5/30/09 Real Ale Ride

I have a friend.  I don't want to embarass him, so we'll just identify him as rider 'J'.

Rider 'J' had an eventful day at the Real Ale Ride.  He started off the morning by snapping his rear deraileur cable on the first real hill we came to.  We jury-rigged it to stay in one gear, then went on our way.  Luckily, the first rest stop we came to had a bike mechanic who fixed him up.  Which is a good thing, because 'J's legs weren't up for a ride of this magnitude, especially with only one gear.  He's one of the strongest riders I know, and can ride away from me at will on any terrain, but he hasn't been getting many miles of late.  About 15 miles from the end in Blanco, his legs went into full cramp.  He managed to get them worked out, but was truly suffering for the rest of the ride.  I gave him what food I had, and we got him some water, but that really doesn't help much once the cramps have set it.  He swears that he's going to ride more and get in better shape, but I'll believe that when I see it.  'J' has a tendency to push himself to the limits of endurance in life, and there just aren't the hours in the day for him to ride more and keep up with his workload.