Sunday, August 24, 2008

buzzzzzzz...

Nice ride, although the trail is definitely the most crowded on Sundays. Lots of packs of women jogging who feel they are entitled to the whole path. But the sun was shining and I was on my bike. I just said good morning to them and moved on. Since I was wearing "the shorts" I wasn't able carry the Ipod. Turn out to be no big deal, really. And it seems that people tend to say good morning to you more often when you don't have wires sticking out of your ears. So, instead of having a sound track to enhance my ride, I was alone. Nothing but the sound of my breathing, the quiet zmmm zmmm zmmm of road tires on asphalt, and the subtle mechanical clatter of chain against sprockets. Alone with my thoughts. This gave me some good quality time to work on my baiku, hahaha... It was actually very nice, and I may just continue leaving the music at home most of the time. The shorts are pretty nice. However, it was a little chilly this morning and I have to say that this made for an interesting start to the ride. The sensation of actually feeling the morning air temperature in my nether regions at first made it feel as if I had left the house without my pants, which sort of made me feel like I was in the middle of one of those dreams everyone seems to have had at some point. The one where you find yourself at work or school or some other public place and suddenly realize that you have forgotten to dress yourself. I'm glad it was early, and there was not a lot of traffic on the roads. By the time I hit the bike path, I was warmed up and becoming accustomed to the pants. I decided that since most everyone else I passed on a bike was wearing them too, we were all in the same boat - Riding in our underwear.

At about 20 miles, I felt something fly down my shirt. I sat up on the bike and fluffed my shirt a couple of times and didn't notice anything, so I went about my business. Minutes later I felt a pinch right next to my bellybutton. Fluffed my shirt again and out fell a bee. That is the first time in my life that I have been stung by a bee.

"Hmm.... I always thought it would hurt worse than that."

And then a couple minutes later, it did. And then it went away. And then it hurt again, this cycle repeating itself for the duration of my ride and most of the morning for that matter.

Little bastard.

Well, tomorrow I go back to my regular work schedule, so I'm not sure when I'll fit in these same rides. I may have to stick to shorter rides during the week, and leave the longer ride for the weekend. We'll see.

26.19 miles
1' 59"
13.3 mph avg.
22.7 mph max

5 comments:

Paul said...

Cool air through bike shorts and a bee sting... you're in!! :)

You make me think of a whole other side of riding I haven't thought of in a while - cold weather. Let me know when you're seeing morning temps less than 60-65 - time to cover the knees.

And I can't wait for the post about shaving....

-T. said...

I am NOT shaving...

60-65 is right around the corner. Then what? I think the easiest thing to do would be to put the bike on a trainer and watch TV. :)

Not much fun though. Maybe I'll look for a spin class to carry me through the deepest part of winter.

Paul said...

Leg warmers. Not the Flashdance kind.

And spin? You could do that...

Uncle BUG said...

If you would not leave your shirt top open showing off your gold chains and chest hair while riding, the bee would not have gotten in there. Speaking of which, are you sure it wasn't you chains getting tied up in your chest hair instead of a bee sting?????

-T. said...

C'mon now. You know I'm a shaver.