The knock on the door was expected. I was wearing old bike shorts, a pair I had crashed in at some point in history, I know this because there are holes in the left side, around my hip and some small ones on my thigh, where I must have hit the pavement. They still hold together, so I still wear them when I ride.
For me, cycling has become something of an endurance test. I have crashed numerous cycles many times and for the time being I am still fairly healthy. So I continue to cycle because it is my addiction. I did try a couple of meetings at CA (Cyclists Anonymous) but the cigarette smoke was bothersome and the tales of drug addiction and childhood sexual abuse was too much drama for me to handle, so I got on my bike and rode home.
The knock at the door was my dear friend Professor TMI, of Ohio Professor TMI, the same Professor of whom I somehow offended by making a racist remark at a Martin Luther King memorial ceremony at Kent State University. My bad. This morning the professor looked like a young Lance Armstrong, tight bright uniform and muscles all primed and ready. I grabbed my bike.
A month or so ago we discovered that if you carefully mind the roads in my ghetto for about a mile and then head up a nearby 2 mile mountain, you will be delivered onto about 30 miles of lush farmland. We headed for the farmland. Professor TMI is a true road cyclist and I am no longer a serious road cyclist, so 2 mile mountain climbs are really no longer of much interest to me.
When I lived in the Pacific Northwest our house was on a very steep mountain, you had to drive up a mile of steep hill to get to it. When I started serious cycling I would have to climb that mile at the end of every ride and some rides were well over 100 miles long. I thought about that mountain as I pedaled my way past Professor TMI midway up the 2 mile mountain this morning. I may be out of shape for road riding, but I am a competitive jerk and I have been indoor riding all winter. Overtaking the Professor set in motion what would become a give and take 37 mile road race that was neither pretty or fair.
After being overtaken a few times and after finding ways to over take the always spinning Professor TMI, at mile 17 there is a home under construction and an Porta-Potty out front that is not locked. I motioned to Professor TMI that I’d like to stop and since I was in the lead at that point, we both pulled over into the gravel that would someday be a paved driveway. I set my bike down and went into the Porta-Potty and did what I had to do. When I was done I walked out and Professor TMI went in and that’s when I got back on my bike and started riding away.
About 3 miles later I was passed my Professor TMI and I would not catch up again until I was home. A serious cyclist, when challenged can do amazing things.
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