Spontaneous Bike Fest!

Last Thursday I went to Speed Work.  I haven't been training for anything this season, having decided I wasn't going to be doing Triathlons this year.  But as the season goes on, I find myself picking up my training schedule in spite of myself. .  The cold weather last winter, while it didn't keep me off the bike for commuting,  discouraged me from going outside for any other aerobic activity and my training never really took off.  When I saw that I wasn't going to be able to get it together of the Waterfront Triathlon (coming up this weekend), I just went into full lazy mode.

  How nice that felt! 

   But being around active people means I really don't get that far away from it.  My daughter is training for a half-marathon and asked me to do it with her.  So that has gotten me into the running.  Friends have taken to regular river swims and that just sounded like too much to pass up. And while I have not gotten my road bike out once this year, I have regular long commute rides that could double as training rides. So it seems like I am in training mode, whether I meant to or not.

  So with that in mind, I went to speed work.  Every Thursday runners gather at Fast Break, jog over to GPS track and do what ever torture Joey inflicts on on and then job back.  It is suppose to be good for you-if you survive!

    It was a pleasant note to see the number of runners who rode their bikes to Fast Break. There is a severe need for bike racks at the running store!I don't know if I am right in my observation, but it seems that runners in training are more likely to use bikes to get around with then bikers in training.

  After speed work, most of the biking runners adjourned to the North Cat Chatt for supper, beer, and hanging out.  As we were exiting the north CAt Chatt, there was Bike Director Phil and wife Donna.  They had been passing by when they saw the large group of bikes with some known bikes in the crowd and though they would come by to say hi and see what was going on.  We met them on the side walk and stopped to talk.  Then other bikers riding by saw people they knew and stopped to say hi.  Soon, the sidewalk was so full of people on their bikes that we started over flowing into the  streets.

  What fun!  It wasn't so long ago, for me to even see another biker was a rare event.  Now, just standing on the street corner, suddenly there is a bike party!  Wow!  After sometime, there was a reshuffling of the groups.  Some of the newcomers joined some of those that were at the North Cat Chatt and went back in for more socializing, while others just got on our bikes to go home.

    So, it is looking like bike riders can always find others to spend a little time with.  Biking used to be a very lonely thing to do, but no more!

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