Monday, December 5, 2011

Blinky Lights And The Weekend Wrap Up

I'm surprised that I haven't mentioned this before. It irritates me as much as a snotty, parking-lot-poseur or a tri-geek rocking a triple and "every" add-on accessory that's made by Profile Design. I'm talking about, of course, people who insist on running their lights during the daytime.

Mongo is all about safety, don't get me wrong, but a high-intensity, flashing light when the Sun is out does nothing more than reinforce the fact that the person using it is an idiot. I don't need a thousand lumens blinking directly into my eyes to let me know you're there. Why? Because it's not dark...and unless you're wearing your Nashbar, Klingon "Cloaking Vest", there's a good chance that I'll see you before anything bad happens that might have been prevented by me being blinded by your stupid light.

Mongo didn't get to defend my victory this Saturday at the Cat 6/7 "Enemy Bike Shop" ride. Work and being old got in my way. Though disappointed, I was actually happy to get some rest. When you reach Mongo's age, sometimes your chamois writes checks your legs can't cash. Anyway, I was eager to get back at it on Sunday.

Mongo put in 45 miles on the Silver Comet Trail (Home of the annoying blinky lights), and managed an average speed of 19.2 mph. Not too shabby for a solo ride. I did have to dispose of two Cervelos when they decided not to play nice and tried the two-pronged, "Schleck" attack on me several times over ten miles.

Today, I went back to the hills of the 23/2300 Hammerfest for a day of moderate suffering. Except for some dude in a car stopping me on one of the climbs to ask for directions, it was a smooth ride. I hate to say it, not really, but I'm riding pretty well these days. My weight is down to what it was in college (I was kinda chunky in college), and my aerobic and anaerobic fitness is at an all time high. If I keep this up over the winter, well, I can see myself moving up from the rear-middle of the peloton to the front-middle of the peloton next season.

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