Spokes for Strokes Ride

Atlanta crew braved rain storms, tornadoes, closed roads, and the general mayhem known as Atlanta traffic to come ride the Spokes for Strokes century with me. None of us were really ready for a century, so we showed up to collect event T-shirts and ride as many miles as we felt we could.

We started out well. They said go, the riders started rolling out, and Nathan's chain promptly popped off. A few greasy fingers later, we were out on the road, where we were met with a stiff headwind that apparently didn't want us to get anywhere, much less to the 30mile turn around point. But, being the strong competitive types, we pushed on. What's a little wind that gusts to the point that it was blowing my bike around under me? Of course, the wind would throw me around only as I approached areas with steep drop-offs, heavy traffic, or opossums that had been on the receiving end of an all-weather radial. During the early portion of the ride my mind began to ponder wind and the nature of cycling in it. Hence the Haiku for a Headwind Post.

Herman, Nathan, and I separated over the miles and rode our own paces while Kimberly SAG'd us in the car. That is a huge help on the first long rides of the season. Thank you!

On a separate note, I had considered putting the vanity tag of "SAGWAGN" on our minivan, but the other 349.9 million people in America, that didn't know what a sag wagon was, would think I was making some...uh...unfavorable comments toward my wife and family.

See Brenna, I am always looking out for you...

Here is Nathan stylin' prior to the ride. Sweet glasses there Maverick...where's Iceman? I think poor Kimberly is still sleeping in the car...

A shot of Herman feeling fresh and happy prior to the ride. See everyone is smiling. We haven't yet figured out that we are going to ride into something like a 200 mph headwind for the coming hours.


This was an early "long ride" of the year because I was bothering to actually stop and take pictures. I felt this practice lent itself to stronger legs, because after taking a shot or two, I would have to work 3x as hard to catch back up with a group and get some reprieve from the wind.

The Atlanta riders as they enjoyed the beautiful Alabama scenery. The roads were pretty good once we got out of the initial traffic.

During the ride, the only person that honked at me turned out to be Kimberly instead of the average angry driver that wants me off their roads.

Uh oh, here comes a bit of a rant...yep. Since the average angry drivers think the roads are "theirs" even though I do have a legal right to ride on them. The average-angry-driver comes up with some tax related argument. "I pay taxes on my car, ergo, I have more of a right to the road." My response: I pay taxes as well, and the fact that I goof off on a really expensive bike means that I probably make more than you in order to afford said bike. That means, I probably pay more tax than you, ergo, I would have more of a right to the road than you. Get your stinking car out of my lane...

The ride itself was beautiful. The weather was still cool at the start, but the skies were clear blue and the springtime sun felt wonderful after riding in 30-40 degree temperatures for the past several months. A lot of the scenery made me pretty happy to be out riding.

Thanks again Herman for the cold weather gear. I wouldn't have survived the past few winters without it. You are the man!!!

One of the flowery scenic shots I took while on the ride. I have more, but only had so much time to edit them, so this is what I could get to. Sorry...