5/28/09 McAllister Park

Tonight I'm feeling a strange combination of satisfaction and remorse.  I made my friend barf on the ride tonight.  In no way was I trying to do it.   Apparently a combination of a bad salad at lunch and a little more exertion than he's currently used to did it.  He lasted about 25 minutes into the ride before he went.  This makes me feel somehow manly... yet not at all happy about pushing him over the edge.  I don't enjoy hurting others, but I guess I really am in better shape than I thought.

This is the same guy I made pass-out on a ride.  We were riding up a steep hill high in the Rocky mountains in Colorado.  When the rest of the group got to the top of the climb, he wasn't with us.  So we waited.  And waited.  And waited.  When we were just about ready to go back and look for him, he finally showed up.  Apparently, part way up the climb, he got light headed, fell off the bike, and passed out. It probably doesn't help that he smokes.

5/26/09 Tuesday Nighter

I held on to the group for at least 200 yards tonight.  I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry... But I think I'll just laugh, since I know I'm slow and I don't have any emotional investment in being fast.

By the way, I never realized that the San Antonio river flows right past the back of Blue Star.  There are some nice old houses across the way with their backyards opening to the river.  That would have been a nice place to buy a house 15 years ago.  I'll bet they've gotten very expensive now.

5/24/09 Comfort - Fredericksburg

I just can't get used to this rainy weather.  It's been so dry this year, and suddenly it starts raining every day.  I'm sure that by the time I AM used to it, it'll go back to being dry again.

5/23/09 Po-Po's

There were actually events worth relating on today's ride!

First, on the way down Big Joshua Creek Road, we came across a lady who had gotten her truck stuck trying to get out of her drive way.  Her normal gate was broken, so she had gone through a side gate.  She didn't notice a big hole in front of it and plopped her driver's side front wheel right into it!  We all gave her a hand by pushing and got her backed out.  She then drove around the hole and got on her way.  Now there's at least one person on the roads who doesn't hate cyclists (I hope).  As she came past, I noticed that her truck was listing to the side that went into the hole.  I'm wondering if maybe she damaged the suspension when she stuck it.

Second, as we were riding out of Comfort, we passed up a small grass airstrip that we always pass.  As we went by, I noticed a plane getting ready to take off.  We all stopped in the road right in front of the runway, and the pilot obligingly buzzed us as he took off.  That's not something I've ever seen before.

By the end of the ride rain had blown in and we tried to race it back to the cars.  We could see it pouring in the (not too distant) distance, and watched it drift our way.  It finally caught us as we went past the lone building known as the town of Wellfare, and it came down steady after that.  I was drenched when the ride was done.  Luckily I keep a small golf towel I got from somewhere in my bag.  It's about 3 inches square (not really, but it is small), which was almost enough to dry me off in the car (again, not really).  I really need to start checking the weather forecasts before I ride.

5/22/09 Bracken

Today we couldn't get rained on no matter how hard we tried.  When we left the parking lot, it was dry.  By the time we hit the bottom of Krueger Canyon, there was water on the road.  We had damp roads all the way back to the cars, but never got rained on.  The cars were wet when we got back, so it had rained there.  Somehow, we rode around the showers.  I have no idea how we did that; we could NEVER have done that if we tried.

5/21/09 McAllister Park

There were a ton of people out on the trails tonight.  I almost ran into like five or ten of them.  It's just impossible to go fast in the park these days safely.

5/20/09 Mission Trail

I may actually be getting the tinniest bit of fitness.  Scott was talking about how fast the ride tonight was.  I thought it was very leisurely.  I'm not sure if Scott is the best gauge of fitness, but he is always faster than me (no matter how much he protests otherwise).  I'll take this as being somewhere between neutral and good.

5/17/09 Utopia

Gorgeous day, beautiful ride, great company, blah, blah, blah...  Of interest is this sign I saw in the bathroom in Utopia:

5/16/09 Government Canyon

Every few years I get caught out in a hard rain storm.  It had been awhile since the last time, so I guess it was due.  Jay and I talked about the possibility of rain as we were in the parking lot, then didn't give it any more thought until we were climbing the hill on Caroline's loop and the drops started coming.  By the time we got to the top it was pouring, we were soaked, the trail was slick and muddy, and it was time to call it a day.  As we headed back down the hill, and then to the parking lot, the rain got less and less intense and finally stopped.  At the car, there hadn't been any rain yet and everyone was looking at us funny since we were soaked and covered in mud.  By the time we got finished cleaning up the rain had arrived, though, and the rest of the day was a complete soaker.  I guess I need to pay more attention to the weather radar on questionable days.

