Story of the Irregulars, Chapter 3, part a

Unlike the previous winter, over the winter of 2007/8, Martin did very little riding: 3 rides spread over 4 1/2 months is not enough to stay in shape, esp. if you aren't doing any other strenous acitivty. The omens were not good.


The "irregulars" rode once in March. Barry & I struggled to hold onto BobH & Norris, both of whom were in excellent shape. Funny thing, Barry & I each thought that Bob & Norris had been breaking the wind for us during the first 10+ miles of the ride; we learned just how mistaken we were when we headed northeast on Carpenter Pond Rd back towards PUE. The five or so miles on CP from Virgil to MVC Rd were not fun. It was bad.


I had ridden only once more in March and twice in April before sending out the "invite" for the "irregulars" to restart the season with a virgin start location and many virgin roads. So virgin were the roads that I snuck in a pre-ride of the course on Thursday; working as hard as I could I avg'd 14.1 mph on the 37 1/2 mile course; but at least I had verified the view from the side road was worth the little detour; however, things did not bode well for Saturday.

The group consisted of Snapper, BigWaveDave, the "Iceman" PaulN, and me. Snapper had to change his flat rear tire before the ride could start. About 10 miles into the ride, we had to stop and pump up Snapper's rear tire again. And when we stopped to appreciate the view from the side road, part of one of Snapper's pedals came off; what is it BigWaveDave says about Snapper -- "there's always a drama with Harvey". After that there were no more problems except my lagging further and further behind and the strong headwind on the long homestretch was still blowing. With a mile to go, I had to stop for a break; thankfully, the Iceman stuck with me, I finished the ride avg'ing 14.9 mph. Things were still looking bleak.


In late April or early May, Snapper asked for Mt Rushmore to be added to the list and the Duke asked for Iva to be added to the group list. And it was getting better.

During May, there were a few "irregular" group rides. The theme of each was pretty much the same. BobH puts up with the slow pace from the author and drags the two of through a 55 mile slow ride -- but at least we explored some new roads. Frank and BobH put up with the slow pace of the author. The Iceman and Mt Rushmore put up with the slow pace of the author; but at least I was able to sneak in one quick assault on a steep climb on the Mount. Some of those memories must be from June instead of May. But maybe things were still trending towards being good.


In mid-May, the author met two "lost" souls, preparing for their first "north Raleigh" ride, in the BJP parking lot. Jess & Mel started their ride before I had completed kitting myself out and prepping the bike. However, I was back from my slow, 30-mile ride well before J & M completed their much faster-paced 32-mile ride; I even had had time to get out of the swamp-butt clothes and write a note for them. As I was leaving the note on the windshield of one of their cars, J & M returned -- quite wide-eyed and shaken and with "white knuckles". They had naively chosen a route by chance from the NCBC web site cue sheets, and had just ridden Purnell Rd during "rush hour". I suggested they strike that route off their potential list and e-mail me for some better options. A day or so later, Jess e-mailed me, and to shorten the story somewhat, the first females were added to the list, and a "behave yourselves - control your testosterone" rule was added.

A former co-worker once told me something he learned from his 19 years as a navigator on B-47's and B-52's with the Strategic Air Command (SAC): "all men are ugly, all women are beautiful". In that vein, things were definitely looking good.