High school reunion
November 14, 2018 § 5 Comments
I went out and did the NPR today, but not before posting the Wanky NPR call sign on Facebagland, “Switching to Glide.”
It was kind of like the old days, a reunion of sorts minus Sausage, Eric A., Hair, Davy, Rahsaan, G$, Surfer, Derek, and a bunch of others. Still, plenty of tough riders answered the call including the legendary Head Down James, making his reappearance for the first time in ages.
My goal was to go hard until I couldn’t anymore but I got more than I bargained for. Head Down James, Chris Rothermel, Shoutypants Faye, Sleepy David Ellis, and Ram-Ram lit it up on VdM. Cam Khoury blitzed after World Way Ramp, and by the time we were on the Parkway people were already gassed.
James, Chris, and a couple of other riders hit it again and they were gone. The group chased hard until the turnaround on the first lap. The leaders had a red light and they simply stopped. No breakaway rules, they just stopped and patiently waited. We “caught” them, otherwise they would have been gone for the day.
After seeing that kind of stone cold restraint, I’m never running an NPR red light again. Chapeau, guys.
I kept drifting to the front, taking a swing, then drifting to the back. Rudy Napolitano showed up and all hell broke loose. James kept the gas on and people were getting shelled left and right, then playing hop-in-wanker as they cut across the Parkway to hitch back on when the group rolled back around.
I made a hard effort halfway into the second lap, then eased up because my legs were shot as the group came by on the golf course bump. I waited until the last rider then dug, almost at the top, to get back on.
For the first time ever, I couldn’t. It was only about 20 yards to cover, which was about 19 yards too far. “Man,” I thought, “this is a combination of old age and being really weak.”
As I rode alone for a bit, then Tim Gillibrand, the 95-year-old guy who still comes out twice a week, passed me. “That all you got?” he said with contempt.
Yeah, Tim. It was.
END
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Cycling in the South Bay 
Great to read you are back out there fake race training. Real fake racing might be for the convicts and dopers, but one of the cornerstones of our health after 50 is raising the old heart rate, really high, as high as it will go, chasing the likes of Head Down James and all the other hitters. Just as a point of reference our fake training race here in the SF Bay Area is the POO ride in West Oakland and the regulars are almost all in their 50’s. And… we dog each other regularly to encourage each other to come out and get flogged. Just as it seems you guys do down south. Do not get discouraged because you got dropped, just keep practicing. Thx as always for the great blog….
Welcome! Getting shelled is therapeutic especially by much younger non-doped riders!!
…did you switch to glide???…i’m gonna tomorrow!!!
Switched but got stomped!
Man I want to be just like Tim when I grow up!