5/15/09 Martinez

I know that we're in the middle of a drought, but everywhere I ride it's totally green.  I'm not sure what gives.

5/13/09 Mission Trail

Wind, wind, blow away.  Come again some other day.  (that would sure make Scotty happy)

5/12/09 Tuesday Nighter

It's been a couple of years since I did one of the Tuesday night ride/race events.  I'm not physically gifted enough, or sufficiently dedicated to training, to be able to do anything but hang on for dear life.  Also, the Helotes course had gotten to the point where it was scary.  Too much growth in that area had led to traffic patterns that were going to get someone run over sooner or later.  I didn't want to be that someone, or to get dragged into the lawsuit that would have inevitably followed.

So, when Shawn told me about the new Tuesday night course south of town, I was a little interested.  There's hardly any traffic in that area, and what traffic there is isn't traveling fast.  When he told me that it was a seven mile loop that the group did four times, I got really interested.  This is perfect for me.  I can hang on for whatever few miles I can, then do a couple of leisurely laps, and finally go to the finish line to watch the racers finish up.

It was really nice to see a bunch of people that I haven't run across in several years.  The ride out to the course and the ride back were a nice opportunity to chat, and I ended up getting a good 40 miles in, which is great for a week night.  I'll definitely make this a regular ride.

5/11/09 McAllister Park

I usually (always) change into my bike clothes in the car before riding.  This morning there were a couple of younger women chatting in and beside the car next to me in the parking lot.  My window tinting is dark enough that you generally can't see in the car.  I think, though, that this morning the light must have been just right.  After I hopped out of the car with my bib shorts and shoes on, the women were totally staring at me.  It's safe to assume they weren't taking in the awesomeness of my bare chest.  I have to think that maybe they unintentionally watched me change.  At least they weren't throwing up.  I put on the rest of my clothes and rode away as fast as I could.  Thankfully the police weren't waiting for me when I returned.

5/9/09 Comfort - Kerrville

We came across a group of old folks (ages over 52) walking on some back roads around Comfort.  It was a big group of people, and they had cars waiting for them up the road, so it was some kind of organized affair.  As we approached the cars, there were several people standing in the middle of the road not paying attention to traffic (understandable since there really isn't any around there).  When we got close to them, I called out that we were approaching to make sure they didn't step out in front of us.  Two of the ladies freaked out and jumped into each other's arms.  They gave us angry scowls as we came past.  I was tempted to give them the finger in reply, but thought better of it.  Instead, I just nodded and smiled, which is actually secret code for the finger.

Pedestrians who aren't paying attention are dangerous to cyclists.  I can't count the number of times I've come up on someone, called out that I'm going to pass them, and had them jump right in front of me.  I learned this long ago while riding at the park, and actually hit one or two of them before I figured it out.  Now I know to be very careful in this situation because, unfortunately, pedestrians are no smarter than deer on the highway.  And certainly not so interesting to look at.

5/8/09 Government Canyon

Every time I get on the bike, the first thing I think is, "I'm really out of shape."  And, usually, that bears true when everyone else I ride with rides away from me from the git-go.   Occasionally, though, I'm reminded that I'm not in as bad shape as I could be.  Today, I rode with a friend who is a good rider but who has suffered from back problems lately and hasn't been on the bike much.  I spent the day waiting on him.  His skills were fine, but his fitness just wasn't there.  Which reminded me of an old term for guys hanging off the back: "sweat rag."  That's when there's one guy slower than the rest, and everyone stops to wait on him at every corner.  The rest of the people get nice and rested waiting for him, but he gets his ass kicked trying to keep up.  In the end, he usually is covered in sweat and mopping up behind everyone, hence the term "sweat rag."

5/7/09 New Braunfels

I usually only ride Wald Road and Krueger Canyon Road (outside of New Braunfels) on the weekends, and they're pretty calm then.  Today I rode them in the morning, and it turns out they're crawling with dump trucks of all shapes and sizes during working hours.  Which makes sense, since there are cement and gravel quarries all up and down those roads.  Lucky for me people are actually fairly respectful of single cyclists riding.  They only tend to get shitty when there's a pack of us all splayed out across the road.  Not that I'm pointing fingers or anything...

5/6/09 Mission Trail

Well, summer is finally here, and in full force.  Not only was it hot as hell tonight (96+ degrees), but it was very humid as well.  I finished the ride dehydrated and wringing wet.  It's been many months since that happened.

5/3/09 McAllister Park

Every time I shower after a good mountain bike ride, I shed grime like a coal miner.  Big streams of it cover the tiles and run down the drain.  It gives me a feeling of accomplishment.  I'm not sure what I've accomplished, other than getting dirty, but that's probably enough.