Turning Up the Heat

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Did you see this in the Business section of the New York Times today?

(AP) Boston – Fierce and Psycho Cycling Chick, Inc. was acquired by and merged with Fabulous and Fifty-Plus Cycling Dudes, Ltd. today. The deal was sealed during a 40-mile ride over the rail trail and numerous local back roads.

I was present and accounted for on the rail trail this morning at approximately 9:30am to hook up with Bill and the rest of his cycling crew. I waited for about 10 minutes, and when I was still there by myself, I began to wonder if they were indeed all afraid of me!

As I was standing there, Bill cycled by me not noticing me. It was probably, because we all look differently when we are dressed in our biking best rather than when we are wearing street clothes. It’s like when you see someone from the gym (always in their t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers), and then when you see them outside of the gym in street clothes, you say, “Wow, you look so different with clothes on!” This often leads to those around you sporting immediate puzzled looks.

Anyway, I yelled “Bill” as he cycled past, and he stopped and turned around. We waited for a few more minutes to see if anyone else would show up, but no one did. Bill said we should start off and perhaps we would meet people along the way.

As we rode, I asked if there was any kind of email list he used to coordinate rides, and he said, “No. I’m just always usually here between 9:30 and 10:00, and I end up biking with anyone who happens to be here that I know.” I said, “So, you don’t really plan these rides?” He then kiddingly said something like, “Plans are for gals!”

We headed up the trail, and Bill filled me in on how he became a cyclist. Apparently, the rail trail didn’t happen overnight. They had planned to build it, but each year its funds were funneled into other state projects. His wife, who had cycled in her youth but who had never been a big cyclist, read about the plight of the rail trail and started writing letters to local politicians to encourage them to get the project underway; eventually, after a few years, they did.

This all occurred when GW handed out those checks to everyone for $600. Bill said that Americans were encouraged not to invest the money but put it back into the economy; in turn, he thought, given his wife’s rail trail efforts, that she should get out there on a bike and enjoy the rail trail. So, he bought a bike and all the accessories for her with the money. He was worried about her falling off her bike or getting lost, so he decided that he’d dust off his ’72 Schwinn in the garage and bike with her.

This is when he became hooked, and the Schwinn became history shortly thereafter, trading in that for a much better bike. That was in 2000, and I believe in 2004 he started participating in the Pan Mass challenge and has done so for the last five years.

We chatted back and forth while moving along at a leisurely pace. Bill told me that there were two four-letter words in cycling; they were “rain” and “wind.” He said, “Once you’re wet, well, you’re wet. But, with the wind, you deal with it at every turn of the crank!” Then out of nowhere, he asked, “Jean, what do you think of these women with all the tattoos?” I told him that I didn’t care for it on either males or females, but it seemed to be an increasing trend. I then said that I always wondered, “How’s that tattoo going to look on 82-year-old sagging flesh?” But, to each their own.

He then started to tell me about all the people he bikes with. He said that Leigh was a 50-year-old woman. Okay, there wasn’t too much information there. I wasn’t sure who I wanted to meet first when he described Lisa and Bob. He described Lisa as a person with the “mouth of a truck driver,” and well, Bob was seventy-seven years old and, up until a few years ago, rode 10,000 miles a year! Bob cycled, kayaked, and hiked around the woods in snow shoes in the Winter. After a short think, I was saying to myself, “I’ve got to meet this Bob guy!”

Bill said, more or less, that Bob was, well, quirky; for example, if Bob began a ride intent on biking 40 miles and got back to the parking lot (the ending point for most rides), looked at his odometer, and realized he had only biked 39.3 miles, he’d hop back on his bike and do loops around the parking lot until he reached 40. Okay, is that quirky or is Bob just really VERY goal-oriented? :-)

Bill told me that Bob leads a ride out of a health club in NH twice a week. Apparently, on the first ride, he took the group (mostly casual cyclists) on a 40 mile ride. After that, no one showed up for his rides anymore. Bill tried to hint to Bob that perhaps 40 miles was a tid too much. Bob complained, “Well, they want to stop and see all the animals and the plants!” Bill suggested to Bob that maybe he’d have a larger ridership if he too slowed down to “smell the roses.” Bob said, “They don’t need me for that!” By then, I was thinking, "Yep, I definitely had to meet this Bob guy."

When Bill and I were almost to the end of the rail trail, we passed two cyclists and he said, “Oh, there they are!” He stopped and turned around, and I followed. He got off his bike and then introduced me to Leigh and Bob. Bob said, “Hello. Nice to meet you. So, you're the one we've been hearing about.” I laughed; but secretly, I was beaming.

Bob then asked everyone where they wanted to go, and it was agreed we’d get off the trail and cycle on the roads. (Earlier Bill told me that another one of Bob’s quirks was to lead them on these roundabout rides; that is, Bob would plan to go to a certain destination, say like Florida, but they’d go by way of Alaska first!)

We got off the rail trail, and we began to cycle over some of the loveliest roads (only miles from my house) that I’d never been on. At one point, Bob asked, “Do you know where you are?” I responded, “I have no idea.” Bob smiled, because he knew I needed him to find my way home again. (Again, earlier, Bill told me that Bob liked to have a captive cycling audience; well, he didn’t need to capture me. Given all he was at 77, he had me at “Hello.”)

After cycling for so long on the rail trail by myself, it felt so good to be out on the roads with Bill, Bob, and Leigh. We stopped every now and then at a park, so someone could use a port-a-potty or eat a granola bar. Bill stayed with Leigh or I was up cycling with Bob. Or, I was with Leigh and Bill, while we all wondered where Bill was. It’s funny how good you can feel in the company of people you’ve not known long; but after biking 40 miles with them, you feel like you know each and every one of them inside out.

At about 12:15, we ended up back on the rail trail riding to the end point – the parking lot. I still had plenty left, though after having Leigh and Bill pass me by on the hills, I knew I needed to ride more hills to catch up with them. So, Bob and I rode the last 5 miles together. Remember, he’s seventy-seven. I looked down at my speedometer, and for those last 5 miles, he and I averaged 20-23 m.p.h. Bob’s quirky, but he is a cycling God, and much more so than Lance Armstrong, in my mind.

When we reached the parking lot, we both clicked out of our pedals and stood there, waiting for Bill and Leigh. He extended his hand for a shake. I reached out, grabbed his hand, and shook it. He said, “It was nice to ride with you. You’re a helluva rider.” That was one of the nicest compliments I’ve received all year. One, I so hope I'm alive when I'm 77, and two, I hope I can still bike like he can when I'm that age.

Anyway, I’m a glutton for punishment, because between 9:30am and 10am tomorrow morning, I’ll be back out there on the rail trail waiting for Bill again. <3