Hammond Organs, Bicycles and Other Things

For me, writing is a sign of life.

My previous blog, 'Almost Forty' has long ago outlived it's purpose. Turning forty over a decade ago, that ship has sailed. Now that I'm learning to manage a new decade, the number which shall not be spoken of, a new blog is in order. 

'Hammond Organs, Bicycles and Other Things'.

Life makes sense when I'm playing organ or riding a bike.

I think what might make sense for me is to meet a girl while I'm playing organ, and then go on a bike ride with her. I think as long as we kept doing that, everything would work out just fine.

Or, at least, make sense.

Until then, I'll just do all that myself. 

I did a lot of working out starting out in October. I joined a gym, working on arms, abs and on a stationery bike.  Sort of a 'Brian 3.0' project. The result is that I dropped from 210 to 170 and I am now incredibly fast on the bike. Faster than I have ever been. 

My bicycle, is a Surly Long Haul Trucker. It was designed for cross country touring. It is a heavy bike. With all of it's accessories, fat tires and its steel frame, the bike is over 30 lbs. Ninety percent of all bike riders today are riding bikes made from aluminum or carbon fiber and can weight around 10 lbs or less. When they see me coming around with a bike that relatively resembles a blue Pee Wee Herman bike with a 15-20 lb handicap, they can tend to get a little over confident...until they end up far behind me... 

Sometimes, its the engine. And that's what keeps me going.

That takes us now to the story that inspired this blog.

I was riding on the bike this evening, parking at Two Rivers Bridge. Lots of cars, lots of people. The 

2017 Big Dam Bridge 100 bike ride is coming up soon and lots of cyclists as well as myself are getting ready for that. Along with lots of walkers and runners just doing their thing. I started rolling about 6:30 PM.

I began my ascent up the Little Rock side of the Big Dam Bridge. I've been climbing pretty much everything in the big chain wheel, and it was no different tonight. Near the top of the climb I passed my first cyclist. As I maneuvered thru the sea of walkers and runners along the bridge, I realized that first cyclist was right behind me. That would not last long. 

Towards the bottom of the North Little Rock side of the bridge there was a clear spot all the way to the bottom of the bridge, past the canopy to the right. Along that area is a descent that I have reached up to 45 mph on my heavy Surly Long Haul Trucker. I shifted into G force gear and stepped on the loud pedal. My front wheel raised as I accelerated into the next dimension. A few minutes later, I looked back and the first cyclist was a dot on the horizon. I kept on motorvating. 

At close to 7:30 it was starting to get dark. I turned around just past the semi pro baseball field. Back on the trail, I crossed the bridge and began my plan of attack on the fun hills in front of the golf course. Cyclist number 2 crept up on me and caught up with me at half a bike. I thought I didn't have it but I quickly pulled ahead. I climbed the first hill and before I rounded the top I went into downhill gear and stomped. I took advantage of that downhill approach to the last hill with all I had and didn't know I had. This left me with enough inertia in the bank to lessen the labor up the last incline. Soon enough I was flying fast down that wonderful downhill on the other side. That flows into a tight sweeper that I was a little hot and heavy for, but thanks to the recent brake adjustment at Little Rock's Community Cyclist, that was an easy fix. 

During all this I had forgotten about number 2. A quick look behind revealed that he was about 200 cyclists behind me. 

Soon, I found myself quite behind a fast moving red tail light. On the river trail, no motorized vehicles are allowed, but I wondered if one had gotten through. With a quick swig of water, I was on the chase. 

During the last stretch on the North Little Rock side coming up to the Big Dam Bridge, I realized I was slowly gaining on him. Finally, at the bridge I caught him. He showed no signs of slowing down. We were both in our big chain rings. Coming up to the turn in the bridge I was hot and heavy. He decided to turn up the heat again. I was determined not to let this one get away. At 6'2" and with legs as big as tree trunks, he was a formidable foe. His attempt to drop me as we sprinted closer to the crest of the bridge was a respectable effort, but I turned it on anyway. I've never moved up the BDB so fast. I'll bet we were climbing that at close to 20 mph. I was getting so winded, I thought that I couldn't maintain it. My speed might have slowed a little bit, but I never heard from him again. 

I won't ride the BDB 100 so aggressively. I could never maintain that for 100 miles. I have learned my lesson about that in rides past. My strategy is to save it for the end. Get the distance, get over Wye Mountain, and if there is anything left, I'll burn up the last 20.