My Proudest Moment: Ride 2 Recovery Golden State Challenge

04.20.2011 | 6:45 am

201104200632.jpg A “Hey, Come Watch A Movie With Me and Ask Me Some Questions” Note from Fatty: I’m excited to be joining Bike Utah for the 2011 Utah Bike Summit. For the Kick-off movie, they’ll be screening Race Across the Sky 2010 , which features me for practically the entire movie. Or at least for a minute or so.

Anyway, after the movie, I’ll be there — along with my friend Kenny — for a Q&A session. If you’re local and can come watch the film, you absolutely should.

The film will be shown Thursday, April 28, at 7:00pm, at the Jordan Commons Megaplex.

A Note About Today’s Post from Fatty: Today’s guest post comes from Debi, a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Survivor, helmet evangelist, and the founder of Brain Injury Connection.

The proudest moment on my bike was when I rode up that final climb to the staging area before the Ride 2 Recovery (R2R) Golden State Challenge participants rode the last few miles to the Santa Monica Pier.

I met my personal goal to ride the entire route of 2010 R2R Golden State Challenge, a fundraising and rehabilitation ride, from San Francisco to Santa Monica without SAGing (cycling term) meaning needing to be picked up because your bike has had a mechanical problem; you’ve been injured; you can’t ride any further safely due to fatigue; or because of physical pain that could result in a serious injury. I didn’t want to be a burden to the R2R and take up a seat in a SAG vehicle that should be reserved for our newly injured veterans, many who have never ridden a bike or haven’t been on a bike in awhile.

I know a few people didn’t think I’d make it to Santa Cruz let alone ride over 7000 feet on the 95 mile ride day from Carmel to San Simeon via Big Sur.

I decided to get myself back in to riding after hearing the Executive Director of the Ride 2 Recovery, speak in 2009 at a brain injury resource fair. John Wordin shared how cycling is helping wounded warriors in their recovery from physical and mental injuries from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and he invited the brain injury community to participate.

I happen to be a noncombat veteran (1975 – 1978) and I was a Captain in the Army Reserves until a traumatic brain injury (TBI) changed my life and my civilian and reserve careers. This seemed like the perfect fundraiser for me. I wanted to support our troops.

I was desperate to feel better because I was very depressed. John also shared how he lost weight cycling after playing football in college. I have always fought the battle of the bulge, but the weight crept up rather quickly after the TBI. The fatigue issues that come with TBI and medications didn’t help.

It wasn’t until I told a friend I was planning to participate in the Ride 2 Recovery (R2R) Golden State Challenge that I was reminded of all the hills on Highway 1. Then, I realized I need to learn how to climb hills. I was raised in Michigan and I had never climbed a hill.

It was too late to back out; I had already told John I was going to participate.

I don’t know why I was so scared of the hills, but I suspect it was my fear of having another traumatic brain injury (TBI). Cycling is a high risk sport especially when you’re sharing the road with vehicles. I happened to be out riding my bike without a helmet when I had a TBI. I was informed by a witness that I got off my bike in the middle of an intersection and took one step and fell like I was shot. It resulted in two brain bleeds.

Cycling was challenging for me initially because of my fear, but thanks to a specialist in touch hypnotherapy, hypnomassage and trauma, I have worked through that fear for now.

I’m more confident because of the Golden State Challenge. There is nothing more fun and safer than riding with cyclists who care about each other and experienced and professional cyclists who care about inexperienced riders — like me.

While having the honor and privilege of riding with the men and women, who made the commitment, took the oath and answered the call of their country, I met my personal goal, I never SAGed while climbing over 27,000 feet on the Golden State Challenge, and I faced my fear of having another brain injury.

I have found cycling to be good medicine for me.

The following is picture is of me, the fat chick in the middle, Wayne Stetina, a professional cyclist and Vice President, Shimano American Corporation and Road Product Specialist, and Barbara, his lovely bride of 33 years, at the Santa Monica Pier with my beloved TREK hybrid.

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I was the only person riding the 7 day ride on a hybrid and I understand from Wayne that no one thought I’d make those hills. At the staging area Wayne congratulated me. He told me of all the people on the Golden State Challenge they thought wouldn’t be able to ride the entire route it was me.

But I did!

Every time I think about the R2R Golden State Challenge I experience a wave of euphoria. It was a confidence builder for me and it will always be the ride of my life.

