Thursday, September 6, 2012

Attacking Dan...

I called Dan last night to see if he'd like to go for a ride this morning. It took a little arm twisting to get a yes out of him when I said 5:00, but he gave in and agreed. So dark and early I rode over to his house and we headed out for a fun little ride.

We started with our usual out and back to the church at Glendale. I met a new dog that Dan introduced as Kimber. She chased Dan because he was faster. I just rode along a few meters back enjoying the show. When she gave up on Dan, she just watched me ride past. I guess he wore her out.

We got back to Country Club Road at around 6:00, so we decided to go south rather than ride back north into town. We rode the little rollers and then Dan said he needed a break au natural. There are unwritten rules in cycling. One of them has to do with such pit stops. You're not supposed to attack when I guy's got his pants down. It is unwritten and Dan did say he'd catch up...so I broke the rule. About two pedal strokes after Dan pulled over, I went crazy in an attempt to beat him to Highway 281. I rode hard up the long, shallow gradient to 30th and then rode up a bit more before the downhill headed west. I was a little nervous when I hit the new sand on the road that they were resurfacing, but I managed to stay away till the highway. Dan didn't actually overtake me till a half mile or so on 281.

The rest of the ride was mostly conversational pace. We talked and laughed about this and that. We rode up Main Street enjoying the blinking yellow lights that let us ride all the way to Highway 54.

We took 54 east and were cruising along when all of a sudden Dan takes off. I look behind me and there's a semi truck coming around us. Dan can't resist a race with a semi. I laughed and ramped up my own speed, slipping in behind the truck to draft while Dan sprinted ahead. I caught up with Dan at Stout and flew through the intersection, raced ahead of the truck and made the turn onto Lawrence to ride back to Dan's house.

Stopped in front of Dan's house we talked for a bit and then I rode the block back home with a big grin on my face. It was that kind of ride! Thanks, Dan! (garmin data)

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