Sunshine on my face, makes me very happy

I think I've made my feelings about spin class abundantly clear. Spin class is not what I would consider to be the most stimulating of activities. Despite the best efforts of Bikin Mike, there's only so much that he can do to make sitting on my bike, in the middle of the spin studio, pedaling like crazy, going nowhere, exciting.

It is for this reason that I am getting very excited about this Sunday. Besides being Super Bowl Sunday, it is also the day that Team Bikin gets together and holds our annual Super Bowl Sunday bike ride. Held, not surprisingly on Super Bowl Sunday, we all get together and ride from the spin studio in Plano, to downtown Dallas, to eat lunch, then ride back to Plano. It's about 50 miles round trip. More importantly, it's 50 miles, round trip, OUTSIDE.

Considering that I haven't been on my bike, outdoors, since the end of October, I may be wishing that I was back in the studio after about 15 or 20 miles. In the past, every time I go two or three consecutive days without riding my bike, I get a fear that the next time I get on my bike, I will basically have forgotten how to ride, and that I won't be able to ride 50 yards without hyperventilating. Logically, I know that this isn't going to happen. But that doesn't stop it from happening every time.

So, with this irrational fear buried deep within my subconscious, given that I was off of the bike for two full month's due to illness, my apprehension at riding 50 miles this weekend borders on panic. Never mind that 3 short month's ago, I rode 150 miles over two days, from McKinney to Paris, TX.

This Sunday's ride actually started a few years ago as a way for the restaurant's in the area we are riding to, called the Dallas West End, to boost their sales on Super Bowl Sunday. The restaurant mangers in this area, located not surprisingly in the west end of downtown Dallas, got together with one of the local bike clubs to encourage cyclist to ride downtown and eat lunch, and then ride home.

The only problem was that the idea worked too well. Riders from all over the DFW metroplex converged on downtown Dallas. For a few years, the West End was swamped with upwards of 1000 cyclist, all looking for somewhere to eat lunch. As these thing tend to do, the problem sorted itself out. As many cyclist got tired of waiting an hour for a table, the numbers have decreased to a more manageable size.

The good news for those of us riding from Plano is that, for once, the weather appears to be cooperating. Despite the ice storms that we had earlier in the week, the forecast for this Sunday calls for highs in the mid 60's. But more importantly, it calls for winds out of the South. That's extremely important when we are first riding from Plano, south to downtown Dallas. Then riding back North to Plano. That means that we'll have the tailwind to ride with after eating lunch.

After a big lunch, never underestimate the benefit of a good tailwind.

Peace out.....Nearly Famous Fred

P.S...in an upcoming post, I comment on my recently discovered new super power.