Dodging a Bullet

Man, do I ever hope that was my last PT session. I went in this morning and felt like I was being ignored. I had to go find my therapist off socializing on several occasions. Now I realize that my petty little issues are nothing compared to her interactions with her coworkers, but she could at least pretend to care. Is that so much to ask? Yeah, I think it was.

I was supposed to ride with Wally this morning, so I called him after I left PT and picked up some HeartGuard at the vet clinic nearby. I got his voicemail and left a message for him to call me back, and then I just went home and played around on Flickr while I waited. And waited. I figured after an hour that he wasn't going to call, so I called John B.

John B.: Hello?
Big Guy: Hey. Have you ridden yet today?
JB: No, but I was thinking about going here in a little bit.
BG: Man, that's uncanny. So was I!

I drove over to John's so we could just do a 20-25 miler from there. He has a nice route from there that is mostly in shade, which is imperative on a hot day like today. We took off south from his house and started comparing the noises coming from our bikes. I have a spoke or something that goes "tink...tink...tink..." when I climb hills. He has a rear wheel (newly rebuilt) that goes "chikachikachika...chikachikachika..." almost constantly. He wins this round.

It was a good ride, but it was a hot day, even in the shade. Moments in the sun really drove home how hot it was. But I did notice that there were a lot fewer insects out, with the exception of the kamikaze butterfly (that would be a good name for a punk band, wouldn't it?) that tried to take me out, though it found me to be made of much sterner stuff than it could realistically affect.

Sometimes on a ride theres that one moment of decision that seems inconsequential at the time, but turns out to be profoundly important later. Today's moment came at the intersection of Tarwater Road and Tipton Station Road. John suggested (but without enthusiam), that we could turn right and go out Tipton Station a ways and make a longer ride out of it. I replied that I really didn't care much, but that it was a hot day and all (nevermind that my knee was hurting a bit - you never admit that kind of thing on a ride unless you actually have blood gushing out, or it's swollen and turning odd colors, but even then you downplay it).

We turned left instead and climbed up and over Neubert Springs Road. Neubert Springs is a popular climb amongst area cyclists, and today it was a good climb if only for the shade. From there it was a quick ride back over to John's house.

Remember that decision point I mentioned? Here's where it comes into play. As we approached his house (say, from a 1/4 mile out) I pointed out dark clouds to the west. We rode up his driveway and I put my bike in the back of my car. John handed me a Coke and offered that I could use their guest bathroom if I wanted to shower off (and I sure needed to). As we walked over toward his garage we saw the first drop or two of rain. By the time I got out of the shower it was coming down steadily. I left his house and headed toward the Bike Zoo and it just kept getting heavier and heavier. By the time I hit Kingston Pike it was raining so hard that I was driving through two to three inches of water because it just couldn't drain off any faster. I got to the Bike Zoo and figured that, all things being equal, if we had turned right at Tipton Station, we might just then have been finishing our ride. And there I was sitting in the car waiting for the lightning and driving rain to die down a bit.

Yeah, we dodged a bullet all right.