Some of our troops because of the R2R are getting in to racing because they’ve become addicted to cycling. I was bit by the biking bug, too; however, I’m afraid because of my age there won’t be any competition so I plan to ride in fundraising events for causes I’m passionate about including but not limited to those that help people affected by brain injury and cancer, America’s combat veterans, and America’s vulnerable children and seniors.

After finding Fat Cyclist’s blog searching how to lose weight biking, I learned about Team Fatty and their dedication to eradicate cancer by “Fighting like Susan” for a cure and to help those affected by cancer. I lost several friends and a family member to cancer. I plan to honor them by riding in the Livestrong Challenge at Davis in July and I hope to meet Fatty.

Participating in the R2R Golden State Challenge gave this noncombat veteran the ride of her life; an opportunity to ride with America’s combat veterans; face her fears head on; and to say that she was proud to meet her personal goal not to SAG on the Golden State Challenge.

 

Guest Post by Gary Brennan: Losing 364 Pounds By Riding a Bike

04.19.2011 | 7:02 am

A Note for Womanly Austinites: Janeen “Noodle” McCrae may be the most awesome Friend of Fatty in the entire universe — last year she rode 4400 miles across America to raise money for the Austin LiveStrong Challenge. On April 26, from 6:30 – 8:00pm, Janeen will be talking about her incredible trip at the Mellow Johnny’s monthly “Ladies Bike Maintenance Class.” Click here for details and then be sure to attend.

A Note from Fatty About Today’s Post: I’m headed into a very intense workweek — lotsa early mornings and late nights — and I know from experience that it’s going to take pretty much every thing I’ve got. So, for the next few days, plan on guest posts. I think you’re going to like the batch I’ve got lined up, starting with this one from Gary Brennan, aka: The Amazing Shrinking Gaz, The 39-Stone Cyclist, or just “the fat lad on a bike.”

In January 2008 I weighed in at a mind- (and waist-) busting 39 stone and 13 pounds, (That’s 559 Pounds for our American readers). A few months before my Doctor had suggested to me that I consider a gastric by-pass.

I was shocked – I thought to myself “but they are for really fat people”.

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I was visiting my Doctor that day for many health-related, obesity-caused issues and realising my dire situation, he thought he would make the suggestion to help me. I left and thought nothing of his words. It was around three days later that, while struggling to walk from my living room to my kitchen that I decided “Actually I am really fat” and with that, my ‘light-bulb moment’, my life would never be the same again.

Pre-Cycling

I was approved for the surgery in April 2008 , however as I had a Holiday booked at the end of September they told me that it would not be done until at least October 2008, I decided that I needed to change and attempt to get a little stronger for the operation. I purchased a Giant Yukon 2008 MTB, I decided that I wanted to cycle to work, it was 6.5 miles away from where I live, and there is also a nasty hill that I had to ride on both journeys, there was no way I would be able to do that, it was something I was going to have to build up to.

From January to April I had lost around four-and-a-half stone (65 Pounds) and while I was impressed with my efforts it did mean that I was going to attempt to cycle weighing-in at over 34 stone (476 Pounds).

It was June 2008, 6pm; I had finished work, the sun was shining, my time was now, I got my bike and headed outside. I looked and felt like a total idiot, but nothing was going to stop me.

I had been watching NBC’s The Biggest Loser just a few days before, seeing people weighing up to 400 pounds doing punishing exercise. I was inspired by Mark Kruger and Roger Schultz who were both finalists, and who’d shown me in each episode how you not only need to change physically but also mentally.

The reality, however, was that both Mark and Roger were 200 pounds lighter than me – shouldn’t it have been me that was on the show?

The Biggest Loser is something I will always credit for helping save my life. If I hadn’t seen with my own eyes what could be done, then I’m not sure I would have even attempted it.

I cycled the half-mile to my local train station. I was wheezing, my arms hurt holding up my weight, my legs hurt pushing my weight along. I was soaking in sweat, like someone who had just run over 30 miles – but I had done it! I had made it to the half-way point.

I took in an energy gel, about 500ml of water and had a ten-minute sit-down. I was then ready to set off again and get home. Boy was it hard. By the time I was home I thought to myself “I can’t do this” – I couldn’t breathe, I was coughing and wheezing, tired and sore but I had cycled one mile. This was a real wake-up call for me; I had done well in losing over four stone but the reality that it was just a fraction of what I needed to do to survive this. With that I had a much needed half-hour sleep on the sofa.

