So I have finally started to get some longer rides in on the Unit which continues to impress me. Trying to ride everyday no matter what for no matter how long (preferably an hour and a half or longer). I figure as long as I’m on the bike, and I’m moving in a forward direction, it’ll be good for me. This theory might lead to overtraining but I’ll deal with that if and when it happens.

Sunday I headed over to Woodland Park, just west of Colorado Springs, to hit up the trail going around Rampart Resevoir. The trail there is one of the most singlespeed perfect trails I have ever been on. One lap around the resevoir is around 15 miles with plenty of ups and downs that you can just cruise over perfectly with a singlespeeds and slightly burmed corners that you can just wail on. I decided to do 2 laps (around 32 miles) just to see how the new steed performed. Needless to say it rocked out. My legs didn’t even feel tired after the laps during the climb out to the parking lot. Total ride time ~2:15 pushing a moderate pace. Damn that trail is fun.

The funniest part of the ride came at the parking lot. I top out of the climb and start riding towards my car when I see these 4 guys around a truck bed waiving me over and yelling something. When I got closer I realized that they were saying “We are trying to kick this keg!! Come drink some beer!!” Of course it would be absolutely rude to ignore such a request for help so I obliged. Naturally as soon as I get there the keg runs out but I still did end up with a half full cup. I ended up hanging out there for like a half hour as they kept taking turns riding my Unit around the parking lot and making fun of their buddy who didn’t put a bottle opener on his bike because he was trying to save weight. It was a good time. Makes me not want to hop back on the road bike for a while.

That and the whole getting hit by cars thing as mentioned by Nate in his last post. That just straight up sucks. I am lucky that I have only had the close calls but never the real thing. But I feel as if I should really avoid pushing my luck. It got to the point for a while in Troy that I just couldn’t ride the road anymore because I was tired of the semi’s ignoring my existence and the hillbillies throwing stuff at me.

It looks like from a posting from Big Pun and the Gnome on DrunkCyclist that Big Jonny is ok, in a drugged up state of permanent humor and should make a full recovery. Good news. They also caught the guy and are charging him with a hit and run (can someone say “prison”?). Seems like they authorities are trying to withhold the guy’s name probably to avoid some kind of vigilante justice. Everytime a cyclist gets hit it is a tragedy. This loss of life is totally unecessary and needs to at least attempted to be changed by the government. Maybe harsher penalties or including a “how to pass cyclists” on driving tests and in those drivers education classes people have to take. I’m just tired of reading about cyclists being killed and meeting people who were on their way to becoming pro’s who are now paralyzed. Makes me sick. Big Jonny – I’ll be drinking one in hopes for your speedy recovery.

As for now, I’ll just be riding and waiting for my SWEET new D2 shirt to come in the mail. Nice.