Sunday, January 13, 2008

Soybeans and Cottonfields


I made the trek down to Shelby, NC yesterday to go for a ride with my friends Mike Keeley and Roger Ivestor. These two guys really inspired me back in the day, when I was going through tough times. They taught me not by talking but by living their lives. They are some of the most positive people I know. Rarely critical, and if they are critical they are attempting to find a solution to the issue at hand. I respect that.
I got to Mike's house right at 9am and we left about 15 minutes later. We rode out past PPG to meet Roger who lives in Boiling Springs. Out the time trial rd, I had flashbacks of when I first moved to Shelby. I used to show up at the group rides scared. I knew that I was going to get dropped again. And get lost. Hopefully I would be able to find another farmer to ask directions of.
One time as we were riding along, hammering rather, ( Hammering: riding at a very fast pace), I heard the guys talking: " Why are we riding so fast?". The response:" We are trying to drop Stephen!!!". ( Drop: to ride so fast that the individual cannot keep up.) That day they did drop me. It took me 6 months until I was finally able to keep up for the entire 40-60 mile ride. Then I started sprinting with the guys, and taking longer turns pulling ( pulling: leading the group and allowing them to rest in your draft).
We rode along, yesterday, discussing anything from synthetic oil, to seat posts, to single speed mtn bike racing. Rolling through cotton fields, soybean fields, and farmland. There was hardly any traffic, and the weather was great. The hills that used to make me slow down and crawl up, I was able to tame with nary a thought. We had some headwind, I had forgotten about headwinds since moving to the mountains. I mentioned it to Mike and he informed me that this was not really that bad!!
We rode through Ellenboro and Lattimore. Mike decided to get competitive and started sprinting. Mike is a sprinter, Roger and I are climbers. Needless to say, Mike won most of the sprints. We stopped at Ambassador College for some coffee, then headed back to Mike's.
It was a great day of riding. We logged 44 miles. I came home and entered the information for the elevation chart and found that we had climbed a total of 919 feet. That blew my mind. I get that much climbing on my 14 mile work ride!!!!
Mike, Roger, thanks for the ride, the laughs and the positive attitudes.
Have a great day.

No comments: