Oh my god, I cannot believe it is you!!

This past Sunday, I attempted to join the bike ride to the Cider Mill in Dexter, Michigan. From last week's escapade, I knew where to meet people and when to meet people. I arrived at the specified location at the specified time and...no one was there. The announcement did not say one had to RSVP or let them know I was coming but I think next week, if I do it, I will call the bike shop on Saturday.

Anyway, I decided I was already dressed in my finest body lump revealing biking clothes so I went for a ride. My goal was to ride to the furthest away of three Metro Parks which would have covered a little under 26 miles in total. I started on my way, after calling the Mrs. and letting her know my goal destination. [One thing I have learned is that I can be stubborn and assert my independence and 'I am a grown ass man I do not need to tell anybody my whereabouts' or... I can have a nice tranquil day (the whole day) and let her know where I am. It seems so simple now but that was a hard lesson. I digress.]

Note(s) to any cyclists out there...:

1. leg warmers are funny looking in the store but wonderful during the ride. They allow you to wear your padded cycling shorts through three seasons and stay warm.
2. gravel on the side of the road is not your friend. I swerved to avoid probably a slight bump in the road and almost ended up splayed out on the road (in a curve not very visible to cars despite my stylish orange biking jacket). My tires are at best 1.5 inches thick they are not made for gravel or potholes.
3. if you do triathlons or duathlons, your friends will not understand your excitement when you see someone you think was on the cover of Triathlon magazine. (A) People who do triathlons or duathlons must be 'touched'. (B) They did not know there was a triathlon magazine. (C) Who in the world would read a whole magazine about triathlons? (D) The only people crazier than triathletes and duathletes are triathletes and duathletes who read about other triathletes and duathletes.
4. accept the fact that you will never, I mean never, look cool to your non-cycling friends when you are in your cycling attire. Remember, though, to politely ask them to keep their eyes above your waist and for them to consider that it was kind of cold that day (think George Constanza).

It looked like a mighty storm was approaching (or really I was approaching a mighty storm) so I stopped the ride about 11 miles out and returned. On my return, I stopped and stretched. A women on a sweet triathlon bike rode by going the other direction. I mention her because she was going the direction I had just come from but toward the end of my ride, she passed me, actually she blew by me, but she was really nice about it. I was in awe.

As I was loading up my bike, we engaged in delightful cycling banter and she told me about the time she was doing an Ironman event and was in the last leg, the run. She was running neck and neck with another woman for first. One would pull slightly ahead and then the other one would pull slightly ahead. Well, the finish line was in sight and they were giving their all, when the woman I was talking to said she fell. She fell four feet from the finish line, not four yards, not four meters, four feet from the finish line. She told me this story in response to my query about whether or not she was one of those people I see on the cover of Triathlon magazine. She said 'no' but she was in the paper for her falling four feet from the finish line.