Unitard

So I bought myself a pair of Giordana bibs because everyone I talk to about bibs keeps telling me they're the second coming of sweet baby Jesus for your ass. They're weird. Not bad weird, but I'm not used to having built in suspenders for my shorts. Or looking like a 1920's German wrestler/weight lifter. The padding isn't as comfortable as my Pearl Izumi's, but it is comfortable, and the fit is unbelievable. It's like their leg skin with a goofy pad under my junk area. I dig'm.

As for my riding this weekend, It was good and bad. Friday and Saturday were "eh" days. I think I did 20 miles each day. On Friday Jen gave me her "I have to work" excuse. I think from now on I'm just going to part ways with her once she's done, and get more miles in. I figure if I can get 25-30 miles in twice a week and 30-50 miles in on Saturday and Sunday, I will be happy for the moment.

Saturday's ride was cut short because the sky looked like the "Nothing" from The Never Ending Story. No luck Dragons though. We did ride around Bridgeport a little bit on the way back home and did a few of the long, low grade hills. They'll come in handy in the coming month.

Todays ride wasn't what I thought it was going to be. We were going to ride up to Betzwood to meet other Team Tania riders to do the BAM-B (Betzwood to the Art Museum and Back. Yeah, it's the worst name for a ride anyone could come up with) ride. When we got there, it was so unorganized and sad that I couldn't really deal with it. A group of riders left and Jen and I just tagged on to the back of them to get going somewhere. That was fine for about... oh, two minutes before their 12mph pace got annoying. Jen and I passed them and never looked back.

Around Norristown we were passed by the Junk Brothers. Who are the Junk Brothers? Why they're two guys that have a hard time hiding their manhood in bike shorts. As hard as it is to hide one's banana boat in spandex, most gentlemen over 25 seem to have no problem. A bulge is inevitable, but acceptable. Seeing one's circular scar is too much. Most guys under 25 haven't figured that out. I don't think the Junk Brothers will ever figure that out.

Jen and I rode well together and passed the Junk Brothers at the end of the bike path. They had stopped, and we didn't. But seeing that we had passed them, they shot off after us. They're stronger riders than I am, but I have noticed that they just sprint at the start and drop everyone, then slow down to the same pace as everyone else. So I decided to not let them run from us and see how long I could hang with them. I knew that if I could hang with them, then Jen could keep up with them because she's physically a freak. If i decide to ride 25mph for lengths of time, she'll destroy her legs and keep up. I love it.

So the Junk brothers saw me behind them (you can't see Jen behind me because she's the size of a large child) and tried to take off. I just kept with them and sure enough they slowed to a pace where I could have passed them if I felt like it. I basically had them pull us though Manayunk and down to West River Drive before I slowed pace and let them ride off.

Funny thing about West river today. We got on (it's closed to cars on sundays) and no one said anything to us. That part wasn't weird because no one ever says anything to us when we get on it. Today there were cones set up everywhere. I thought it was from the time trials they hold in the early mornings down there. As we got further down we realize that there are people swimming in the water. Then I remembered the Philly Womans Tri was going on and we thought nothing of it. Further down the course nazi yells at us for being on the course. Completely flips out from inside her SUV. It got us thinking "why didn't someone stop us from getting on in the first place?" Philly sucks at organizing anything.

We found our way off the course and continued riding down to the Art Museum. We stopped for a bar and a piss and then headed down Kelly drive instead of heading back down W. River. The Kelly drive path is a nightmare on the weekends because everyone is out on it. We had to avoid runners and careless bikers for a few miles before it was clear. While heading back into Manayunk (I'm just going to refer to it as "the 'Yunk" from now on) we stopped at a light with another group who were heading back through the 'Yunk as well. Half of them were blocking traffic going the other way and even when Jen audibly called out when the opposing light changed to yellow, then red, they just stood there. The light turns green and we hear one of them ask if they had everyone, and they all just stood there. Knowing a bad situation when we see it, Jen and I hauled ass out of that intersection and just flew into the 'Yunk. We stopped at the new coffee shop Jen likes and had some food. We also stopped for way too long and when we got back on our bikes our legs were crap salad.

As you leave the 'Yunk to get back to the bike path, the road turns upward. Nothing too bad, but there are rolling hills that can be challenging when you don't have your legs. There's one hill in particular that is really tough if your legs are done and I really beat myself up getting over it. Some random guy started chatting with Jen on the way up and we rode with him all the way to Spring Mill. It turns out he's the general manager at Cadence (local high end bike store/training location). Nice guy. A little weird. Kind of like my bibs.

As soon as Cadence guy turns off, Eric passes us. Eric always wears a Columbia jersey. I've never seen him ride in anything else. It makes him really easy to spot when we're riding. He wasn't wearing his Columbia jersey today and I had no idea who he was until he caught us and said what's up. So we rode together until Norristown. And by rode together, I mean he was nice enough to pull us up there so we had enough energy to make it home. Big ups Eric.

So I officially rode the furthest I've ever gone today. 43.something miles in two and a half hours. I'm also only twenty-some miles away from reaching 1,000 miles total. I've only been riding since late May so we'll round that to two and a half months of riding. Not too shabby.

My work schedule is also completely changing starting tomorrow. I'll be working 4p-Midnight until September 7th. That just means I'll be waking up later, but I'll be able to go on morning rides just about every day. So I'm hoping to really kick my ass in the next month. I'm really excited about it.