Yesterday I managed a decent varied terrain ride, it was a beautiful day and despite stressing over the hills on the planned route I was surprised to learn that I was in better shape than I anticipated. The three hills I worried about enough to make me procrastinate my departure time actually did not bother me at all. There was one thing that I still don't get though, in the 25-30 miles I rode I passed 12 cyclists only two acknowledged me. Metropolitan NY cyclists seem to have their heads up their proverbial keister that they cannot recognize the friendly gesture as being something that they should respond to. Sorry to all my NY buddies but I have ridden in so many other places and by far we are the rudest, though the farther you get from NYC...well lets just say that by the time you his the Catskills it changes...and in Saratoga, as long as its a local you are sure to get a wave, and maybe even a shout hello. Does it really hurt that much to recognize the solidarity of the pain of the seat, the heartbreaking crunch of the hills or even the fact that you are balancing on two wheels?
After riding we ran some errands and hit up the Capt. for some libations for the weeks Yankee games and then headed home to spend the evening sharing a movie with Justin and Hallie. We watched Kick Ass, not really sure what my thoughts were about the movie. I was in bed by 10PM.
This morning Kenny and I headed to Hamden, CT to meet a fairly newbie cyclist and complete a 30 mile ride along a canal path. I was so happy to meet Rick. He was a pleasant guy with a great deal of questions and tremendous enthusiasm about riding. We had fun and while riding on a path is something that I try to save for interval workouts and try not to do on weekends it really wasn't that bad, despite the gorgeous weather. It was a really pretty ride. We saw a guy walking 8 dogs, remnants of a canal that had me reminiscing about my mom's time in Tribes Hill and the Old Barge Canal not far from her house. We also saw this flyer for an event that happened just two days ago. Steve I took the picture for you. The NH to Simsbury ride featured three groups of riders, the photographers, the caffienated tourists, and then the rabbits. We all know where you would fall on that one and despite me being on the fringe of that pace I would most likely slip back into the photographers. There is just that much to look at! Thanks Rick for showing me the path and giving me some interesting ideas for adding to the quality of workouts we do for speedskating. David if you were on the path between Hamden and Cheshire I think I saw you (actually someone who knew Team Kermit was riding in this large group, but did not stop me to say anything. He only mentioned that they were a team that rode the PMC to the guy he was riding next to).
After the ride we just had to hit up Griff's Chicken Shack. This is a place on Route 10 very close to The Sleeping Giant. Its one of Justin and Chris's favorite places to eat. This place has some of the best chicken fingers on the planet and at a very reasonable price. We brought some chicken to Chris and his buddies at the track and field car wash, not sure if he actually shared it though. I'll find out in a bit.
We ended our day with a lovely relaxing hour of drinking sake with friends under a weeping cherry tree. An incredible end to an amazing weekend!
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