I've Become That Guy...

I've been riding the indoor trainer for the past three weeks. On Friday I looked at the weather report for this weekend and was pleased to see the warm temperatures, but knew the wind would be a factor. None the less, I got the idea on Friday that I had to ride Lookout this weekend. There was no training purpose behind it. I just got it in my head that I needed to. Once something gets in my head there is nothing I can do but submit and do as my head tells me.

The thermometer said it was in the 40s when I started my ride. However, factor in the wind, which was blowing like crazy and it felt like it was somewhere in the 30s.

The wind has been a real bear lately and and it is even getting to others who seem to love all riding conditions, like Chris. I personally hate the wind. Nothing makes me feel weaker and can break me like a little twig easier than a 45 mph head wind.

In any case, the first 17 miles of my ride was spent fighting wind; at times with a rolling speed of a mere 8 mph on the road... but as I said, little can stop me when I put a plan in motion.

When I reached the bottom of Lookout I stopped for a couple minutes and took a bite of my energy bar and relaxed a bit. At least that I what I wanted the pack of 15 road bikers to think I was doing. In reality, I just didn't want to start the climb and have those same 15 riders fly past me while I was drooling in between gasps of air. Each one greeting me with a "Hello" and forcing me to use what little oxygen I had to greet them in kind.

When I started to roll up the hill I felt pretty good. I had no expectations of my climb other than I needed to save enough energy to get my sorry ass home after the summit.

As I climbed a guy rolled past me. Soon, another rider passed by. Then another... Then it dawned on me. I've become that guy.

You know the guy. The one you lock your sights on and tell yourself "I'm going to catch that guy before a certain point." Yep, That's me. At that moment I felt like Seabiscuit*. No, not because I was a champion. I felt like that because each rider that passed was able to gain a bit more confidence at the expense of my own self esteem.

Well, when the geriatric lawyer, or doctor, or whatever the hell he was passed me on his $10,000 road bike I said to myself, "Enough is enough. Don't let him get away!" We climbed Lookout together for about 30 feet when he started to slip away. By this time I was getting hungry and I chased that guy like he was the ginger bread man and his bike was made of chocolate. I gave it a good fight, but the fact that I had previously eaten 40 other ginger bread men in December who where now attached to my ass didn't help and gravity got the best of me. I watched the old guy fade into the distance ahead of me...

At that point I learned my place on the mountain. I was Seabiscuit before he was a champion. Honestly, I'm OK with that. Back when I was hard core into riding I use to set my sights on that guy too. It's interesting being on the other side of the fence for a change.

Lookout Ride:
Time: 3:37
Distance: 46.2
Elevation: 3,657'

Week Log:
Time: 6:37

Total Elevation:
3,657'

*Do you remember the movie? If not, they describe the history of Seabiscuit and at one time the horse was used as a confidence builder for larger racing horses. They would run the horses side by side and at the end they would purposely hold back Seabiscuit so the larger horse could win and thus gain confidence.