Ramping It Up

I woke up the next day and I wanted to do it all over again, despite being sore, tired and embarrassed, I wanted to get out there and really go for it, so I did.

Over the coming days I forced myself to up my mileage and I was at the stage after a week that I could cycle to the train station, and then cycle from the train station near work to my office, every day.

I was doing two-and-a-half miles a day and starting to gain confidence. Within six weeks I was getting on and off the train two stops before I needed to, and then on August Bank Holiday 2008 I decided I was going to cycle to work, the whole way. It was a Bank Holiday, I was off work that day. I didn’t need to cycle to my office, but I was ready…

I made the 6.5 miles in 43 minutes, I felt fresh, strong and ready to do more, I decided to take the train home and save myself for the “Real” Commute the next day.

Over the next 3 weeks I cycled to work every day, but took the train home, the homeward leg was harder as it’s a gradual uphill with a kicker of a hill at the very end.

But every single day from then, to today, I have upped my mileage, going longer, harder and faster than before.

No Operation!

After my holiday I received the news I was expecting and yet dreading at the same time: I no longer qualified for the gastric by-pass, due to losing so much weight. I was thrilled, yet at the same time scared.

I had lost 115 Pounds from April to October – I had shown that I could do it.

The next day was a freezing cold and wet morning, one I am never going to forget. I thought to myself “I am on my own now, it’s all me.” Then from nowhere a good friend drove past. It was Christy, the one was pushed me to cycle in the first place. He waved and encouraged me on, and with that, the rain, the wind and the freezing temperature no longer mattered.

Two weeks later and I was cycling to and from work, doing 13 miles each day. Before long it was January again, and I decided to think about doing the Manchester to Blackpool ride. My target was 2010, but I had already come so far – and while I was training some new starters at work one of them said “Gaz, you can do it mate, I’ll do it with you” – and with that the seed was planted. I started increasing my mileage, getting to as much as 17 miles per day, and before I knew it, it was July. I was still weighing-in at over 350 Pounds.

I wasn’t ready for this, but I was going to do it anyway.

Gaz In The Media

Before the Blackpool ride I made a conscious effort to make my story public. I was interviewed by Granada Reports, BBC Radio, BBC Online and a host of local papers.

You might ask why someone who was still classed as morbidly obese would want to seek such publicity. Well, in my mind it was simple, to pile the pressure on me.

I had been cycling for around a year, yet I was still only around a quarter of the way though my journey. I had lost more weight than an average woman weighs, cycled more miles than 80% of the cyclists in my building at work and yet, I was still fatter than the majority of people who realise they need to lose weight. In fact, I was 12 months away from where most people START – shocking!

So I knew I needed to do something to keep me focused. The first year had been enjoyable, but I was nearing the point where cycling wasn’t as hard, but wasn’t easy, and I knew I was in for a rough ride.

So I started to write my blog, went public and signed up to a few cycling forums, all providing me with the motivation, drive and support I would need in the coming months.

Manchester To Blackpool

The night before the ride I couldn’t sleep – not to put too fine a point on it, I was on the toilet most of the night. When I got on the start line I was already knackered and my tummy would still not settle down. In the blink of an eye we were off – two colleagues and I were rolling.

I had to hold myself back from sprinting, I was so full of adrenalin. The first 15 miles flew by – our pace was good, and while not being record-setting, we were all in our stride and them boom – disaster. My colleague and I had a ‘coming together’; I held it together, he didn’t. The ensuing wait for medical help and then a stop for paramedics 10 miles later put us all off our stride. I struggled to get going again after being stopped for around 90 minutes in total.

In the end we made it to Blackpool. We were around four to five miles away and my cycle computer showed four hours and 50 minutes. I got a second wind and cycled harder than ever before – there was a nasty head-wind but I was going to push as hard as I could to get there in under five hours. The miles flew by, and before long we were on the sea front.

Around half-a-mile from the finish line, I said to Paul “Sorry mate, the adrenalin has kicked in, I’m going to sprint this,” and with that I watched my speed go from 14 mph to 18 mph, to 22 mph. Paul was still with me at this point, I then kicked into the big ring and stood up – I gave it hell, crossing the line, still sprinting at 29 mph. I was going a little too fast – the announcer told me to slow down, and my supporters said that they weren’t able to get any pictures due to my speed. What a result! I had finished, a year early, managed a sprint AND been told off for going too fast!

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Blackpool 2011

This will be the third year I have done this ride, I ride in memory and honour of some amazing people that touched my life who are no longer with us, but I also ride for the future, I have saved my future by losing 26 stone but so many out there, who are touched by cancer might not be as lucky as I am, for that reason, to give something back to those less fortunate than I am, I ride to help beat cancer once and for all.

If Gary’s story has inspired you, you can sponsor him via his ‘Just Giving’ page.

Stuff Fatty Loves: Bicycle Dreams

04.18.2011 | 10:43 am

201104180710.jpg A “TODAY is Your Last Chance to Register for 100 Miles of Nowhere” Note from Fatty: Registration for the 4th Annual 100 Miles of Nowhere ends tonight at Midnight, CT. Which means that if you’re planning to ride it, you need to register now.

As a quick recap, The 100 Miles of Nowhere — The Race Without a Place — is an event where you ride your bike for 100 miles by riding the shortest (and, often, most ridiculous) course you can imagine. It’ll be hard, you’ll have fun, and you’ll help Team Fatty help LiveStrong in the fight against cancer. For details, read this post.

Men, click here to register. Women, click here to register.

And then mark June 4 on your calendar for the strangest, most awesome 100 mile event of your life.

Stuff Fatty Loves: Bicycle Dreams

201104180732.jpg If you do something enough — and by “enough,” I mean “too much” — that something will get into your head. It will burrow in and start occupying a space way out of proportion to its actual importance.

You can get so close to a single tree that you forget there even is a forest. You can get so close to a tree, in fact, that all you see is a couple square inches of bark. And then, if you lean your forehead against the tree, you have to strain hard to see anything at all.

As a guy who has, from time to time, stared intently at a couple of square inches of bark for months at a time, I found myself empathizing with the people in Bicycle Dreams — an excellent documentary about the 2005 Race Across America (RAAM).

I also found myself thinking. And asking myself some questions.

It’s a rare movie that does that to me.

I Recognize These Guys

Bicycle Dreams concentrates on a handful of solo racers. On one hand, this means that some people who undoubtedly had compelling stories to tell never even appeared on screen.

On the other hand, this also means that for the people the show does concentrate on, you have enough time to start to get to know a little bit about them. Why they’re there. What they’re going through.

And if you do any kind of endurance racing — no, not necessarily ultra-mega-endurance, just plain ol’ endurance — you find yourself identifying with what they say.

When one of the leading racers, Jure Robic, says of the race, “It gets like poison into you. I like…I love this race,” I found myself nodding in agreement. The key words in what he said seemed carefully considered: I’ve had an event take over my system like a poison. I’ve felt an attachment to a race that felt so emotional and strong I’d call it love.

When I watched how personally involved the racers’ crews were — watching how they would beg with and plead with and calm and care for and make hard decisions for their riders, I thought about crews I’ve seen at races and how racers are only a small part of a racing team and how the crew carries the heavier burden.

And when I saw the complete exhaustion and hallucinations some of the riders experienced, I thought about how I felt after riding the Kokopelli.

But in each of these cases (and many more like them), I really only had enough of a basis of comparison to understand what these guys were going through a little bit.

I mean, I’ve had crews give up a weekend for me, but never two-plus weeks. I’ve gotten involved in training, but I’ve never quit my job and flown around the world to do a race. And while I was completely wiped after riding the Kokopelli for 18 hours, the first people to abandon the RAAM had ridden more than twice that amount of time — the winner of the race would have slept around eleven hours in eight days. Unbelievable.

So I guess I’m saying I can relate to these guys because of my own experiences, but only just barely. These guys take my most obsessive race experiences, and then multiply them by ten. Or more.

I Like These Guys

I don’t want to portray this Bicycle Dreams as a movie about obsessive-compulsives on bikes. The fact is, most of the guys doing this race are around my age — guys in their thirties and forties. And I like them, because they’re not too different from me. They talk about looking for meaning in riding their bikes forever; I talk forever (this blog is now six years old) about riding my bike.

Over and over, while watching this show, I turned to The Runner and would comment on how I thought I’d be doing in the same situation — whether it be a hallucinating rider, a rider who has to don a makeshift neckbrace, the rider whose exhaustion is so complete he can no longer bring an image of his wife and child to mind. These guys, at least from what I saw in the movie, were candid enough about their experience that I couldn’t help but imagine myself right there with them.

