page with the links to the videos, and he was good-natured and even pointed out where I could see him in the videos.

To some, his writing style might seem crass, but to me it was funny as hell! You see, I have a warped sense of humor. I'm not uptight like many cyclists. Life is too short to live like that. I will continue to follow the blogs of cyclists with a sense of humor.

His comment does reflect the stereotypes many cyclists have about small-wheeled bikes though. Many people believe folding bikes can't perform as well as full-size road bikes. After riding the steepest hills around on my Bike Friday, I beg to differ.

[goldfinch]

Too bad that you had the awkwardness of not following an unwritten rule. I looked at the videos--nice. Sometime I have to ask you about video cameras. One would be nice to share rides with long distant family.