30 July 2011 Ride: Bicyclists...or Subversives

In the neighborhood that I lived in back in the Fifties when I was four or five, there was a family just up the street that my parents talked about rather scandalously; it turned out that the ENTIRE family rode bikes, including the parents.  Riding bikes was considered a child's activity so the fact that there were adults in the family who also rode was fodder for talk.  I remember driving by the house a couple of times hoping to catch sight of the family, especially the adults, wondering what they looked like.  It was as if we had Communists living in the neighborhood.  I have a vague memory, even though I found it incredulous that the parents also rode, that I also found it rather cool that this whole family were bicyclists.  Not knowing anything else about the family, I had the sense that it was a very close knit unit.  Who knows.

 

A family of bicyclists...or subversives?

Leading the pack is the youngest party member who is actually riding, of all things, a recumbent.

The above photo is the only one for today.  Actually, there were several attempts at trying to capture shots of dragon flies in  mid-air but they were all for naught.  I looked around for things to photograph but I was more or less on automatic as I pushed through the ride.  It seemed that something more is needed than a day of biking and chainsawing as I awoke at 3:20.  Seeing no hope of going back to sleep, I got up at 3:40, cleaned the kitchen and drove over to the Botanical Garden around 6:00 for the morning ride.  

It is a curious thing what compels a person forward.  My bench mark for each day is 60 minutes but today I was determined to do 50 miles.  The 50 miler today seemed a much more Herculean effort than the 100 miler last week.  (And, typing this up is no easy feat with typos almost every other word.)  Perhaps I'm staying in training for that day when all the cars are immobilized and an alert goes out looking for someone who can make an emergency 100 mile bike ride for a much needed blood supply to save thousands from dying.  Who knows.  Maybe it's some sort of Communist plot.

Today's Ride:  4hrs. 24mins.  50.08 miles.  78-88 degrees.  Miles YTD:  4,895.57

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