Sunday #1 - June 1 - Barry and I drive to Winchester (Barry drove, I told him how!) for the first annual Shenandoah Valley Heritage Ride. The ride was relatively uneventful except it was pretty warm and breezy and the ride got quite hilly as the miles ticked by. We even had the privilege of climbing - quite unexpectedly - S.O.B. #2! Oh yay! The only hill I have climbed on a bike that I can consider similar to those walls is one on the bike trail climbing up Vail Pass from the Vail side. Believe me, that hill is a BEAST - and in Winchester we had to climb two of them! yeesh! The only way to get up that hill is to stand and grind it out....and that's what I had to do. Twice.
About two or three miles from the finish of the ride, as we approached Winchester, we rode by a hay field that was in the process of being mowed. As it happened the wind was blowing across that field toward us - and suddenly my left eye was itching like crazy and felt like I had sand in it. By the time we got back to the ride start my eye was so swollen I could hardly see out of it! I was miserable. (My eye was so bad I would wind up taking Monday off to let the swelling go down.)
End of Sunday #1.
Sunday #2 - June 15 - The Three Stooges Ride (also, the Campy club ride). Aden, Bates and I started out from Bates' house at about 8:30, all on bicycles with Campagnolo drivetrains. The day promised to be sunny and warm - mid to upper 80's with probably 60% humidity. Typical summer day. Our plan was to ride up Weakley Hollow, then take a possible side trip up Quaker Run, then return. The ride would be about 30 miles. After just over three miles, in downtown Heaven (a.k.a. Haywood), we stopped at the intersection of Hebron Valley Rd. & Hoover Rd. Ever the tinkerer, Bates decided to adjust his seatpost. He did, then as he attempted to tighten the 5mm bolt on the seatpost it split. Bates decided to try and ride home - standing up all the way!
Aden and I pressed-on. Once we got on Bohannan Rd. we had settled into a good rhythm and were chatting while we rode when a UFO whacked into the left lens of my glasses. Normally that would not be a problem but said UFO then bounced down to my cheek and STUNG ME! OUCH!!!
My cheek stung but was ok so we kept riding. Somewhere up Weakley Hollow, Aden was riding just behind and to the left of me. He mentioned that he couldn't tell if the noise he heard was a car or the river beside us. Just after he said that, he pulled in behind me but in the process he clipped my rear wheel. I stayed upright but he went down in spectacular fashion! What incredible road rash he came away with! I make fun of it now, but he was hurting. Thankfully we had extra bottles of water so he could irrigate his elbows and knees. Always the trooper (he was a Green Beret, after all), rode on without a complaint. We decided that three things had happened so we were probably good for the rest of the ride. We were right - we made it back to the ride start in good shape.
It wasn't until after I had gotten home, eaten something, taken a shower and then a nap that I realized the left side of my face had swollen from just under my eye down to my jaw. I looked like a cartoon character who had a huge toothache! Just then I decided that if I looked like that the next morning I was calling-in sick. I did and I did.
End of Sunday #2.
You already know about Sunday #3 from my post about this past Sunday. So here's the question: Is there some mis-alignment of the stars on Sundays? Should I stay under the covers instead?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment