I Like To Ride My Bicycle…

I have taken to riding my bike quite a bit, not nearly to the extent my dad has, he rides like 150Km in a day just for fun.  But I have taken to it never-the-less as part of my usual weekend activities. 

A couple of weeks ago I rode out to Lakefield also the bike path and I saw a guy riding his road bike along the winding road.  I have a mountain bike, sort of a high end Wal-Mart type.  It’s not crappy to be sure, but if I had bought it at a bike shop it would have been the cheapest one they carry. The guy riding the road bike had the whole 9 yards, the jersey and the aerodynamic helmet, the shorts and all that.  Yes that road twists back and forth a bit while the bike path is straight, but I was out running him. during a stretch when the road and the path run parallel I put distance between us.  It was great.  He was not likely trying as hard as I was, at least for his sake I hope not, but it was still satisfying.

Last night after dinner I went for a quick ride just up the Jackson park path and back.  Just as I was about to go through the gate that keeps larger vehicles off the path one of those moped/scooters passed me.  I took it as a challenge I was going to race this guy and see how long I could stay ahead of him.  So on went the jets and I passed him in short order, I was putting space between us when we came to the wide open section where you can turn off the path to head up to Fairbairn Street and he turned.  I was disappointed.  I was pleased that for that short distance I totally mopped the floor with the guy on a motorized bike, but sad that the race was so short.  Before we even began I was sure it would have been no problem to sprint past him, but the challenge was going to be in doing it over a long distance.  Oh well.

Turns out it might have been for the best as the bugs started to come out and by the time I reached the end of the path before it becomes the Omemee trail it was all I could do to not swallow bugs or get them in my eyes.  If I had been working really hard at that point I would have had to puke from all the bugs I had eaten I think.

I’m quite sure it will be a long time before I’m as crazy as my dad about cycling, but it would be fun to do a short race and see how well I can do.