More Like Cipollini Every Day...

In a last-minute maneuver, I found myself getting ready to do a short training ride out of the local bike shop for the upcoming Tour to Tanglewood. I worked out about two hours to ride the bike before we would have a giant pre-start-of-school family day out on the town. Lucky to sneak the ride in at all!

While I realized my fitness was somewhere between that of Dom DeLuise and contestants on day one at the Biggest Loser Ranch, I was excited. I knew I'd see some of my old riding pals from Dell and I'd jumpstart my system with a physical shock that would get me on the right path. I was so excited that I decided to leave the ever-present mp3 player at home.

The forecast was for cool, gray skies in the morning, followed by midday thunderstorms. So, amidst torrid heat, my worry was that I might be too cold! Ha! Anyway, a couple slices of peanut butter toast with honey and I was out the door, on the bike, riding down to Mock Orange Bikes to get this thing going. True, there was a soft sprinkling of rain, but that wouldn't be a problem. Then, on my mile-long ride to the shop the rain started to move from a soft sprinkling to pellets with a painful purpose. Not boding so well.

This picture is BEFORE we got out on the bikes!

But I found my pals! ALWAYS good to see cycling friends, particularly when it's been a while. Good stuff. As we spoke outside the shop, the rain became torrential. A T2T volunteer came around to let us know we'd move the start time out a bit and see if it got any better. With good company, these things pass quickly enough and it was about 45 minutes later that we got on our bikes and readied to head out.
I knew I'd have to cut my ride short to maintain my other family obligations, so I prepped my pals that I'd be pulling off the ride pretty quick, but wanted to start. I also made it a point to check in with the volunteers and pointed out my name on the checklist, put a slash next to it and said I would not be coming back for the reasons I've already stated. All cool and ready to go.

We headed out and what had probably started over 75 people had dwindled to half as many when we got rolling. The rain was soft again and folks were in good spirits. I rode as far as Graylyn, which isn't far at all, when I headed back home. Not much of a ride, but a plenty fun experience nonetheless. I made it home with just enough time to shower and get ready to head out with the fam on schedule. Cool.

And, to be honest, riding in the rain kind of sucks when you're wearing glasses. The rain on my back is nothing compared with my inability to see. I'm okay missing that. Those that keep up with my Mario Cipollini fascination realize that my quitting on a ride when it gets tough is in sync with The Lion King. Me, just emulating the man...

My view of the world. Or, at least, my backyard.

That said, it ended up be sunny and pleasant all day long and, I'm sure, the riders had great weather with few worries for the rest of their ride. Ugh. Wish I'd had the chance to play, but those things happen. FYI, it was a wonderful, fun-filled family day.

By the time we got home, later that evening, there were three different calls from the T2T MS volunteers asking if I was okay, because I didn't check in and they were worried. PLEASE call back. I tried, but the number didn't answer or message, so I'm sure I'm on some list of jackasses who abandon rides. Arghhhhh!