Corporate Hippy

Yesterday, Nick, Mike, Kim, Jon, James, Christy, Eric and I met for a ride at Highland Rec.  For some reason, I decided to take the SS instead of the fully geared, full suspension bike.  Heh.  Maybe not one of the smarter decisions I’ve made this summer, but I did have fun – despite the “ride until you puke” experience only a couple of miles in.  Yes, this was a first for me.

I took off into the singletrack like I was on fire.  I was having a blast but could feel my heart trying to jump out of my skin.  About a mile in, I pulled my foot right out of my pedal on a tough uphill and had to stop and walk.  I decided to head to the back of the pack and chill out a bit because I knew my crazy pace was .. well … crazy.  I was ahead of Kim, Mike and Nick and ended up riding between packs for a bit, on my own.  A series of long, shallow climbs had me out of the saddle and barely breathing.  I knew the front half of the group was at the top of this particular climb and I was trying to make it there.  I had to stop just after the last turn of the climb.  I glanced at my HR monitor and it said 203.  It was only a few more seconds before I got that feeling in my stomach and I knew what was gonna happen. 

I’m glad I had a small breakfast.

I walked my way up to the rest of the group, got my bearings and we headed on.  I decided to stay behind Kim this time and ride at her pace.  We made it though, stopping way more than the rest of the group, but we were having a good time keeping each other company. 

When we got to the enterance of the C loop, I decided that I just didn’t have it in me to do that section.  I’ve only done it once (I’ve only ridden Highland 4 times, counting yesterday) and I knew that it was pretty technical.  I just didn’t think I had the strength left to grunt the SS through the short steep technical climbs that I was sure the C loop had. 

Kim and Christy were more than happy to keep me company on the rest of the B loop while the guys did the C loop.  This was the first time Kim had ridden the B loop at Highland, and was getting pretty tired.  Christy was having an off day and not feeling too confident, so wanted a break. 

That section, from the C enterance to where the D loop starts is an amazing piece of singletrack.  Its fanstatic fun and I loved doing it on the SS. 

We hung out at the enterance of the D loop for awhile waiting for the dudes, and then we all rode the last mile or so out together(ish). 

All in all, it was a great ride.  The weather was perfect – 60 degrees – knickers, arm warmers.  My favorite riding attire

Would I ride Highland again on a Single Speed?  Definitely.  But maybe next time I won’t kill myself right out of the gate .. jeesh. 

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biking hippy

the day started out well with a conference call that ended up having nothing to do with me, followed by a 2 hour kick off meeting for a project where i’m the “sme” and therefore, left with no real responsibilities or action items

toward the end of the 2 hour meeting, i was paged on a priority-2 issue for a broken VPN.  i called the customer and had them reset their side of the tunnel .. vioala!  tunnel back up …

went to grab a sandwich at Cosi and ran into my pal Kurt (he works just down the street, but we rarely see each other) .. we made lunch plans for later this week

while eating lunch, i scowered the internet and finally found the deal that fit for our trip to Vegas in 2 weeks!  airline booked, hotel room reserved and paid for .. w00t!  we’re staying at the MGM Grand .. ooh la la  .. turns out, you can get pretty decent rates through travelocity .. the MGM is even less expensive than Treasure Island .. probably the same as we paid last year at Harahs.. plus, non-stop flights on NWA .. can’t beat that

another P-2 issue later in the day – called the customer to find out that the problem was already fixed.  my kinda issue

downed a macbreak weekly podcast on the way home and started listening to fast food nation..

cooked a good steak dinner (but melted the buttons off the grill .. might be time for a new one .. heh)

and to top it off, i successfully changed my SS tire!!  i’ve been afraid of those rims since i spent an hour + trying to put tires on ‘em a few years ago .. generally, i find people to change tires for me .. i’ve never been good or quick at it .. well, tonight, i changed my tire in a reasonable amount of time .. i dunno, less than 15 minutes, i’d say .. ok .. lame, i know .. but i was satisfied

and tomorrow, i get to ride my SS!!! its been hanging up for most of august .. she needs to be ridden… i think we’re gonna hit the tree farm .. w00t!

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life hippy

and I’ve hardly posted at all … ah well .. such is often the case with these blogs ..

today, however, i felt compelled to post since i’m still on a bit of a high from riding my bike for 3 hours and 52 minutes today … the longest ride for me this year .. not groundbreaking by most people’s standards .. but in my sorry state of physical shape, it was pretty damn exciting shit …

mike and kim rode the tandem that they borrowed from cat

I’m not sure if Kim had ever ridden for that long before, and she was pretty glad to be on the tandem for it.  She said she probably would have fallen way behind if she was on her own bike… Mike’s biggest dissapointment was that he didn’t think to change the driver’s saddle to his own (even though he swapped out the stoker’s saddle for Kim’s terry <G>) .. Toward the end of the ride, the tandem really started to pick up “saddle pain enduced speed” at times on the Clinton River Trail and I had to yell to keep them in check   By the time we got over the expressway on Livenois, I figured it was time to let them free

We stopped on one of the bigger bridges for a break on the way out and were greeted by 4 of these guys out on patrol:

They seemed to be just out riding around, checking on things.  Very friendly and they all looked like they were having a good time

After our wonderful 49 mile ride, Kim fixed up a bunch of left overs from her labor day party the day before – cheezy potatos, potato salad, fresh fresh corn on the cob (thanks Scott!) and some burgers.. yummmy .. Kim’s the best

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biking hippy