Thursday, March 27, 2008

Wednesday Night with the Kids

New team members, all full of piss and vinegar, are fun. They have new bikes, a basic understanding of drafting, and the irrational competitive drive that leads us to bike racing in the first place. The skills, though... they don't so much have the skills. So we teach them.

There were 8 or 9 or so of us Rutgers racers on last night's "recovery" ride. I think I was the only one intent on riding easy, the rest were just looking to have some playtime on the bike. That's fine by me, I just let them attack each other, rode with the stragglers, and caught up at the next traffic light.

After about 45 minutes, Diane, Asphalt Eric, and Fixie Christian (now on a geared bike) joined me in an parking lot in Johnson Park for some cornering practice. Not that I'm the cornering guru; in fact, it's quite the opposite. Nobody taught me the proper technique back when I started riding, and I developed some bad habits. That's exactly why it was important to spend time with the newbies, teaching them what Angry Mark and Captain Chaz have spent the past 3 years teaching me.

At one point, we were standing around, discussing the finer points of entry speed, when a car entered the parking lot. It drove straight at us. Being in Johnson Park, where the rules of the road are more like Cannonball Run than Driving Miss Daisy, I got a little nervous... until the driver of the car was revealed to be that Master of Corners, His Royal Highness King Hermes, who was stopping by to say hello.

I hereby resolve to lengthen King Hermes' title every time I write about him.

Once everyone was comfortable cornering at speed and in a pack, we were ready for dinner. Farmer Andy (aka Trent Steele) was kind enough to swipe me into the dining hall, and Charlie and FroJoe did the same for Eric and Diane. Walking - sliding, really - around the busy dining hall in our clicky cycling shoes, wearing bright red spandex that leaves little to the imagination, we didn't exactly blend in. Also we were loud.

Like a fistful of sore thumbs...
...one of which has a trucker-stache

The food was good (and all-you-can-eat), and the company was great (and ate-all-they-could). Wednesday evening ride, you get an A+.

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