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"That Guy"


The Ride: Little GTO

Miles: 23.0

Time: 1:41

Ave. Speed: 13.8 mph

Weather: Clouds, hazy, hot and humid, 85,Wind 10-15 mph

2018 Season Outdoor Miles: 872.0

 

The Story

Less than 24 hours after making a major effort 40-mile ride that included the High Cliff climb, I was back out on the bike on Saturday afternoon.

Why?

Hot and humid. My favorite weather conditions were not going to be wasted with a rest day. So I hit the road at 12:30.

Early in this route I go over a bridge and make a left turn. I was waiting to do that in the left lane, with two cars across from me waiting to go straight through. I thought I might have heard another bike roll up behind me. I did.

The light turned green and I edged forward, waiting for the cars to go through before I made my left turn. The rider behind me didn't wait. He swooped left on green as the woman driving the first car hesitated. I simply stayed put, which was the proper thing to do. A guy in the second car yelled at the bike rider that made the hasty turn in front of them.

But my question was, hey, was it THAT GUY? It kind of looked like him.

You see, there is this rider whom I think lives on my street, but several blocks down from me. From time to time I see him ride past my house in full kit on a nice road bike. I often wonder why our paths have never crossed out on the road.

He's a tall, slender guy, once riding a throwback skinny tube road bike, Seems like a pretty serious rider, and usually at speed, not just out for a cruise.

Anyway, this rider was wearing a hi-viz yellow kit, and I know I have seen the neighborhood guy wearing something similar.

So I wondered, hey, could it be 'THAT GUY" up there?

Because I waited I was about a block back and decided to make some effort to try to close the gap and get a better look at this guy.

But there was headwind, the nagging kind that sucked the life right out of my already-tired legs from yesterday. I was using matches early and I knew it. I had no business making an effort like this right out of the box with no warmup time/miles in me.

In the end he was too much for me and I never did get a closer look. I did, however, pay the price riding into headwind for the first 10 miles. That's why I cut this ride shorter and took the simple Little GTO route, leaving me at a mere 23 miles.

Still, that's a good effort double ride in less than 24 hours.


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