What To Do With Robert And Other Big News

The Saturday ride was to be one I would do alone. Robert had a church breakfast he didn't want to miss and I didn't want to wait until 11 or 12 to start my ride. I planned to do a 90 mile loop starting at my home in Nashville, going south on the Natchez Trace Parkway, Leiper's Fork, Boston, Theta, Santa Fe, Water Valley, and back. Well, I still didn't get going until 8:20AM, three hours after I got up. I was worried about going 90 miles alone and planned to make stops where I could to stay fueled up. There were some sections on the ride for 20 or 30 miles where there was not much opportunity to get food. I had fuel with me though and really worried more about my fitness. I had my cell phone as well and knew I could call in air support if it really got bad (the whole family and friend network is on standby whether they know it or not to come pick me up in a car if necessary). The weather was absolutely perfect for bike riding though. Maybe 65 when I started and 72 when I finished. It was a beautiful sunny day made for riding. The heat was definitely not going to be my undoing today. I felt great after an hour, great after 2 hours, great after 3 hours, good after 4 hours, tired after 5 hours and wanting to get home, then pretty exhausted after 6 hours. I added some extra miles when I was in about 45 miles and feeling great so when I got near home, I guessed I'd have about 97-98 miles total. I had no intention at all to keep riding to get to 100 miles. That would leave something for next week. At the finish, I checked the mileage: 99.89. Well, I'm not having that. I rode around the building and clocked 100. 6 hours 19 minutes riding time. I was beat.

My brother Robert got out at 11 AM and if you read his blog from my links section, you get details of his ride and his wreck. It sounds like he rode with someone not practiced in group riding or maybe just someone paralyzed with fear at the site of a dog. Anyway, now he has a cast on his hand and talks as if he won't be riding his bike for 5 weeks. Robert, as I tell myself every time I think about skipping a ride, the Col d' Izoard and L'Alpe d'Huez do not care if I train. And they don't care if you train either. The Col d' Izoard and L'Alpe d'Huez are trained and ready and will give us their best shot. Robert needs to ignore the advice of his doctor and find a way to ride his bike. The trainer will work but I don't know how anyone can overcome the boredom well enough to continue for more than a couple of hours on one of those.

Well I am getting tired, it's late here. I bought a bike off ebay the other day. It is a Lemond Zurich. It is a steel bike which is, sadly, tig welded and not lugged. But, it is steel (853 Reynolds) with a carbon fork. It has triple chainrings which I have never had before. I always thought those were for sissies. I am 44 years old now. That will make me older than anyone in the Tour De France this year. So, I think I have earned the right to consider using the triple for my Etape. My plan is to test the gears at the Cherohala Challenge and see if I need them. If not, I'll go with the 53-39, 13-26. Then I'll sell the bike on ebay after improving the ad and maybe make a profit. Hey, a Lemond bike that has ridden up L'Alpe d'Huez. Surely that's got to be worth big bucks!