Recovery Ride March 16th.

The day after.

Kevin arrived at Brugers to get his morning coffee to find Christy (Pinky) in line waiting on a latte. Kevin did not recognize her at first since she was NOT in Biking attire. Due to schedule conflict she elected to do her long run this morning rather than a bike ride. She stopped in for her Latte and to let Kevin know she would not be joining the Testosterone Team this day. As they sat and visited, they were joined by Tim who was dressed ready to ride. He however looked a little bedraggled.
“Hope you feel better than you look” snipped Kevin.
Tim informed the others that he had been sick for several days. This is unusual for Tim since he is not prone to illness (other than mental).
The group was slow to move and with coffee and Latte still to be consumed the clock moved past the starting time and on towards 9:30 am.
Tim was getting anxious as he suffers from over achiever syndrome, also known as “can’t sit down for fear I might get boreditus”.
So the group finished their beverages of choice, said goodbye to Christy, with Kevin and Tim headed for the parking lot to assemble the bikes for the days ride.

The day was starting off with a strong wind moving from Lake Jordan to the ride start location. The sun was out and the temperature suggested arm warmers and leg warmers were in order for the days ride.

Off the two Testosterone riders headed not knowing how far or fast the two were prepared to go. Kevin with weaker than normal legs, due to yesterdays longer ride, and Tim who was clearly under the weather.
Maybe wisdom would prevail and the riders would shorten the ride and slow the pace. They rode side by side with an occasional single file as cars approached from the rear. Not a lot of conversation, as each rider suffered through their own ordeal.

On the stretch along Fire Station Church road the group pushed against the wind at a respectable 20 to 21 mph. The climb at UpChuck proved to be a survival climb for both with speeds dropping as fast as heart rates rose. Decision time, do they go straight at the top of the climb or right towards Mount Pisgah Church road and its rolling hills?
“On right” was the suggestion from Tim, “then we turn left at Luter Shop and head for home” Tim continued with his directions.
“Not feeling good at all” he continued to explain.
“ I am Cool with that” was Kevin’s response.
Again the two Testosterone riders fell into a quiet state as they worked the peddles to propel them up the various climbs with brief down hills to bring the heart rate back in line.
The silence was broken by Tim who declared “You can do more if you want, I hate being THAT GUY who whips out” .
Kevin was quick with his response. “We all take turns being That Guy, In fact I am usually that guy on every ride”. “This distance is perfect for a recovery ride”. He continued.
Silence was now only disturbed by the wind in their ears, and the occasional whir of the rear cluster when coasting. They did not have the DEVIL TRI-BIKE on the days ride making all those possessed noises from yesterday’s ride. (read about that on the bday ride write-up).
The two riders elected to shorten the ride as much as possible by taking the route that had them cyclo crossing over the rail road tracks by Green Hope High School, and then taking the most direct route down High House and on into the finish.
A perfect ride for a recovering OLD man, and A SICK over-achiever.
The two will be able to log 21 miles at 16.2 mph average.