a dose of humble pie
It wasn't anything drastic. It was just a little disappointing.
I got up Saturday morning to ride with the same group I rode with three weeks ago, from the new bike shop. I thought (wrongly) it would be the same kind of group and the same kind of ride. I saw a few of the same faces. It got different when there wasn't any question about who had never been on a group ride...no safety talk. It was just...everybody ready? Lets go!
It started faster than last time. The last time we did 17 or 18 miles an hour to start and worked up to 20 to 21 after three or four miles. Saturday, we were doing 20 right from the beginning. I was OK though. I think I can do 20 in a group for a long time. Then it changed though. It kept accelerating. Soon we got up to 21, then 22...and it steadily increased to 24. I was hanging in there, but they weren't slowing down. If anything, it was just getting faster. At seven miles, I decided I wasn't going to finish if I kept doing that. I was already burning myself out, so I just waived them all past me and slowed down to about 18 miles an hour. I finished most of their route (never seeing them again) and modified the end to go farther. I still did 61 miles, but that start (and the wind) killed me. I knew before we left that I couldn't keep up that pace. I just didn't realize that's what they'd be doing. Yeah, mayber I should have asked. It's a disappointing dose of reality, but not an unexpected one. One day, maybe, I'll be in that league, but I know I'm not there now and I won't be soon.
Then I played golf yesterday....very badly. Actually, I didn't have all that many bad shots. I just didn't hit any really good ones either, and I couldn't hit driver to save my life...and stubbornly kept trying. It wasn't pretty. It was fun. I mean, I loved getting out and playing, and had a great time. I would have had a better time though if I would have brought some game along.
Ah...so it goes. I can still ride, and will...a lot. I'm just not that serious about it that I'll be riding in a group that rides a pace in the mid 20's. I just bit off a bit more than I'm ready for. I'll get back to the driving range and the golf game will get back to....almost decent. At least I'm riding, and golfing.
On a different note...lest we forget the news bombshell of the weekend in J'ville...Byron Leftwich is gone. I don't know whether to be happy or sad. You could tell when I'd write about him the last few weeks, I wasn't very confident in the guy leading the Jaguars to the playoffs. The quarterback, for now, is David Garrard. My problem is...I don't think he's the answer either, but I hope he proves me wrong. Now more than ever I'm asking why. Why, oh why, didn't we draft Brady Quinn?
I got up Saturday morning to ride with the same group I rode with three weeks ago, from the new bike shop. I thought (wrongly) it would be the same kind of group and the same kind of ride. I saw a few of the same faces. It got different when there wasn't any question about who had never been on a group ride...no safety talk. It was just...everybody ready? Lets go!
It started faster than last time. The last time we did 17 or 18 miles an hour to start and worked up to 20 to 21 after three or four miles. Saturday, we were doing 20 right from the beginning. I was OK though. I think I can do 20 in a group for a long time. Then it changed though. It kept accelerating. Soon we got up to 21, then 22...and it steadily increased to 24. I was hanging in there, but they weren't slowing down. If anything, it was just getting faster. At seven miles, I decided I wasn't going to finish if I kept doing that. I was already burning myself out, so I just waived them all past me and slowed down to about 18 miles an hour. I finished most of their route (never seeing them again) and modified the end to go farther. I still did 61 miles, but that start (and the wind) killed me. I knew before we left that I couldn't keep up that pace. I just didn't realize that's what they'd be doing. Yeah, mayber I should have asked. It's a disappointing dose of reality, but not an unexpected one. One day, maybe, I'll be in that league, but I know I'm not there now and I won't be soon.
Then I played golf yesterday....very badly. Actually, I didn't have all that many bad shots. I just didn't hit any really good ones either, and I couldn't hit driver to save my life...and stubbornly kept trying. It wasn't pretty. It was fun. I mean, I loved getting out and playing, and had a great time. I would have had a better time though if I would have brought some game along.
Ah...so it goes. I can still ride, and will...a lot. I'm just not that serious about it that I'll be riding in a group that rides a pace in the mid 20's. I just bit off a bit more than I'm ready for. I'll get back to the driving range and the golf game will get back to....almost decent. At least I'm riding, and golfing.
On a different note...lest we forget the news bombshell of the weekend in J'ville...Byron Leftwich is gone. I don't know whether to be happy or sad. You could tell when I'd write about him the last few weeks, I wasn't very confident in the guy leading the Jaguars to the playoffs. The quarterback, for now, is David Garrard. My problem is...I don't think he's the answer either, but I hope he proves me wrong. Now more than ever I'm asking why. Why, oh why, didn't we draft Brady Quinn?
Labels: It's all about me, Sports
John put this out here at 6:53 AM
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