First "Hookup" of 2019

2019 Outdoor Season: Ride #5

Season Total Miles: 76.0

-Route: Loop da Lake (partial)

-Miles: 15.0

-Time: 1:11

-Ave Speed: 12.7 mph

Weather: Cloudy

-51 degrees

-Wind 15-20+ mph

WINDY!

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The Story

There's a bridge back there somewhere in that picture above. I stopped on the Trestle Trail Bridge to take the photo. As you can see, it's not exactly the beauty of the causeway going over to Sanibel Island, Florida but it was my ride on this windy day.

Now, aside from the wind being the story of this ride, today also marked the first of what I hope will be many stories about the people and riders I meet or 'hook up' with while out on the road in 2019.

While struggling into the wind after turning around on the other side of the bridge, a guy on a mountain-type bike wearing shorts began to pass me on the left without warning. As he passed he said to me, quote,

"Fuck this wind, huh?"

...not exactly the language I would have used, but I certainly got his point.

To which I replied, "Yeah, if it was at my back all the time I could go 50 miles today." To which he replied, "I'll block some of the wind for you," as he took the point.

Now, I took this as an invitation to grab his wheel, which I did. He took a pretty long turn with me drafting right behind his back wheel. When he started to fade a bit I thought I'd give it a try and indicated as such as I passed him back, saying out loud, "I'll take a try at a pull."

He answered, "All right brother."

I proceeded to take a pretty long pull into what was a nasty-cold wind as we rode across the water on the Trestle Trail Bridge.

And suddenly after that at some point he was gone without so much as a word to me that he was pulling off.

Oh well.

It made things interesting there for a while.

I was on the primary bike today and it felt good....aside of course from the cold wind blowing at 20 mph. Yikes.