Stand back

A few years ago I was a serious cyclist. The first year I trained I was on an old Cannondale mountain bike, wearing gray sweatpants and a t-shirt and if it was cold, a sweatshirt and if it was raining, an ill fitting slicker.

When I got into shape I bought a road bike. I started to wear bike gear, spandex shorts, cleats and shirts that could breath out the sweat. Even at that point I needed mileage to really start to loosen up the muscles in my legs. The first 5 miles of each ride was really about loosening up, but right about the fifth mile of my warm up, I would find myself on this flat road, running along the shore of Bainbridge Island, Washington.

I would check my speed and the first year, it was maybe 14 miles per hour. What I did was internally note that and try and ride 10 percent faster the next summer. Every summer I would try and ride 10 percent higher than the previous summer. Starting at 14 miles per hour was a good, low level of speed to grow from. Keep in mind, unless there was snow on the road, I would ride right through all the seasons, but it was my summer average I was paying attention to.

The next summer I averaged 16 miles per hour, beating my 10 percent goal. The next I clocked in at 18 and change. I was strong and constantly riding, so I could will myself to push hard and go faster. I got to the point where, on those flats, with no wind, I was averaging 22 miles per hour.

The real goal for me was always 10 percent. I just wanted to get faster. I lost weight and rode in the wind, the rain and even in snowy conditions. I was an addict and my real high was increasing the speed.

The last few weeks this blog has been gaining new readers on a daily basis. We set a record for most hits in a single day about a week or so ago, a new high. Then yesterday, we blasted right past that number. Today, and it's about 2PM on the east coast as I write this, we have surpassed yesterdays record breaking number by 10 percent.

As a way of thanking you, oh first, since I am competitive this way, please copy this blog address and send it to friends, or enemies, or just old professors, and tell them to check it. I'd like to keep the ten percent increase going. Anyway, as my way of thanking you, and especially those people who click donate on the right side of this page, I am not going to delete any more comments today. That should shut up that particular debate.

Oh, and I can say fuck too. Wow, just typing fuck makes me feel like so much more of a man. Fuck fuck fuck fuck.

Shit.

Fuck.