Back around the time I was starting blogging (i.e. just before the summer) I had been playing with the idea of trying to get an informal weekend ride going. With MLW FINALLY succumbing to the MTB bug and a few more friends converting from their sedentary ways I finally have a group ride that I can (after a fashion) call my own. Each weekend the names and numbers my change but the Sunday (sometimes Saturday) ride has become a Bollux-household tradition. So I'm happy right? Well yeah, most of the time! I have people to ride with, MLW has become a MTB zealot meaning I can spend more time/money on my bikes and riding has become an integral part of our family life. What else could a guy ask for!
But I'm a miserable ungrateful Bastard at heart, so of course there is always something I can moan about.
I kind of miss my lonely long solo rides that used to be a hard won part of my weekends. Before the birth of the "group ride" my Sunday morning ride was always a topic of some friction in the Bollux-home. To ensure I was back home before the children had driven MLW to the edge of homicidal mania (the object of which would have been me not the children) I had to hit the trails at absurd times in the morning. And to make sure I did not wake the children when I got up various hoops had to be jumped through - normally resulting in me sleeping downstairs on the couch, waking well before sunrise, getting dressed in my garage, washing/teeth brushing at the outside spigot and eating breakfast in the car at the trail head. None of which was particularly pleasant!
But....... When I finally hit the trails I was free! I could go as hard as I liked, take whatever trails my mojo took me on, and within reason go as far as my legs could carry me. Close to 20 miles was a regular ride! Yes it was lonely sometimes and I craved company sometimes, but mostly (once I was actually on the trail) I was golden.
Leading a ride adds company but it also adds constraints. Distance and speed are the first casualties with a group ride, being an inclusive rather than exclusive ride we always stick together and no-one gets left behind (we are the Marine Corp of group rides!) And the trail selection is limited by the "group-mentality". I find I spend most of my Friday evening planning various route combinations to keep things interesting/mix things up, but hopefully not kill anyone (no fatalities yet though we've had some pretty nasty falls)
And this Sunday morning I had the perfect storm in terms of "group-riding". One of the crew was dragging a friend along so needed to borrow a bike (yeah I've got a loner I can bring), and due to time constraints we had to be home at 10:30, so a launch time of 8am sharp was set. Result? Me sleeping on the soddin sofa again so I can drag my sorry arse up at 6am on Sunday morning, tiptoe around the house to avoid waking the sprogs. Then an hour outside (temperature in the 20's) changing pedals on MLW bike and the loner, lubing chains and loading 3 bikes on the Bollux-mobile. Feeling responsible for the "overall joy" of the group I also dig out all the long-finger gloves I can and fill extra water bottles so no one is cold/thirsty!
8 am we are at the trail ready to go when the cell rings and one of the crowd is late cos they have lost their pedals! How the b'jesus do you loose your pedals? (I keep mine at the end of my crank arms!). Result.... the planned route is abandoned and we do a short loop to hit Landing again after 15 min so we can attach the prodigal pedals to the aforesaid bike and as a whole group hit the trail again. Did a fun but short ride, and should be grateful that (i) I rode at all (ii) I actually have a group of friends that'll put up with me and (iii) I have MLW who is willing to discover for herself the joys of Mtbing. Yeah, but like I said "I'm a miserable basterd!"
Bah Humbug
DogzBollux
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