And I found myself rooting for every single one of them.

In particular, I found myself identifying with a particular rider — Dr. Bob Breedlove — who was riding his sixth RAAM (he had completed each of the previous five attempts). In one of the first shots of the man, he’s asked how he’s doing. He replies “Another day in paradise.”

I turned to The Runner and said, “That’s the guy I want to be like when I grow up.” I want to be the guy who, once he’s picked a challenge, embraces it and enjoys it and soaks up the fact that he’s doing something pretty remarkable.

Heartbreak

It seems weird to want to avoid spoilers for an event that happened nearly six years ago, but I’m going to assume that most people don’t ordinarily follow RAAM any closer than I do, and I’ll just say this: partway through Bicycle Dreams, the numerous expected dramatic moments are interrupted by a tragedy, and it bothered me enough that the first time I watched this movie I wasn’t able to concentrate on the rest of the film. In fact, it bothered me enough that I didn’t feel like I could write a review about the movie (which I’ve had for more than a year now) until I watched it again last night.

Then, watching the show again last night, I found myself saddened by a whole different event. Many of the riders do ultra-endurance rides because there’s something sublime about riding your bike well past where you thought your limits are. I nodded my head in agreement. If you’re willing to push yourself, you deserve an epiphany.

But then one of the riders pulls over to the side of the road and says, quietly, “I’m done.” He had his epiphany, and his epiphany was that racing wasn’t worth what it had cost him.

He says it with such conviction, such certainty, such clarity, that I can’t imagine a person who’s dedicated a big chunk of his life to biking not feeling a little bit shaken.

So, be ready. Bicycle Dreams is inspiring and exciting — Stephen Auerbach deserves huge kudos for the beautiful look and compelling telling of the story — but you’ll probably find yourself asking yourself some serious questions afterward.

Wrapping up, then. Is this movie for everyone? I don’t know. I’m sure that my mom would experience it differently than I did. One thing is certain, though: If you ride a bike and have, at some point, thought about pushing yourself to find out what your limits really are, Bicycle Dreams is a movie you absolutely must see.

The Bike Withdrawal Chronicles

04.13.2011 | 4:52 pm

A Note from Fatty: If you’re planning to do the Fourth Annual 100 Miles of Nowhere, it’s not too late to sign up. Click here to sign up for the men’s (i.e., to get a men’s t-shirt) category, or click here to sign up for the women’s (i.e., to get a women’s t-shirt) category. While the first 500 registrants got dibs on the swag boxes, you’ll still get the oh-so-dapper event t-shirt, as well as the race plate, so you can tell people you totally won your category in a race, and have the race plate to prove you were there.

I am currently in the middle of an intriguing experiment. An experiment I am conducting, oddly enough, on The Runner and myself.

We are finding out what happens when people who usually exercise every day (in my case, biking; in The Runner’s case, biking and running and P90X) stop exercising — pretty much cold turkey — for nine days, while on vacation at The (second?) Happiest Place on Earth(tm).

That’s right. We knew we’d be busy most every moment we were awake, and we knew that this busy-ness would be to the exclusion of three-hour bike rides.

Plus, we were trying to keep the luggage down to a minimum.

Since this experiment is still in progress, I do not yet have the data I need to draw a final conclusion. Still, I am pleased to present some intriguing observations I have made.

Day 1: We (The Runner, me, and six kids) got up at 4am, and spent the day going from car to parking lot to shuttle to airport to airplane to airport to airplane to airport to shuttle to car rental place to rental van (a massive Ford yacht that seats 8) to rental house. By the time we arrive, any thoughts of exercising that day are gone. We just want to go to bed.

But first — but first — we decide to go to a grocery store to buy a week’s-worth of groceries, so we can both save money on food and not gain as much (or, ideally, any) weight by not going out to eat all the time.

But there’s a problem: we bring The Runner’s 20-year-old son (The IT guy) with us when we buy groceries. And The IT Guy loooovvvves ice cream. Drumsticks, ice cream sandwiches, multiple cartons of different flavors of ice cream, italian ice, Blue Bunny single-serves, ice cream on a stick.

I am not exaggerating or making any of this up. If anything, I might be forgetting a couple of things.

Suffice it to say that in the space of a single trip to the grocery store, the freezer went from empty to very full and ridiculously tempting.

And suffice it further to say that I don’t have much in the self-control department.

