Bicycling lessons

The LWW and spent the morning yesterday in training for our  bicycling trip in Ireland coming up next month- an easy 30 miles from Waterville to Faribault along the Sakatah Singing Hills bike trail.

First, let me state unequivocally that I have never taken performance enhancing drugs - steroids, growth supplements, Prozac or Viagra. I will, however, freely admit to using performance diminishing substances including alcohol, nicotine, THC (don't look it up, Mom), and deep-fried cheese curds.  Those who know my actual athletic ability will vouch for the accuracy of this admission.

As readers of the Blue Skunk might remember, I'm a long time fan of bicycle riding.  After a time on the saddle, one's thoughts tend to turn philosophical. Here are a few lessons learned from biking.

1. It's usually uphill and against the wind. (Murphy's Law of Bicycling)
2. Most big hills that look impossible are usually a series of small hills that are possible.
3. I've never met a hill I couldn't walk up.
4. It's better to shift to a lower gear than to stop altogether.
5. Sometimes it's nice to be able to have equipment to blame things on.
6. You really can't make your own weather.
7. Coasting feels good, but you don't get much exercise doing it.
8. A beer at the end of a long day of riding tastes better than a beer when just sitting around (or at breakfast, I'm guessing).
9. Don't drink at lunch time and expect to enjoy the afternoon.
10. Bike helmets are a sure sign that natural selection is still a force of nature.
11. The five minutes putting air in your tires at the beginning of the day is time well spent.
12. There will always be riders who are faster and slower than you are.
13. Watching as old people zip by you should be encouraging, not discouraging.
14. Too often we quit because our spirit fails, not our legs or lungs.
15. Spouses who dress alike should not expect the rest of us to consider them normal human beings.
16. Too much padding between you and a bike seat is impossible.
17. The happiest people are the ones who understand that life should be a ride, not a race.

 Hope you managed to find a little time this weekend to recreate!

Comments

[Rich]

What is a deep fried cheese curd anyway? I like cheese. And I like fried. But a curd? Got me.

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Rich,

A curd is the solid portion of cottage cheese. (Heard of curds and whey?) It is cheese, I believe, before it is aged. Most grocery stores here sell them, but to get good fresh ones, you need to visit a cheese factory. The fresh ones squeak when you eat them.

Deep fried is self-explanatory.

Let me know if you find any and how you like them!

Doug

[Peg]

Really,
Let me go into this by stating my DH and I are also avid cyclists. So, If my backside is not tiny I can't stop at a restaurant for breakfast or lunch? Bah, humbug, I can guarantee at least half the people in that restaurant look worse in their street clothes than I do in my cycling gear. Besides as I get older my backside looks fine, it's the frontside that's questionable. BTW, you probably know it's kind of tradition for tandem riders to dress alike. That's so we can easily identify each other when we get separated on the bike: )

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Peg,

I appreciate your comments. I need taking down a notch or two every now and then. I had not realized that dressing alike reduces confusion between tandem riders. I am afraid it might work the opposite way for me - I wouldn't know if I was coming or going.

All the best and thanks for the note,

Doug