Escape from Interzone

I finally got the Mighty Trek cleaned up, Gentle Readers of This Blog, and got out for a spin. Really bad weather here in Interzone--but temperatures in the 70 forecast for Sunday--had me in the basement of the little house cleaning up the bike from the long drive from Tucson to Lawrence.

What helped me out is that I procured a trainer--and what that trainer, I discovered, is really good for, is a work stand. I was able to clean every nook and cranny and bolt and chain ring with the help of the stand. The Mighty Trek had a fine layer of grit and dirt everywhere. When I was done, the bike shown like a star. I have just not had time to do this work--plus being in Interzone has been depressing at times.

But I got out on the bike, and with a big folding map of the county--and directions from the lads down at the local bike shop--I set out to ride to Lone Star Lake.

I have to tell you, mes amis, that it was a beautiful 72 degrees--but I must tell you that I had a head wind of like 25 mph going out of town. As I made my way out, I saw a rider ahead of me, and I hammered-down through the headwind to try and catch them--which I finally did--just before a turn I needed to take. It was a young woman, very friendly, out for her first ride as well. She actually had gone to university in Tempe at ASU--that was cool. She confirmed a few things on the map for me, and she went on her way. Just as she was taking off however, another rider passed us and turned in the direction I wanted to go--so I bid the young woman farewell as I told her I was going to try and catch this next guy.

I met Mike--a stroke of luck, Gentle Readers of This Blog. He was going out to the lake, knew the route well, and offered to take me there and a bit of a different way back. The best thing about Mike was that he was well aware of Randonneuring--and although not a brevet rider--has been a cross-county tourer.

Sometimes it was hard to talk as we had to take turns pulling through a brutal headwind. Actually there was a cross wind a for a few miles that I thought would blow me off the road! Mike assured me that our return with the headwind would be quite fast--and that actually the wind today was a bit out of the ordinary.

I began to recognize a few of the landmarks from my ride with the Lawrence Bike Club back in September when I came out with Calle to visit Little Egypt and Rico. As Mike stated, our ride back was very fast with the tailwind pushing us along at 30 mph at some points along the way--soon we were back rolling into Interzone.

I feel very fortunate to have met and made a new friend to ride with. Mike and I exchanged phone numbers and we plan to ride together in the near future. Mike was new to the area and went out and explored all the roads over the years--I believe he said he was originally from Vermont--he has some short fast rides out of town to use as training rides--and then he knows the routes to a few pubs in small towns that serve good burgers and cold beer. Mike is also interested in trying some brevets--so I'm hoping I can train with him and we'll do some riding.

Sorry I did not take out the camera and get a few shots for you--but it was so windy and mainly just had to stay on the bike. More later on this route with photos I promise!

Cheers! Bruce