Fightin' Bikin'

It is 7:33 AM as I type this. I've already made my bicycle ride and now enjoying my second cup of coffee (I drank the first one before my ride). As long as I am pedaling with a bit of breeze blowing and the sun not hot yet, it is not bad out there. But when I stop, the sweat pours off of me. I don't know if it is psychological or what, but the last part of my ride (up the driveway) is always the hardest. Toby and Jesse have gone to work and I am alone today. With this heat, I'm considering going naked. Snort!

The ride:
This morning Penny the rottweiler and her owner were out by the street taking out the garbage. I unclipped one foot just in cases Penny decided to be friendly. But she was very well behaved and just watched with curiosity as I went by. Down the road there was a calf on the wrong side of the cattle guard - yep, he was in the long pasture enjoying the tall grass. His calf buddies were all looking on with envy. When he saw me coming, he leaped like a deer back over the cattle guard. It reminded me of a heifer we had one time that could leap any and all fences. Toby called her Jackie (Joyner Kersee). She went to the sale barn pretty quick.

Papa Bear and Baby rode their bikes last night while I watched an episode of "The Closer." You know where my priorities are. Actually, I was working through the whole "not going to the mountains this week" thang. I wish I could say that as soon as disappointment slapped me in the face, I could instantly recover and be truly good about it. Unfortunately, it takes me a while to get there sometimes. It's not like it was anyone's fault that things got changed, but still my emotions run the gamut from hurt, disappointment, irritation, it will work out, it's all good, and maybe a bit of WTH thrown in there from time to time. Usually, I get to "whatever" and "I'm good with that" eventually. Toby is used to hearing me rant through the emotions. He is good to offer pleasant thoughts, when I would really like to fight. Have I ever mentioned that I am a fighter from way back? My brothers will tell you this is true. It is a part of me that I try to put off, but sometimes it rears its ugly head. Picture Toby calmly holding his hand on my head and my short arms swinging. No wonder Toby and Jesse went for a bike ride last night.

Back to bikes:
Papa bought a 29ER this past spring. It is a mountain bike with large tires for heavy duty riding. He bought special tires to ride on our country roads - good for off-trail and paved roads. He does have good toys. It is much safer on these chipped-sealed back roads, but it is much slower than a road bike with skinny tires. When I rode with Papa last week, he was on the 29ER, and I was able to pass him by and keep him chasing me. Last night he took his road bike out, but still had trouble keeping up with Baby. She is just in better shape and been riding more. When he mentioned that he had had trouble keeping up with me last week (on his 29er) she looked incredulous - What Mama Bear was able to leave Papa Bear behind??? Yeah, I did. What of it? Ya wanna fight? Ya think I'm just mashed potatoes? Let's throw down! She backed off.

So the moral of that story is that if you want speed, go with the road bike and skinny tires. If you want safety in the gravel, go with the 29ER and the fat tires. I believe Papa said something like this, "I sure like my road bike for speed, but it certainly makes you suck up your hiney when you hit gravel." I agreed - and said that I was not willing to pull off to the edge of the road when a car was coming, because of the loose gravel. I would rather take my chances with the car. If I pulled over and hit that loose grave, chances are that I would be thrown over and under the on-coming car anyway. So I look 'em dead in the eye and dare them to run over me - yeah right.