Day 2: We spend the day at Epcot. For most of the day, I have a nagging sensation — something is missing. What is it? I can’t figure it out, but something’s out of place; I don’t feel right.

And then I figure it out: This is the second day since I’ve been on a bike.

I ask The Runner, “Have you had a weird sensation, that something’s out of place?”

“Yeah,” replies The Runner. “The whole day. What is it?”

“We haven’t ridden or run in a couple days.”

“That’s it,” exclaimed The Runner. Then she was quiet for a moment before asking, “Has that ever happened before since we’ve been together?”

“No,” I replied. “Not even close.”

Day 3: We get up late, having been exhausted from the previous day’s exhausting marathon session of walking, standing in line, sitting on rides, and eating very expensive Mickey Mouse Ice cream bars. We decide it’s a beach day, and that we will go on a run on the beach.

But by the time we make sandwiches, pack the ice chest, gather the kids and slather them with sunscreen, and drive to Cocoa Beach, it’s about noon and 102 fahrenheit. (Not that I’m complaining about the heat — it’s snowing back in Utah).

“There’s no way I’m running in this heat,” I say, as I eat another handful of Nutter Butter Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies (by Nabisco).

“Mmmmff,” says The Runner, chewing a Rice Krispie treat.

Day 4: We’re up early and at The Magic Kingdom by the crack of dawn, or at least by 10am (Hey, if you’re herding 6 kids, 10am is basically the crack of dawn).

The Runner and I are each in a foul mood, and not because we’re cranky about being in an amusement park (neither of us are the types of adults who sneer and turn up our noses at theme parks; our kids have fun there, and so do we).

We’re cranky because we’re suffering withdrawal symptoms. Irritability. Headaches. Inability to concentrate. Shakes. Short temper, which I guess is actually just irritability, but we’re really irritable, so it bears mentioning twice.

Day 5: We spend the day at Hollywoodland, or whatever it’s called. “I’m feeling better,” I tell The Runner. “The impulse to exercise is fading quickly.”

“I think we’d better run or something tomorrow morning,” replies The Runner.

“But you know what’s weird?” I observe. “Even though I’m exercising a lot less, I find I’m actually just as hungry as ever! Which reminds me,” I then say, “We’re just about out of ice cream. We should get more since we have a few more days left in our vacation.

Day 6 (today): We set the alarm and get up before anyone else, then go on a five mile run in the morning.

It’s about three miles into the run that I make an astonishing discovery:

In the space of one short week, it’s possible, with concerted effort, to completely erase any fitness gains one has made up to that point in one’s life.

Two Observations

04.7.2011 | 8:42 am

Yesterday afternoon, while riding to Cedar For and back — a 44-mile road ride that comes as close to a flat course as can be found in Alpine, UT (only around 1500 feet of climbing) — I had two observations, one of which has a followup observation.

I submit them both for your consideration.

Observation 1

Like most important and deep truths, the observation I made during this ride is succinct:

If you’re going to talk with someone during a road ride into a strong headwind, whatever you have to say had better be worth repeating. Loudly. And at least three times.

Hey, that’s so short I very nearly could have tweeted it.

Observation 2

As you might have guessed from observation 1 above, yesterday’s ride had a pretty significant headwind — except when it was a crosswind, and except when it was a tailwind. And the wind kept changing.

It was a very mischievous wind.

Anyway, one of the characteristics of The Runner is that she doesn’t like drafting. She feels it reduces the effort of the ride too much, and since getting in a good workout is one of the reasons you’re out there, why draft?

Frankly, I’m boggled by this line of reasoning, but that’s not the observation I want to make.

I, unlike The Runner, am perfectly happy to draft. In fact, I love drafting. And so, while tucked behind The Runner as she toiled away against a stiff headwind, I made the following observation:

If you’re a guy, there’s something really, really awesome about drafting behind a very hot woman.

I don’t think I need to explain my reasoning on this observation, for I consider it self-evident. However, as soon as I made this observation, I had a followup observation.

Followup Observation to Observation 2

Even as I reveled in my good fortune, something nagged at me. Then, as a cyclist going the other direction gave us a “I’d wave but the wind has crushed my soul and drained all my energy” nod, I realized what that nagging thing is. Which is the following:

While it’s awesome to be drafting behind a really hot woman, the macho part of me hopes that none of my friends see that I haven’t been taking a turn pulling.

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