Larry and I

last week i posted the metric century map. the lewisville (city we live in) civic club sponsored a 100 km bike ride. for those of you who are slow on the kilometer to mile conversion (i think that's everyone) that's about 64 miles and change. so there's this ride in our little town and duane, rob (good friend that works for/with me although if you ask him i'm more like a mentor than a boss), and i decide to drop some bills and ride. i was a bit nervous, probably more nervous than i was the day before my marathon, which was interesting, but 64 miles in the saddle was a new adventure and i didn't exactly know how it would turn out. i ate plenty of carbs and fruit all day friday and then at 7:15 saturday morning we rolled out and headed downtown. as nervous as i was before we started was nothing compared to the nerves as we rolled into the civic center parking lot and saw the mass of cyclists. we registered, joked nervously, and then spun a bit to get the legs going. there were some regulars that we have gotten to know on the group rides, we chatted with them and scoped the group. we were scouting out the field and it became evident that there were a lot of fast riders out. now this wasn't a race, it was labeled a 'ride', but i'm not sure what the difference is. i have found out that in cycling is just like other sports, if there is more than one rider, there is usually a winner and a loser. At 8 am we rolled out of the parking lot. i'm guessing there was 100 or more riders in one large pack rolling down main street, out past my neighborhood, and off into the country side. the sound of 100 riders peddling, coasting, shifting, talking, starting to breath heavy...exciting. only a few miles in the group quickly broke down, with 1 large pelaton forming in front and smaller groups in the back. i dropped from the large pelaton knowing that i probably wouldn't be able to hang with the pros. i felt great and i grooved my peddle stroke and got comfortable in the saddle getting ready for the long haul. other than the pelaton in the distance i was out in front with a few people dragging behind me and the rest dropping off. a few of us formed a small group and before we could get a chance to rotate we got passed by 3 guys in a small pack. as they passed i pushed it and held them, dropping the dudes that were hanging onto me. the man in front of this group was....uh...older. i thought, 'oh, that's great he's out at his age, let's rip his legs off' so i laid it on passing to the front. the old man stuck right on me with the other two behind him. i pulled for a few miles and then the old man passed me again with the 2 leaches hanging on for dear life. I pulled in behind their air stream and thought 'okay, maybe i should just hang with this guy for a bit'. our small group made our way up and down and around the old tobacco fields, perfect weather, beautiful scenery. out of the blue 'old man' lays it on and the two leaches start to drop off, i passed them and pushed myself to catch up. i thought,'maybe i should just try and not let this guy drop me'. he pulled over and let me take a turn pulling. he turned to look and said, 'where did everyone go'. i said, 'it's just you and me, what's your name?'. he said his name was larry and that he lived in lewisville. he had been cycling for some 25 years and his legs showed it. with every stroke the different, large, well defined, muscle group exploded like a piston (a really old piston, but a piston none the less). so there was larry and i and our bikes riding, spinning, testing each other to see if the other was the real deal or not. we rode the rest of the ride together, probably 58 miles. along the ride we would find dudes that dropped off the leader's group and we would pull them along, but they would eventually drop off. we usually had 3 or 4 others rotating through our little group and then dropping off. all was going fine until mile 50 when i had finished my turn pulling at the front and then as i dropped to the back i took a drink and DROPPED MY WATER BOTTLE. now for the record water bottles are pretty inexpensive and next time you find yourself in a bike race (i mean ride), if you drop a bottle, you are suppose to just leave it. i didn't know that, i stopped (stopping in not recommended) and went back for the bottle. i was crushed as i turned to start and saw the group 100's of yard in front, larry pulling them up a small hill. i was alone, faced with a large gap to bridge and nothing but wind in my face. i lowered my hand position (got into the drops is the proper vernacular) and pushed forward. it took me 6 miles, but eventually i caught back up. larry was in the back and when i pulled up he asked 'what happened' i tried to explain that i lost my water bottle and all i got back was a quick glance that said, 'you went back for a water bottle'. about 3 miles from the finish larry had just finished a long hard pull and moved to the left and said, 'i'm about done', he pulled in behind and followed me in. we finished, shook hands, quickly recapped what had happened over the last 64 miles, and agreed that i had been a great ride. perfect strangers, bound by the common thread of cycling, out on a great day.