Apparently, when you randomly offer to help a guy without a sewing machine hem his pants, and then go out for beers with said guy and his best friend, you can also end up with a friend that 1) rides bikes [duh], 2) lives about three blocks away from you, and 3) encourages following through on bad questionable ideas like training for a fixed century.
Pete – my new friend/riding partner/coach/ass kicker – and I planned to head out on my very first training ride yesterday…for the past week or so. Since Pete has work from noon [at Cambridge Bikes], we decided on an early morning ride [hence the Diet Coke last night]; there was some rain coming down, but it was more like mist. Weather.com predicted “showers.” I was optimistic.
After Pete adjusted his cleats, we headed out. The first few miles were fine, a little wet but I figured I’d be sweating buckets soon anyway. Speeding down Comm Ave, dodging runners training for the marathon, we made an interesting combo: Pete likes to climb hills in his saddle, with his hands on the top of the bars; cool, relaxed, and gentlemanly. I like to get out of the saddle but stay in the drops, like a faux keirin racer if they had to do things like climb hills. We pedaled down toward Newton, then through Watertown and Cambridge, taking the loooooong way.
Too bad it started pouring. By the time we hit Harvard Square about an hour and a half later, both of us were drenched and cold. Stopped at a light, I made a fist with my gloved hand and water gushed out. I wasn’t wearing anything close to waterproof [“water resistant” apparently means “drenched within 5 miles of riding”]. Pete couldn’t feel his hands. I couldn’t feel my feet. So, we made a much-needed stop for coffee.
Sipping deliciously caffeinated beverages, we sort of managed to dry off. Our gloves were beyond hopelessly drenched. My underarmour leggings stuck to me like icy saran wrap [without the water-weight-reducing-sauna-like effects benefits]. Not only was I soaked, I was also covered in bits of dirt. My hair drenched in streaks from my helmet, worn out from battling rain and wind, with no eyeliner on, I was a total mess. Good thing there were no mirrors around – ignorance is bliss in this case.
We wrung out our gloves, even though no matter how hard we twisted them, more water just poured out. And then we actually got back on our bikes and waded through more cold rain and wind towards home, with only the thought of hot showers keeping us going. I could barely get off my bike when we parted ways – my feet being numbly frozen. Our high-five to celebrate a ride successfully completed squishly sprayed water. Not that it mattered; we were so saturated with Boston rain water, we were both verging on prune-y.
It wasn’t a fast ride; but it was the first time I’ve ridden more than an hour on my bike. I know, not impressive, but baby steps, baby steps! And besides, Pete and I both decided – no matter what, riding through that mess definitely makes us officially hardcore.
I irrationally can’t wait for next Sunday morning…
Tags: coffee · drenched · hardcore · training ride · waterproof6 Comments
6 responses so far ↓
It’s not quite fair that Pete has multiple gears and you do not.
Pete also owns some items by Rapha, which make him a gentleman even more than climbing seated holding the tops.
My advice, make sure that you are eating and drinking during these rides, or you will discover the phenomenon known as a bonk.
The last three miles of my ride yesterday were into 15mph wind gusts and hail. The hail that stuck melted fast and left me soaking wet and freezing in the gusts.
It wasn’t my best performance on the bike this season, but it was easily my most satisfying. I felt like chest-bumping a polar bear when I got home.
RMM — pete was wearing his rapha cap on the ride; and yes, that makes him look even more dapper. we were going fairly slowly but we’ll prob do it faster next week. and yes, i’ll practice taking goo shots while on the bike (yuck!).
matthew — i totally loled in the library when i read your comment. i hate hate hate wind! good work on the ride – good to know that someone else was out riding and somewhat miserable yesterday!
hey pedal,
i’m training for my first century this year too; the outriders bos to ptown, 130 miles. on saturdays, i do the crw fitness route (about 46 miles), and planned to something additional on sundays, like the minuteman. are you taking on any additional cyclists for your sunday rides? i’d like join in if so. it’d be nice to have some company. i’ll ride my track bike.
scott
nice ride. i’d run in anything, but if i had a ride planned and that was the weather, i’d pack it in. good work!
scott — hey, nice meeting you the other day! we did a really short ride last time, but will be hopefully making it longer. i’ll def let you know, esp if you’re going to do it fixed too!
jones — you RUN. that is hardcore.