Weekly Kick in the Lady Parts.
If I had to pick the absolute best evil villain name, Bart Luther would be at the top of the list. The love child of a stereotypical black hat-sporting western bad guy and Superman's nemesis.
Strangely enough, the Bart Luther I know is a hell of a nice guy who is the driving force behind the twice-weekly Destroyer rides down here. I've only done the Tuesday night rides because of other commitments, but that's been enough to send me home aching and crying on a consistent basis.
Lately I've stopped doing as many group rides and have started putting in a lot of long, slow distance. Doing four or five group rides in a week, ranging from 25 to 60 miles each, then riding a couple long rides on the weekend was killing me. Something had to give.
Some of the rides just were hour-long team time trials. Do a string of those and you'll quickly find yourself in a pit of fatigue, as I did earlier in this trip.
Tuesdays are my night to let it rip. Sometimes I don't roll in with the greatest form, but I throw whatever I have into it and see what happens. After literally thousands of miles of long, slow distance, a little intensity makes me a better and happier rider.
Sometimes Bart will open hostilities with a pull that's just hard enough to make you want to slap him senseless. Sometimes Daniel Wijdenes, owner of Military Cyclist, will come out of nowhere and throw down something I can't respond to. Talented newcomer Al Jordan will take a few shots here and there. A rotating cast of other riders will conspire to make me hurt, so I do my best to return the favor.
After each attack or hard pull we'll congratulate the offending rider, usually with a muffled "bastard" punctuating it. For a group of guys looking to make the rest suffer and nothing to be gained but increased fitness (so we can inflict more pain), it's extremely friendly. This is how group rides are supposed to be.
Come to think of it, maybe Bart really is evil...
Strangely enough, the Bart Luther I know is a hell of a nice guy who is the driving force behind the twice-weekly Destroyer rides down here. I've only done the Tuesday night rides because of other commitments, but that's been enough to send me home aching and crying on a consistent basis.
Lately I've stopped doing as many group rides and have started putting in a lot of long, slow distance. Doing four or five group rides in a week, ranging from 25 to 60 miles each, then riding a couple long rides on the weekend was killing me. Something had to give.
Some of the rides just were hour-long team time trials. Do a string of those and you'll quickly find yourself in a pit of fatigue, as I did earlier in this trip.
Tuesdays are my night to let it rip. Sometimes I don't roll in with the greatest form, but I throw whatever I have into it and see what happens. After literally thousands of miles of long, slow distance, a little intensity makes me a better and happier rider.
Sometimes Bart will open hostilities with a pull that's just hard enough to make you want to slap him senseless. Sometimes Daniel Wijdenes, owner of Military Cyclist, will come out of nowhere and throw down something I can't respond to. Talented newcomer Al Jordan will take a few shots here and there. A rotating cast of other riders will conspire to make me hurt, so I do my best to return the favor.
After each attack or hard pull we'll congratulate the offending rider, usually with a muffled "bastard" punctuating it. For a group of guys looking to make the rest suffer and nothing to be gained but increased fitness (so we can inflict more pain), it's extremely friendly. This is how group rides are supposed to be.
Come to think of it, maybe Bart really is evil...
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