Bike Tribes by Mike Magnuson

Author:Mike Magnuson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rodale
Published: 2012-07-24T16:00:00+00:00

the Dropped Challenge Century Rider: ANDY

Head down: Universal body expression that stands for “I’m blown.”

Two miles from now, he will blame getting dropped on the extra weight in the saddle bag.

For Andy, the Hundred Hills of Hell constitutes a benchmark for a whole year of cycling and training and sacrifice.

Everything in his life points to this event, the results of which indicate whether it’s been worth it to show that kind of devotion to his sport. But right now, with 15 miles left to go, he feels like his entire year of cycling is flushing down the toilet. He’s cramping everywhere, in the legs, the arms and neck and back, even his fingers. He doesn’t have a drop left in either of his bottles. He is having difficulty breathing. Worse yet, he’s acting like a jackass.

For the last 20 miles or so, he’s been riding with the guy who’s now 50 yards ahead of him on this long climb, but now the guy’s powering away from Andy, looking smaller and smaller up the road with each passing pedal stroke. What happened, the guy was Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky, talking about what a fine event this is and what a nice day-going on and on about it—and finally, Andy couldn’t take it anymore and said, “Listen, will you shut up and ride your bike? I’m riding for my personal best time here.”

The guy was quiet for a moment, then said, “It’s not a race, man. It’s just a century ride with some hills in it. If you want to get in a race, why don’t you get a goddam USA Cycling race license and start racing!” Then the guy rose from the saddle and stomped on the pedals and gapped Andy. Andy tried responding but couldn’t. He was cramping in about 10 places at once.

Now Andy feels desperate and stupid and alone. Down the toilet. Dammit. He’s put everything into this event: hired a fancy online coach and followed the coach’s training regimen to a T, a regimen so brutal it made life lousy for months on end. He’s been grumpy at home and overtired and thirsty and hungry and whining about nearly everything. His wife’s been sick of hearing about the Hundred Hills of Hell. His three kids have been tired of hearing about it. Even the people at work have asked him to please not mention the Hundred Hills of Hell or bicycles or bicycle parts or cycling clothing or ailments pertaining to cycling ever again. What’s the reward for all this humiliation and sacrifice? Some random dude in a bike-shop jersey drops him with no problem—and with only a few miles to go? What a waste!

Andy yells, “Sorry, man. I didn’t mean to be a jackass!” He hopes the guy will ease off the gas and ride with him again. But nothing. The guy keeps disappearing up yonder road without looking like he’s putting any effort into it.

“Shit,” Andy says.

Now a group of five cyclists passes him, and the last

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.