OK, so here I am in Rwanda . . . taking a beautiful Saturday to do nothing (except work), figurin' I might as well write something about last week's Dirty Benjamin . . .
and my time with John and Dan and Dan.
A BIG thanks to John for driving (to whom I still owe $20)
A BIG thanks to Dan for hosting us
and absolutely nothing to (the other) Dan
To be fair, I would get a big nothing too (but what of that)
Weather was fabulous . . . perhaps too nice for a bike race
 |
| (sorry for makin' a mess of your car) |
Many of the local Duluth boys were in attendance
 |
| (pay attention now, this is serious business!) |
From the look on John's face, he was payin' attention
Charlie on the other hand, well . . . he's just Charlie
(by the way Sir Charles, I picked up the Nut Goodie wrapper somewhere around mile 20)
Dan went the stealth route, trying to hide in the crowd
Dan went the stealth route, trying to hide in the crowd
Since I was leaving for Africa shortly after the race, I decide to ride ORANGE
and wear my old Wheaties jersey . . . and promised myself: "I will not race!"
(faked . . . not actual photo)
A BIG THANKS to Martin and Jason for organizing the event
and for keepin' us behind the green line . . .
The morning could not have been finer (even if we were in Carolina)
(feeble reference to old song)
And now . . . for a few random action photos . . .
ready . . . set . . . go!
I really shouldn't be takin' pics as I ride . . .
but it is kinda fun . . .
(I just like the photo)
I said goodbye to her at this point, more later . . .
This guy . . . I just love his kit:
Who woulda' thought your could find an orange bike, and orange and lime green jersey
with matching socks . . .
OK . . . I really behaved myself, and did not race . . . it was just a bike ride
with a few new friends . . . At about mile 35ish, I was leading ten or so of these new friends up one of the only hills, when I heard my name shouted . . . loudly . . .
Seems I missed a turn by a few hundred meters; Since I was not racing, of course I was not looking at the cue cards so carefully stowed in my pocket. Did my new friends wait for me, of course not! Fast forward five miles, hard right turn . . . ride two miles up some road (with Rich not leading) . . . oops . . . we were supposed to have made an immediate left ...
back two miles we go . . . back on course . . .
Mile 61, the checkpoint
refuel, and hang with Pete, my new best - best friend for 70 miles
Little did I know that even when reading cue cards
Pete is prone to gettin' a bit off course . . .
(he might even have been involved in our four mile foray)
No worries . . . not racin' today anyway, and he's a great gut to spend time with
oops . . . another of those missed turns . . . a bit of work to catch up (again)
and who do we find? Patti and company
who proceeds to tell me two things;
1) she doesn't even like pink
2) she won't even try to keep up to us, because she knows we'll make a few more wrong turns anyway . . . damn, the woman was right on . . .
When Pete and I do roll into the finish . . . Patti and company are right there
(it's amazing what eight wrong turns will do)
. . . and explain this to me
How come if I wasn't racin'
Jeremiah (who at 6'7" makes big John look small)
and Farrow (winner of the OLD MAN CLASS)
look so good, while I look so wasted?
(that's my oldest daughter Lauren, who surprised me at the finish line!)
Can we blame it on my old, advanced age . . . or my 'cause I rode my single speed,
or even because I rode six extra miles?
I think not . . .
Thanks Boys . . . It was a blast!
and wear my old Wheaties jersey . . . and promised myself: "I will not race!"
A BIG THANKS to Martin and Jason for organizing the event
The morning could not have been finer (even if we were in Carolina)
(feeble reference to old song)
And now . . . for a few random action photos . . .
ready . . . set . . . go!
I said goodbye to her at this point, more later . . .
This guy . . . I just love his kit:
with matching socks . . .
OK . . . I really behaved myself, and did not race . . . it was just a bike ride
with a few new friends . . . At about mile 35ish, I was leading ten or so of these new friends up one of the only hills, when I heard my name shouted . . . loudly . . .
Seems I missed a turn by a few hundred meters; Since I was not racing, of course I was not looking at the cue cards so carefully stowed in my pocket. Did my new friends wait for me, of course not! Fast forward five miles, hard right turn . . . ride two miles up some road (with Rich not leading) . . . oops . . . we were supposed to have made an immediate left ...
back two miles we go . . . back on course . . .
Mile 61, the checkpoint
Pete is prone to gettin' a bit off course . . .
(he might even have been involved in our four mile foray)
No worries . . . not racin' today anyway, and he's a great gut to spend time with
oops . . . another of those missed turns . . . a bit of work to catch up (again)
and who do we find? Patti and company
1) she doesn't even like pink
2) she won't even try to keep up to us, because she knows we'll make a few more wrong turns anyway . . . damn, the woman was right on . . .
When Pete and I do roll into the finish . . . Patti and company are right there
(it's amazing what eight wrong turns will do)
. . . and explain this to me
How come if I wasn't racin'
Jeremiah (who at 6'7" makes big John look small)
Can we blame it on my old, advanced age . . . or my 'cause I rode my single speed,
or even because I rode six extra miles?
I think not . . .
Thanks Boys . . . It was a blast!
No comments:
Post a Comment