Shouting Match

20 Miles

I don’t know how I forced myself out of bed this morning and I barely remember riding out to the Y to meet up with Mike.  Maybe I was sleep riding.  I just hope I can adjust to this early morning schedule.  I really need to start going to bed earlier but Sydney and Tara have come to enjoy the night life of summer vacation, thus I can’t go to bed until they are in bed.

Anyway, we went for a nice hill climb this morning up Hillcrest Road.  Mike told me to go up a head to the end of the street and meet him on my way back since my “feet don’t see hills” and his know when there is even the slightest of inclines.  I took off up the hills, exhausting most of my energy.  I slowed to almost a crawl after I hit the flats up top near the end of pavement.  I reached the end then turned around and flew back down the road towards Mike.  The flats weren’t as flat as I thought they were.  When I found Mike a mile back he was stopped to change a flat.  I stopped to help but really to get my wind back.  We finished changing the tire and took off again.  Now Mike is much stronger on the decent than I am.  As he says “F=MA” or Force = Mass x Acceleration.  He has more mass.  Anyway, with much effort I was able to match his speed all the way down the road. 

At the steepest part of the decline approaching the intersection at the bottom of the hill, I watched as Mike approached two deer at the side of the road.  Suddenly a dark figure, probably a wood chuck, darted out in front of Mike and spooked the deer.  I hit my brakes.  Mike screamed!  The deer panicked and took off aimlessly kicking up dust everywhere.  One bolted down the road in front of Mike and the other tried to join her, crossing the street right behind Mike, nearly hitting his back tire.  I thought Mike was having venison for breakfast but somehow he pulled through.  I’m glad someone else got the deer experience for a change.

On the way back into town, I followed closely behind Mike, just to the left of his back tire.  We tried talking while riding and trying to stay out of the lane of traffic.  We hugged the white line as closely as we could.  Suddenly a white sedan erratically swerved around us with horn blasting.  In retaliation, Mike gives him a friendly wave (not sarcasm, seriously just a friendly wave).  Then we see another not-so-friendly wave from inside the vehicle, then brake lights.  Great!  This punk really thinks he’s got a leg to stand on by telling us not to ride bikes on the road.  “YOU CAN NOT RIDE SIDE-BY-SIDE ON THE HIGHWAY!” he yells repeatedly like a broken record.  At this point he is driving next to us swerving in and out of the turning lane, sometimes into oncoming traffic.  The whole time I’m thinking “We weren’t riding side-by-side and you are going to kill someone.”  We tried yelling back but his response was always the same.  What an idiot!  I don’t know what he was trying to accomplish but we weren’t listening and neither was he.  Mike finally yelled “Eat Rocks!” and then we ignored him until he drove away.  I don’t know how my riding near the white line was more dangerous than this guy holding up traffic while swerving all over the place.  What a moron.